Cat acts like a dog

Discussion in 'Behaviour & Training' started by shdws, Jan 23, 2013.

  1. shdws

    shdws Well-Known Member

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    Does anyone have a cat that acts like a dog? What I mean is, I have this new cat and he is more like a dog than a cat in his social interactions. He seems to be very in tune to non verbal cues, which I've only experienced with dogs in the past. I can't remember having a cat that understood what I meant when I was pointing at something, for example.
     
    shdws, Jan 23, 2013
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  2. shdws

    steph84 Well-Known Member

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    My grandma once had a cat who would chime in whenever her dogs would bark. Her cat Mona would just try to let out a bark too. My cat Kitty Love is pretty smart when it comes to nonverbal cues. I trained him to follow hand signals too.
     
    steph84, Jan 23, 2013
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  3. shdws

    Scottyxx Well-Known Member

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    My cats are like dogs, I would say anyway. They play fetch with you, they roll over and just lie there until you pet their bellies. They come when they are called. They are very very affectionate, and run to the front door when they see me coming home at the end of the day. Mine also respond to claps and points. Me pointing directly at the cat means it has done bad!
     
    Scottyxx, Jan 24, 2013
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  4. shdws

    CinnamonKiss Well-Known Member

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    Dusty sometimes acts like a dog. He comes when he's called, he "greets" when someone comes home by going to see them (which none of our other cats have ever done), and he likes going with whoever is taking the dog out to potty. He goes out, stays with them, and then comes back in when they do.
    Sassy acts nothing like a dog, so it's good she was born a cat!
     
    CinnamonKiss, Jan 24, 2013
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  5. shdws

    Scottyxx Well-Known Member

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    I don't know any different since my pair of weirdos are my first cats. But I am quite happy they are so dog like, it makes them so easy to take care of, and I love it when they run up to the door to greet me! I think Dusty and Bandit are pretty similar in their behaviors from the sound of things!
     
    Scottyxx, Jan 25, 2013
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  6. shdws

    CinnamonKiss Well-Known Member

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    You got lucky they are so openly loving, which is not really a cat trait. They do sound similar, our cats are part silly dog it sounds like! Did your cats have a dog around to learn from or did they do all of that on their own?
     
    CinnamonKiss, Jan 25, 2013
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  7. shdws

    Scottyxx Well-Known Member

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    We lived in a house split into two apartments upstairs was me and my kitties and downstairs were two people and 2 massive greyhounds, they cats and the dogs never really had too much interaction but Bandit would run down stairs, and stand up at the door looking in the window of the downstairs apartment pretty much all day watching the female greyhound. Whenever the dogs would go out for a walk pussington would run down and run in and out of the feet of the male dog and rub up against i'm. I think it was more of a forbidden love dynamic going on that anything else !
     
    Scottyxx, Jan 25, 2013
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  8. shdws

    shdws Well-Known Member

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    I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a cat-dog lol. I was starting to think my cat was spending too much time with our dog. Maybe that's where he's picking up his canine behavior.
     
    shdws, Jan 25, 2013
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  9. shdws

    CinnamonKiss Well-Known Member

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    It sounds like she was curious about what the dog was! And our cat Sassy used to rub up our Shelties, Magnum, "beard" area, I think it's just one of those weirdly affectionate things cats do when they like something. Mac used to follow Magnum around, too, and it would make the dog so mad. I think our dog was just really loved by our cats!:p

    We had a Sheltie dog that started acting like a cat so it's possible for either of them to start copying each other. Imagine our surprise to find him on the hood of a car, like one of our cats. (There was a pile of wood he used to jump up there.) It's very likely it's learning behaviors from the dog, but as long as there is no property damage I wouldn't sweat it.:)
     
    CinnamonKiss, Jan 27, 2013
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  10. shdws

    blurinoctober Well-Known Member

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    Sibyl is a cat at heart, no matter what anyone says, but Alice acts like a dog all of the time! She'll beg for treats, come when her name is called, and generally move like a dog does. She doesn't know how to properly jump yet (she's still little!) so it adds to the dog demeanor, just watching the big cat climb and jump away from her. Growing up around more dogs than cats will do that to her!
     
    blurinoctober, Jan 27, 2013
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  11. shdws

    Trellum Well-Known Member

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    This thread reminded me of something funny I found on Pinterest some weeks ago:

    [​IMG]

    I think this husky really thinks she is a cat :p
     
    Trellum, Apr 29, 2015
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  12. shdws

    hunya Member

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    Maybe it is a dog, haha, just kidding. Maybe it's a special cat and you are lucky to have it.:p
     
    hunya, May 26, 2015
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  13. shdws

    ellie Active Member

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    Sometimes Tinkerbell acts like a dog, in the sense that sometimes she'll come when you call her, or when you come home she'll greet you at the door. But otherwise she's very cat-like haha. Very independent and moody. I love reading about all your guys' pets... they sound so cute!
     
    ellie, May 27, 2015
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  14. shdws

    superbobby Member

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    I love it when my cat greets me at the door. It makes gives me energy from a long day of work.
     
    superbobby, May 31, 2015
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