A Tale of Two Kittens and One Puppy » Cats & Dogs & Dominance

Gizmo on the recliner The differences between cats and dogs are interesting to ponder.

Take this picture, for instance. The common wisdom about dogs is not to let them get up on furniture, particularly high furniture like a bed, because they’ll become dominant.

A dominant dog will supposedly lead to all kinds of misery, such as the dog preventing you from sitting on the couch or laying on the bed, and trying to bite you if you dare to try and remove him.

Yet cats feel secure in high places, and no one thinks they’re going to take over your life just because they’re higher than you are (or maybe it’s just that people already assume that the cats are above you, anyway).

In fact, cats are often able to get enough exercise in small spaces because they utilize not only horizontal space, but vertical space as well.

According to “When Two Cats are Better than One”:

Space is an absolute necessity for multiple cat homes. The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition found that cats housed in groups are less likely to exhibit aggressive or anxious behavior when each cat has at least 1 m2 of floor space and 2 m of vertical space, such as window sills and shelving.

“Sharing the Turf” goes on to say that:

The wild counterpart of the domestic cat has a large territory, with males patrolling about 150 acres and females, about 15 acres. With the provision of food by humans and the elimination of the mating behavior (by spaying and neutering), the territory of our house cats can shrink to a fraction of the space utilized by their country cousins.

and:

Make use of the vertical space in your home by adding floor-to-ceiling cat trees, window perches, and kitty condos. It has been observed that cats living in groups are more comfortable if they can “layer” themselves.

I am, as always, just fascinated at the differences between cats and dogs.