How to tell if your cat is getting along with other pets in the house

Have you ever wondered whether or not your cat actually gets along with the other furry members of their household? Are you curious about the way your cat and dog are interacting with each other. Well we were wondering the same thing about our own senior staff cat.

In order to find out more about the relationship between our own staff pup and staff cat, we decided to ask two experts about cat behavior. Specifically, we wanted to know how we can tell if our cat is actually getting along with the dog of the house.

Luckily, we got two great answers that might just make it easier to figure out if Fluffy (or in our case Shadow), actually gets along with Fido (or again, in this case, Ladybug). And honestly, the answers might surprise you.

How can you tell if your cat is getting along with other furry members of the family?

Up first we have a veterinarian and pet trainer from TeachMe.To, Dr. Gabre Denton. He answered our question about how we can tell if our cat is getting along with other furry members of the family in a way that made perfect sense.

"To figure out if your cat is getting along with other pets, look for signs of positive interactions like playing together, grooming each other, or sharing spots like beds and food bowls. Your cat should seem relaxed and comfortable around the other pets. If they’re playing happily and using shared areas without any signs of stress or aggression, things are probably going well."

- Dr. Gabre Denton

Our second expert comes from Rover, and is an expert in cat behaviors, Dr. Mikel (Maria) Delgado. And we really appreciated how in-depth she was in terms of explaining things, because she also shared insight into not only things to look out for, but also what to do if there is an issue.

"Cats who get along with other pets generally show friendly behaviors toward them - for example, rubbing against them, sleeping close to them, playing with them. Some cats may just TOLERATE other pets, so you may not see any clear signs of friendliness, but you also won't observe fighting. You can help pets get along by making sure that your cats have lots of vertical spaces (cat trees and perches) to climb and stay away from each other if that is their preference. In a multi-cat household you also need to have lots of resources so that your cats do not have to compete for important things - so that means separate feeding bowls in different areas, multiple litter boxes that are spread out throughout the home, several scratching posts, and different areas to rest. If you are seeing behaviors like hiding, hissing, growling or fighting between your pets, you should talk to your veterinarian and get help from a qualified behavior expert to help!"

- Dr. Mikel (Maria) Delgado

Honestly, we appreciate both of these experts for their time and the answers that they shared with us. And we really love knowing what to be on the lookout for when it comes to the relationship that cats have with the other pets in the house.