Most people wouldn’t think that cats and dogs have anything in common. And they certainly wouldn’t think that cats and dogs could actually share common behaviors. But for anyone who has owned both animals before, you know that they will often pick up little habits off one another. Growing up, my dog Bonita was surrounded by cats. By the end of her life, we’re pretty sure she had forgotten how to be a dog and had turned into a cat. Our dog used to like to walk along the back of the sofa like the cats. There were so many other little quirks that she picked up that were very feline-esque. But the cross-species quirks went both ways. When we got my cat Felicity, she grew up thinking she was a dog because she used to hang out with Bonita all the time as a kitten. Even to this day as a grown adult cat, she growls every time she hears the doorbell because she was so used to Bonita doing it.
And it wasn’t just the pets in my household that were unique in terms of sharing different habits with one another. Mako is a pit bull who was rescued from a shelter by Bethany and Samantha Callister.
Bethany shared with The Dodo, “We joke that we didn’t really pick him, he picked us. When we went to the rescue shelter he had his back against the cage so we started petting him and he looked over his shoulder and gave direct eye contact and we just fell in love with the little guy.”
Mako settled into the routine of his new life and even adjusted well to having two cats around. After some time slowly introducing the animals to one another, Pecan and Gizmo eventually accepted Mako as part of the family. The pit bull was excited to have friends and he was very eager to spend as much time with them as possible. All the time spent together meant that soon, Mako was becoming more of a feline in his mannerisms. He began to display some very cat-like behaviors like climbing up onto the tops of cabinets and tables. But the biggest shock came when he managed to get on top of the refrigerator!
Bethany stated, “Whenever Mako sees the boys on the counters or cabinets he hops up to join them. He really just wants to be around the cats all the time. If he is not in the room with one of us humans, he’s with the cats.”
But that isn’t his only cat-like trait. Besides climbing onto strange surfaces, Mako is also known to play like a feline as well. According to his owners, he likes to play with cat toys and will often chase and jump after toys just like a cat. He also has a habit of joining Pecan and Gizmo on top of tables where the three of them stare out the window and bird watch. That is incredibly adorable!
While it’s unusual to have a dog that thinks he’s a cat, his family doesn’t care, and they love him just the same. And that is really all that matters.
