Deep friendship between a domestic cat and a wild cat: the bobcat

The emotional connection and friendship is tangible. There is no doubt that this bobcat is deeply emotionally involved with the ginger tabby-and-white domestic cat. Obviously, the bobcat is domesticated to a large extent. But wild cats never quite attain that level of domestication that domestic cats do. 

Deep friendship between a domestic cat and a wild cat: the bobcat. Screenshot.

But in this video, it almost looks like we are viewing two domestic cats. The behaviour of the bobcat is no different at all to a domestic cat. He or she is allogrooming which is mutual grooming. 

It is the kind of thing humans do to cats when we stroke them. It's a bonding exercise which is exactly what it looks like. And they lick the parts that the recipient cat can't get to for obvious reasons. They must do it totally instinctively. They know the part that cats can't get to and therefore they lick them. I think that pretty clever actually.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Boy has special relationship with neighbor's cat in suburbia

Boy has special relationship with neighbor's cat in suburbia. Screenshot.

This is a particularly delightful little video. It comes from Springfield, Oregon, USA. The encounter was videoed on December 7, 2021. His mom said:

"My son and I visit this cat in our neighborhood walks. She’s not a stray, just friendly."

Comment: it is great to see. I always think that children of this age learn to love animals more when they have these sorts of experiences. Is it probably fair to say that this boy inherited a love of animals. Perhaps all children like animals. That inherited characteristic is sometimes knocked out of them by their parents and early life experiences if they subsequently learn to dislike or even hate cats. But the inherited starting point for children is not to hate cats. That's my viewpoint.

Although, it is also plausible that humans might inherit an innate fear or anxiety around large cats because millennia ago they genuinely did prey on humans or they were competition to humans. But domestic cats are not large and I would suggest that the default attitude from children to domestic cats is either neutral or positive.

Note: This is a video from another website and embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Macaque and kitten - a close symbiotic interspecies friendship

This is an interspecies friendship story from Indonesia in 2010. You may have heard about it. I am a great fan of interspecies friendships and there are many to see on the Internet. This particular story comes from a book I have on these sort of friendships called Unlikely Friendships.

RELATED: Interspecies friendship: donkey and domestic cat

The macaque and the kitten. An interspecies friendship in which both found something that was missing in their lives. The picture is deemed to be in the public domain.

In Indonesia there is a sacred forest in the town of Ubud on the Indonesian island of Bali. In this place monkeys roam freely over a Hindu temple built many centuries ago. They are long-tailed macaques which are said to guard the temple from evil spirits.

A ginger tabby kitten strayed into the area and into the arms of one of these macaque primates. At this temple there are 300 macaques in four separate troops each with their own territory. People who saw the friendship develop were astonished.

One witness was Anne Young who was on vacation at the time visiting the Sacred Monkey Forest. She said the following:

"The pair had been together a few days, and whenever the park staff tried to capture the kitten, it would just run back to the monkey."

The macaque was a young male. He would groom the kitten. He would hug and nuzzle him and sometimes lay his head on the kitten's head. It was clear that he wanted to keep his kitten friend to himself. He became wary of the other macaques and indeed people who got too close. He would hide his 'prize' by climbing higher or going deep into the forest with his kitten in his arms.

On one occasion he used a leaf to cover the kitten. The kitten made no attempt to escape from the relationship. This macaque was not an alpha male or a leader.

It is believed that he was not getting a lot of attention from the other macaques and neither was he receiving attention from humans as they've become a nuisance in Ubud.

So the macaque found a friend and some attention as did the kitten. Perhaps they both craved friendship and a companion. It is probably as simple as that. A homeless kitten found a parent and a male primate found a child.

The story does not tell me how it ended. I'd like to know. Did they remain friends for the rest of the life of the cat?

Picture of a leopard who befriended a cow in defiance of usual instincts

In defiance of natural instincts, this female leopard crept through a sugarcane on an October night to find a cow tied up in a field. It's the way the villagers kept their livestock in this community on the banks of India's Dhadhar River at a village called Antoli. The cat did not harm the cow. The villagers were worried and asked the Forest Department to remove the leopard to a sanctuary nearby. 

The trappers turned up on what they saw shocked them. After several attempts to capture the leopard she returned to the area nightly. Sometimes many times during a single night. But she did not return as a predator but to her cow that it seems she regarded as her mother. She came for a cuddle.

Female leopard befriends a cow for months. Image: Believed now to be in the public domain.

She approached the cow cautiously and rubbed her head against the cow's head and then settled down against her body. In response, the cow would lick her leopard friend. She started at her head and neck and then the legs and any other area of the body that she could get to. The leopard clearly enjoyed the experience.

RELATED: Interspecies friendship: donkey and domestic cat

If the cow was asleep when the leopard arrived she would gently be woken up with a nuzzle to the leg. The leopard then lay down by her side. The leopard ignored cattle standing nearby. This happened for two months and the leopard showed up at around eight in the evening and stayed with the cow until the first signs of sunrise.

The villagers heard about this and were no longer worried about the need to capture the leopard. The benefit was that the leopard was preying on pigs, jackals and monkeys which meant that their crops improved. The cat stuck around for several weeks. On the last night when she was seen with the cow she came nine times before disappearing forever.

RELATED: Rooster play-fights with domestic cat

It is suggested that this female leopard had just become independent and was looking for a home range but being a young adult sought companionship and a mother. Perhaps her mother had been killed and she was not yet independent and therefore needed mothering until she felt able to be independent to find her own home range. When she reached adulthood and confidence she moved on. Nonetheless, the relationship was striking and counter to all the natural instincts and stories that we see and read about.

Video: cat snuggles up to toddler friend

This is cute. Domestic cats don't differentiate between adult humans and toddlers. They have no conception of the difference. Humans are companions or to use a scientific term: conspecifics or associates. The former word means of the same species. I believe that domestic cats almost certainly see us as fellow cats. They don't query why we look different and why our behavior is non-typical. 

Cat snuggles up to toddler friend. Screenshot.

They instinctively accept and adapt. The cat does not want to look at the cartoons being watched by the toddler! He just wants to be in contact with the girl. They've formed a close friendship. It is very nice to see. The girl will love cats all her life and other animals too I'd expect. She'll be a useful advocate for animal welfare I hope.

Floss (cat) and Inca (sheep) have a particularly strong bond

Floss and Inca have a particularly strong bond. Floss is said to be the friendliest cat in the world and Inca is probably the friendliest sheep so this is a very good friendship! And it will no doubt get better. To see a flourishing interspecies friendship developing is very nice indeed. I love to see them. 

Floss (cat) and Inca (sheep) have a particularly strong bond. Screenshot.

It's the first time that I've seen a domestic cat bonding with a sheep. Cats can make friends with almost any animal. I've seen cats head-butting fish! Yes, I've seen cats developing friendships with fish and you might well have seen domestic cats being very friendly with little chicks. It's all about socialisation which completely dampens out the natural instinct to hunt animals they would normally hunt and with whom they become very friendly. Although there is no explaining the cat-fish friendship :) 

Here is the tweet - these sometimes disappear. I can't stop that I am afraid and if it does not work, sorry.

Floss and Inca have a particularly strong bond 🥰 Floss is the friendliest cat in the world, and Inca probably the friendliest sheep, so a good friendship forming ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cwwx6Q5tzS

— SmallholdersUK (@SmallholdersUK) September 1, 2021

Nervous golden retriever meets new family member: a tiny kitten

@katiesquibb

My moms retriever and her new kitten that was rescued! ##goldenretriever ##kitten ##dogsofttiktok ##catsoftiktok

♬ original sound - Katie Squibb

They got to know each other and are in a close relationship. The dog is timid and enjoys the kitten's company. The kitten is braver as they climb on top of the dog to rest and feel warm and secure.

Nervous golden retriever meets new family member: a tiny kitten. Screenshot.

One day the video will stop playing but, in the meantime, enjoy. I don't control the existence of these videos.

CLICK THIS FOR A PILE OF INTERSPECIES FRIENDSHIPS

Cat becomes best friends with a neighbour's dog

This is a cute video of a cat who made friends with a neighbour's and enjoys meeting. Cats being friends with a dog is uncommon. It is probably relatively rare for a neighbouring cat and dog to become very friendly with each other. Jeffrey is very keen on the little dog. He pushes through the door until his caregiver assists. Nearly all ginger cats are male because the "O" gene signalling the creation of this colour is sex linked.

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Rescued dog parents and nurtures rescued kittens and it's beautiful

This is a great picture taken, I believe, by Rachel a nurse at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home who also fosters rescued animals at the shelter. She volunteered to foster some very young kittens who had been cruelly abandoned by the roadside. It's a hard job looking after kittens at that age and parenting them. 

Bertie a rescued Lab retriever parenting rescued kittens abandoned at 2-weeks-of-age at the roadside. Photo: Rachel of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

Bertie, her ex-Battersea rescued Labrador retriever stepped up to the plate and volunteered to help. He's done a great job and entertained Rachel at the same time. Rachel made the point that I want to make which is that it is wonderful to see a rescued dog looking after rescued kittens. 

It is a beautiful interspecies relationship which is in stark contrast to the relationship between the former owner of the abandoned kittens. It must have been incredibly poor for a person to throw away kittens on the roadside like that. 

It always bemuses me how people can do this. They must have abnormal brain function. A part of their brain is obviously missing because nobody can do something as cruel as that without something fundamental lacking in their mentality. Often it is down to poor education due to poor parenting but I don't know the background to the abandonment. What is clear though is that no one should ever throw away kittens at the roadside or in woods. There are rescue centers for these unwanted animals. Have the courage and decency to use them, please.

We see quite a lot of pictures of dogs parenting cats and kittens and vice versa. But rarely do we see a photograph this good in terms of its composition and the expressions on the faces of the animals. The lighting is pretty good too despite being artificial. I have to commend Rachel for the photograph if indeed she did take it. I expect she did because she was fostering the kittens and I believe still is.

Gentle horse befriends tiny kitten

Kitten and horse relationship is gorgeous. Screenshot.

There is a size barrier here! But there is love all around. The kitten brushes against the horse's nose while the horse smells the kitten's scent. It is gorgeous and super-tender. Horses and cats go together like apple pie and custard. There are so many examples of cats befriending horses at stables that we have to conclude that it is commonplace. Interspecies relationships are good for animal welfare. It makes humans sit up and pay attention to the sentience of animals and when we remind ourselves of it, we treat them with more respect.

19-month-old sibling cats breastfeeding on their dog mother

19-month-old cats breast feeding on a dog. Screenshot.

A strange video of a couple of adult cat siblings at 19-months-of-age breastfeeding on a dog who looks very gentle and accommodating. They were probably raised by the dog when newborns as the mother was unavailable for whatever reason. But I find it difficult to understand why the owner does not gently discourage it and ensure that they are fed good quality cat food. I am not sure that it is good for the cats to drink milk as adults. It implies that they don't want to become independent. It is an extended kittenhood. It is ironic because when they stop suckling at the 'mother's' breast they will become kittens to their human companion. The human will become the mother. Confusing for the cats! Not really because it is all instinctive.

The normal aspect of this video is that it is very common to see dogs raise cats and vice versa. It happens all the time with great success.  Kittens become independent at around 12 weeks old normally.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Pug meowed which confused cat companion

The caption states: "Occurred on May 17, 2021 - Australia: The video is of my little pug puppy, Layla. She is fascinated by the cat Oscar. She was barking at him and getting no response, she then meowed at him and Oscar quickly turned to look at him like wtf?"

Screenshot.

Comment: the pug does not meow! It is just the tailing-off sound of a bark. It seems the dog is almost yawning at the same time which modifies the vocalisation. And the cat is not responding to the sound but the presence of their dog companion. I think they are friends to a certain extent but the cat does not look that pleased! It is nice little vignette of life between dog and cat though.

Note: these sorts of video stop working over time because they are deleted on the website where they are held which is not this website. I can't control this. If it has disappeared, sorry.

Mother hen 'incubates' three tabby kittens

And extraordinary little video of a mother hen 'incubating' her three kittens! They crawl out from under her protective care in what appears to be a barn in Iraq. That is all we know. Except that it is not uncommon for mothers of one species of animal to raise the offspring of another animal. It is nice, isn't it? It is good to see. It restores our faith in the world or at least a little bit! Mothers do it naturally and humans do it too, all the time. These are interspecies relationships. I hope they make us more aware of the sentience of animals. An awareness of animal sentience improves animal welfare. Click on this link (opens new window) to see a cat protecting chickens! The exact opposite.

Mother hen protects and incubates three tabby kittens.

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@goran.surchi

😩😩

♬ الصوت الأصلي - goran.a_88

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Cat and baby deer play together (video) - interspecies relationships

The first thing I think about when I see video above - this sweet vignette of an example of an interspecies relationship - is the sport hunting of deer. Why do people find this relationship as shown in the video so charming (and it is) while at the same time allowing deer to be hunted in such large numbers in America? 

Cat likes to sleep in resident bird's cage

This ginger tabby-and-white domestic cat likes to sleep in the birdcage. But this is not an empty, redundant birdcage but one with a resident bird. This family has what looks like a parrot as well as their domestic cat. The owner of the two, Tracey Robinson, cannot understand why her cat prefers to sleep in the birdcage and not somewhere else.

I think she is saying that they are friends which has to be the case. In the photograph you can see the bird looking at their cat friend snoozing and wondering what to do next! He's probably a bit miffed because he has lost his home. I'm going to guess and say that this cat likes the smell of the cage because it is the smell of his friend, the bird.

Cat likes to sleep in the bird cage occupied by a bird.
Photo: Tracey Robinson

There is one interesting comment on the Facebook page of Tracey Robinson where this photograph comes from which states that cat saliva is toxic to birds. They say that it is possibly fatal even if the cat just snapped once. I think they mean that if the cat just snapped up the bird and a bit of saliva was ejected from their mouth onto the bird it may kill the bird. I have never heard of that but it is an interesting thought.

A quick Internet search confirms this. On the Bird Conservancy website they say that the bacteria in cat saliva is toxic to birds. However, what they are referring to is a bite by the cat which if it doesn't kill the cat the saliva might. This therefore is no different to many other animals. Cat saliva can be injected into people's legs and hands causing a severe infection if it is left unattended.

Cat bite signs of infection. Image: MikB.

The key element of this aspect of cat caretaking is that if you are bitten by a cat and it breaks the skin causing a genuine minor injury then you must watch for a possible infection. I have a page on that and the photograph below is self explanatory.

Every day cat greets woman going to work on her bike

"On my way to my previous workplace i met every morning this cat at the same spot. She jumped always on my lap while i was on my bicycle and collected her daily cuddles...."

on my way to my previous workplace i met every morning this cat at the same spot. She jumped always on my lap while i was on my bicycle and collected her daily cuddles ☺️ from r/aww

Note: videos on this site are typically made by people other than me and held on YouTube servers or the servers of other businesses (not the server storing this website). Sometimes the videos are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened I apologise but I have no control over it.

Once again, this is a particularly sweet story. I actually feel very sorry for this cat. Perhaps I should not. But, the cat needs company. And as you can see in the words of the woman she mentions her "previous workplace". This means that she no longer takes this route, I believe. This in turn means that this cat no longer meets this woman. So neither of them can enjoy their company. I wonder how the cat feels. I would bet that she feels lonely and misses her human, female companion.

It was a small thing but a quite unimportant part of their lives. After all, the woman felt it important enough to post the story to the Reddit.com website. Clearly it made an impact on her life and the same must be said about the cat.

It is these little things which enhance our lives. I would guess that this cat's owner is away all day and the cat is allowed outside which is why she is looking for company. Of course, I am guessing and I could be completely wrong but my gut feeling takes me to that thought. Because a cat is domesticated they need the company of their human companion.

There is a misconception by some people that cats are independent and can be left alone all day while they are at work. This is not true. Of course they can be left alone but after a few hours they will be waiting for their human friend to come home. It's called separation anxiety. Call it what you like. They need companionship. I feel sorry for cats who have to endure this loneliness. There is not much choice for the person because they have to work.

The only choice they have is not to adopt a cat and hopefully the cat that they would have adopted goes to a home where the person is around most of the day.

Every day this cat greets woman going to work on her bike. Screenshot.

Young confident cat cures elderly dog of separation anxiety

This is a beautiful picture of a young, confident cat, Pete, lying next to an elderly dog, Lucy, who suffered (past tense!) from separation anxiety when Joe's job took him away from the family home for long periods. Jo's wife, Lindsey, was at her wits end because Lucy's separation anxiety was acute. As soon as Joe packed his suitcase she'd start whimpering and when he left she wouldn't get out of bed.

She wouldn't go to the bathroom and everything she tried to assuage her separation anxiety failed. Her children, aged 3 and 6, wanted a new pet anyway, and I suppose this encouraged her to try that route. She decided to adopt a young cat rather than another dog as a companion for Lucy and made enquiries at a Pennsylvanian animal shelter called Forever Home Animal Rescue.

Young confident cat cures elderly dog of separation anxiety. Picture: Lindsey Getz.

They were 'advertising' Pete on their website, I presume, describing him as laid back with a really easy-going temperament. An ideal cat she thought although you can never be sure that it is going to work out when you introduce a new companion animal to a home where there is a resident companion animal. Interspecies relationships are more problematic as well.

She shouldn't have been worried because Pete was very well socialised to dogs and that factor in combination with his confident and laid-back nature leapfrogged all the barriers that could have been presented. On the day he was brought home from the rescue center he was lying next to Lucy in the evening cuddling up.

Initially he was a bit fearful and hid for a day or two but Pete quickly became friends with the kids and importantly with Lucy. Lucy had a companion, a substitute to Joe, and Pete was looking after Lucy. Her separation anxiety faded. It is still there but to a much lesser extent. It is almost a cure and of course Lindsey is delighted because she has resolved what she no doubt saw as a major problem in her life.

She says that her life has been transformed for the better in solving Lucy's separation anxiety and in addition, both the lives of Lucy and of course of Pete have also been transformed. And Joe doesn't have to worry any more about Lucy being troubled with his departures. He can do his job without being concerned about Lucy's anxieties. Perhaps that makes him feel better as well because no doubt when you love your companion animals if your behaviour causes anxieties in them it will cause anxiety in you as well.

The lesson is that sometimes taking a chance on introducing a cat into a home where a dog suffers from anxieties of this nature can be hugely beneficial to both animals and to their owners.

Note: this story is from 2016 but it counts as it is educational as well as beautiful.

Is this lion greeting the dog or asking for forgiveness?

A funny bloke on YouTube said that the lion was "taste testing!". It made me laugh. The video maker said that this white lion is asking his dog companion for forgiveness. He picks up the dog's right leg and it is almost as if he kisses the paw. It is a very gentle and friendly act. You will find nothing on this type of lion behaviour in the best books on the wild cat species so we have to work it out for ourselves.

 

In my opinion the lion is not asking for forgiveness. He is simply greeting the dog in a friendly manner. It's almost like handshaking and it practically mimics the handshake of humans (but not during the corona virus pandemic!). There may be an element of reinforcing friendship in the greeting which is what friendly greetings are all about anyway. 

Immediately after the "handshake" the dog turns and leads the way. The lion follows. Perhaps the dog is the leader in this super duo? This is my interpretation. There is one thing certain: they are very close emotionally. They have formed an incredibly strong bond which clearly indicates that they were raised together and have lived side by side since they were toddlers to use language designed for people.

Emotions and self-awareness

The act of asking for forgiveness requires that the non-human animal or human animal (human) asking knows that they're done something wrong. The way that they know they have done something wrong is by measuring their behaviour against some standard or norm. Those standards and norms come from society in the human world. Can dogs and lions have their own standards and norms that relate to a friendship like this? I would doubt it. 

Also the act of forgiveness probably also requires the ability to be self-aware. You have to be able to look at yourself from outside yourself, objectively. It's as if you are measuring your behaviour against some standard and this requires self-awareness. There are doubts, considerable doubts, as to whether cats can be self-aware. There are also doubts about the higher emotions in domestic and wild cats. Forgiveness is born out of a feeling of guilt and perhaps shame. These are higher emotions. I would doubt that the lion feels these emotions. This is not to in any way denigrate this beautiful relationship and the tender behaviour of this fantastic looking lion. I'm just trying to look at it realistically.

Friendship

It is well known that cats make friends with other cats and have interspecies friendships with, for example, dogs. Cats have friendly greetings like the tail-up position and the nose touch. Friendship is based upon affection and affection is an emotion which most people agree cats can experience. Of course dogs make friends with other dogs and their owners as well. These thoughts support my assessment that what we see in the video is a very friendly greeting which may have been trained into the lion and the dog by their owner. We don't know.