The thing is, my puppy will play very roughly when I am there, if I go somewhere else she just cuddles with my kitty. The kitty never scratches her or anything, but clearly dislikes the rough play.
Why does this happens?
Answer:
Anonymous: Because thats how puppies learn and kittens, they learn how to fight through play and they learn how is the boss.
It can easily get nasty though or even the cat could be killed, so its better to discourage it. I know of someone whos cat lived alongside their dog all of its life, until it was older and then the dogs turned on it and killed it.
Dogs will fight often if one of them gets elderly and cannot defend its place in the pack, dogs and cats fight to figure out who is boss and where everyone else is, its their survival mechanism. Even horses and birds do it, infact most animals do who are not solitary but live in groups. Humans do it to each other, often in more subtle ways though.
Not all dogs are cat savy, not all dogs will recognise that the cat is not a dog and its skin is thinner and its jaw not as strong and that it cannot fight with the same strength, other dogs will accept a cat as 'boss' and also aknowledge that they cannot play as rough with a cat as they can another dog. Its upto the owner to use logic to differenciate and to intervene if the cat needs protecting.
Narissa: Just playing. Just make sure to supervise and separate when you can't. Keep the cats claws trimmed. I know of a dog that lost it's eye at 12 weeks by a cat swatting at him just at the right angle. It happens all the time because it's not hard to do.
