For centuries, cats and dogs were considered enemies. In the latest years, though, this myth has been debunked. This went so far that many owners now wonder can dog mate with cat and is such an offspring possible.
Kids especially are prone to having such ideas, and many parents don’t know how to respond.
The internet has made everything even more confusing, with several viral clips of dog and cat mating.
So, can dog mate with cat and make her pregnant? While we’re confident many know the answer, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the topic.
Can Dog Mate with Cat?
The most straightforward answer to this would be: No, a dog cannot successfully mate with a cat and create offspring. Cat’s genome is significantly different than dog one. They have different anatomy, illnesses, etc.
Dogs are prone to mounting objects, people, and other animals. However, mounting isn’t always a sign of mating. It is a very complicating habit, and many things might cause it.
Why Is Your Dog Mounting a Cat?
So, if a dog mounting a cat isn’t mating, why does he do this?
There are many reasons why your dog might be mounting other animals, such as:
- A display of dominance
- Play
- Stress
- Masturbation
- Health concerns
They do that to masturbate, but also to demonstrate their dominance. Aggressive dogs are likely to mount other animals, along with other, more straightforward, aggressive behaviors. This includes direct eye contact that seems intimidating, standing over things and high posture.
Some dogs mount cats and other animals during playtime. This can lead to an erection, which is why you might confuse it with mating or other sexual play.
However, chances are your dog and cat are just playing. Contrary to popular belief, cats and dogs can be friends, and they’ll often play together.
If you notice your dog mounting your cat during play or even vice versa, you shouldn’t be concerned.
Chances are, this is entirely friendly.
However, they might still hurt each other, so you should monitor their behavior. This is especially important if you notice your dog exhibiting this type of behavior often.
If that is the case, your dog might be stressed out due to some unknown reasons. Pay attention to whether your dog eats and sleeps well.
If stress isn’t the reason, you might want to spay or neuter your animals.
While this won’t stop the mounting all together, your dog will be able to control his urges easily.
Try to distract your dog when you notice he is getting ready to mount your cat or any other object. Some signs that your dog is preparing to mount include:
- Licking
- Pawing
- Panting
If the behavior continues, the best thing you should do is separate your pets for a while. Keep him isolated to ensure he’s calmed down.
If you have trouble keeping your dog away from a cat, contact a licensed trainer. These professionals are experienced with such behaviors, and they’ll know how to help. Redirecting a dog’s energy is the key to stopping this annoying habit.
Keep in mind that on some occasions, mounting is a sign of a health issue. This may include UTI, skin allergies, even urinary incontinence.
The erections your dog is experiencing might not be there for mating reasons, but they are a sign of pain.
In such occasions, dogs will mount as this is the only way to find relief. If you suspect that your pooch is having any kind of health problems, you should contact your vet immediately. Not addressing the problem can lead to severe conditions.
On rare occasions, your cat might be the one mounting your dog. If this occurs, the reasons remain the same, and you should treat the situation the same way.
However, mounting isn’t unusual, and it’s regular animal behavior. This shouldn’t concern you.
Can Dog Mate with Cat and Have Offspring?
While dogs can mount cats, the creation of babies is impossible. There are many reasons why this is so. First off, their entire reproductive cycle is different.
They have very different mating cycles, and their mating times are different. Also, their reproductive organs are very much different.
However, the most obvious reason is that they belong to two very different species. A dog’s sperm isn’t able to fertilize a cat’s egg.
Only sperm from the same family of animals can fertilize an egg. This means that dogs can’t impregnate cats can’t impregnate dogs.
Even scientists aren’t yet able to make such a crossbreed.
Another reason connected to the previous one is that dogs’ and cats’ chromosomes don’t match. Because of this, there is no way they could procreate.
Dogs and cats don’t have the same gestation periods. Also, their external and internal features are very different.
Because of this, it is unlikely that they will even try to mate. Male dogs feel attraction towards female dogs based on their smell and sound.
The same goes for male cats, which will only look for female cats. Dogs simply won’t find cats sexually attractive.
Not just that, but male felines have barbed penises. They stick to a female during mating. If male cats were to mate with female dogs, they might cause harm to them.
Female dogs’ reproductive organs aren’t made to accommodate that type of penises. Still, even if somehow they could mate, that act wouldn’t result in babies.
Can Dog Mate with Cat in a Lab?
Scientists love creating hybrids, and they one day might manage to create a cat and dog hybrid.
So far, all hybrids are descendants of the same animal or plant species – for example, a Pomeranian and Husky.
Even hybrids of lion and tiger are possible. This can result in several forms, such as:
- Structural hybrids
- Permanent hybrids
- Numerical hybrids
- Genetic hybrids
Scientists have completed such transformations in both animals and plants. One typical example of this is a mule, which is a crossbreed of a donkey and horse.
Another good example is a liger, an offspring of a lion and tiger.
Sadly, there are many limitations to crossbreeding, even if it’s done between the same species. Most hybrids are sterile, and others even have many health issues and deformities.
This is because of many differences in the physiological processes of the animals in question. It is out of the question that cat and dog offspring would have trouble surviving.
Even if it were possible to create a baby from a cat and dog, it wouldn’t live very long. Such hybrids don’t have the right genetics.
Theoretically speaking, though, you could split the genomes of a cat and dog in two and combine them.
This would enable you to take preferable features from one animal and combine it with the genetics of the other one. While this hybrid wouldn’t look like a half-dog, half-cat creature, it would have some features from both.
However, there are many things wrong with just attempting to do this.
First and foremost, such a task is unethical and immoral. Even if this wasn’t enough to stop you, there really isn’t any benefit you would get from such a hybrid.
There isn’t any medical or even aesthetical purpose to it.
The only reason why such experiments are occasionally conducted is to satisfy human curiosity.
Science is developing every single day, and who knows what will it discover tomorrow. Maybe a day when we would change our answer to the “Can dog mate with cat?” question is near.
Still, at the moment, such a task remains impossible.
What Are Biological Differences Between a Cat and Dog?
Since we’ve already mentioned that there are some biological differences between these two species, it’s only natural to explain them.
The main biological difference that is at stake here is their different mating cycle. (source)
Now, we’ll be very clear: There are some similarities between a dog’s and cat’s reproductive process.
For example, both have heat several times a year, which is the only period during which females get pregnant. The average gestation period is 66, and the typical number of puppies or kittens is 3 to 6.
However, this doesn’t negate the differences we’ve spoken about before. Their reproductive organs simply don’t match each other.
At the same time, dogs and cats have many differences. Dogs are omnivores, while cats are carnivores.
This, on its own, can cause some issues, as these two digestive systems aren’t the same. Then, there are differences in size and their behavior and instincts.
Creating a mixture of the two wouldn’t be sustainable. Such a hybrid wouldn’t be able to survive, even with the help of a human.
What about Reports of Cat x Dog Hybrids?
A lot of people wonder can dog mate with cat after they’ve seen some pictures on the internet.
While most modern pictures are a proven hoax, there are few semi-reliable reports of a cat x dog hybrid.
The first report comes from the Journal of Heredity, and it investigates two experiments, Sternberger 1937a and Sternberger 1937b.
Sternberger claimed to have successfully created a cat and dog hybrid using a male dog and a female cat. He even stated that the hybrid could reproduce on its own.
Two pictures accompany this report as a seemingly definite proof of the experiment’s success.
However, even back then, pictures could be edited, and there aren’t any other reliable mentions of Sternberger and his experiment.
Another notable report comes from the Royal Lombardo Institute of Sciences and Letters, Milan, Italy.
Veterinary anatomist, Alessio Lemoigne, reported about two cat x dog hybrids. He claimed that he owned a cat that was scared of other cats, particularly females.
However, his feline was very friendly with dogs.
During the winter of 1876, when the cat was in heat, he had a visitor come over with a small, mongrel dog.
The two mated, and nine weeks later, his cat gave birth to two babies. One was in bad condition.
It looked like a dog, but its muzzle was naked, and its ears were long.
Not many other information exists, except that this offspring looked so monstrous that Lemoigne threw it out on the streets.
The other offspring looked just like a regular cat. Lemoigne swore that his cat would never go outside and that it hated other cats in the house.
In other words, she never mated with anyone except the guest’s dog.
Still, this isn’t good proof that dogs can mate with cats. There are still chances that Lemogine’s cat mated with a male cat without him knowing it.
Also, all of this could simply be a hoax. As this happened over a century ago, we will probably never know.
Read Also: Why Does My Dog Hump My Boyfriend
Bottom Line
So, can dog mate with cat? The most straightforward answer would be no. That is far away from a dogs normal mating process. However, your dog might still mount your cat, but this wouldn’t result in offspring.
In fact, such an act couldn’t even be considered mating.
Science might develop enough so that one day creation of a hybrid is possible. At this moment, though, we couldn’t support such experiments.
Cats and dogs are lovely pets that can be good friends and play-mates. We should leave it at that.
