“When Your Cat Has Grown Up With Dogs”

You can usually tell when a cat has grown up around dogs by their demeanor. They seem to carry themselves a bit differently. They aren’t as aloof as normal cats and are more inclined to seek human contact. Sometimes, you might even hear them bark. Yes, barking cats do exist.

Videos by InspireMore

People have watched that video and others, and seem to try to find every reason under the sun why that is not a bark. That cat has asthma, and it’s wheezing. That’s a cough, not a bark. He’s getting ready to hock up a hairball. Some people will try any excuse to avoid the truth. We conducted some research, and although it is rare, we discovered that cats do bark.

Samantha Bell is a cat behavior expert with Best Friends Animal Society, who says, “A cat’s anatomy allows them to make a barking noise that sounds like a dog, it’s just not common for them to vocalize in this way.” Many times, a cat’s bark may sound like a gruff, no-nonsense meow.

Veterinary behaviorist Nicholas Dodman, who is also a professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University says, “The arrangement of the cat’s larynx, trachea and diaphragm is similar enough to a dog’s that if they operate the machinery in the right way, it will produce a noise that’s like a bark.” He states that it is not common, but does occur.

That brings us full circle to the nature versus nurture argument. In most instances of a barking cat, the animal has been raised with dogs. Like human children, kittens will mimic what they hear to the best of their ability. They learn from dogs.

Please share if these barking cats are adorable.

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.