Interspecies Pals

It’s always fun to see our animals getting along well. Dogs often have best friends among their packs. In multi-cat households, it’s not uncommon to find two cats who will always play or sleep together.

I’m particularly fascinated when animals of different species buddy up. In our house, Magic moved in and took over not only home and human family, but Kira’s heart as well. This odd couple are best friends. Their playtime antics keep us in stitches. They even (I’m not crazy, I swear) go potty together.

At bedtime, we take Kira out for a before-bed pee. I’ll tell her, “It’s time to go pee-pee,” and she heads for the laundry room. In that room is the back door to the fenced-in dog yard … and Magic’s litter box. As soon as he sees Kira heading for her evening constitutional, nine nights out of ten, he’ll trot to his litter box and pee, as well. I’ll come in, scoop his box (I’m a bit OCD about that—it gets scooped every time he uses it), and finish getting everyone ready for bed.

The other night, we did the usual routine, but Kira also pooped. This is not something she normally does in the evening. Her habit is to do that first thing in the morning, so it surprised me. I cleaned up, and we came back inside. When I went to scoop Magic’s box?

Yup. He’d pooped.

Do my dog and cat have a telepathic potty link?

Some famous animals have had interspecies friendships, as well. The phenomenal racehorse, Seabiscuit, they say, was attached to a stray dog called Pocatell, and a spider monkey (of all critters) called Jo-Jo. Horses, in fact, frequently befriend animals of other species. I’ve known of horses attached to dogs, cats, and even goats.

It’s not uncommon for high-strung horses like Thoroughbreds to become anxious when travelling. Trainers will often bring along companion animals to help keep their charges calm.

In my 4-H youth, I knew an appaloosa stallion named Diablo. “Dee” loved the barn cats, and would even let them sleep on his back. He would move carefully around his stall, to avoid disturbing his furry friends.

Elephants in sanctuaries have been known to adopt stray dogs. One well-known pair were Tarra the elephant, and her inseparable friend–a little white stray the caregivers named Bella. Tarra was so attached to Bella that, when Bella was killed by coyotes, Tarra carried the body back to the barn with her trunk.

One of the best-known animals to adopt other species was the gorilla, Koko. Koko became famous for communicating with her people through sign language. She demonstrated an intelligence far in advance of what humans believed gorillas were capable of. Koko adopted a number of kittens in her lifetime. The most famous of these was the first, a Manx kitty whom she named herself: All Ball. After All Ball was tragically killed by a car, causing Koko clear and obvious grief, she adopted other kitty friends as well. Lipstick and Smoky, also Manx, were next. At the time of her death in 2018, Koko’s cats were Ms. Gray and Ms. Black. One of Koko’s caregivers adopted the cats after Koko passed away.

Do you have a pair of unlikely pals in your family? I would love to hear about them, whether in the comments on the blog or on social media. Pictures, of course, are more than welcome where available.