The Cat and the Canine

IF a dog is man's best friend and a treecat is man's best friend,

THEN a dog and a treecat could be best friends.

In my lifetime, I have seen some unlikely friendships in the animal kingdom. Like dogs and cats in domestic situations, and many more. But, it seems as if a friendship between a treecat and a dog would be inevitable.

Why shan't Nimitz have a pet?

penny wrote:IF a dog is man's best friend and a treecat is man's best friend,

THEN a dog and a treecat could be best friends.

In my lifetime, I have seen some unlikely friendships in the animal kingdom. Like dogs and cats in domestic situations, and many more. But, it seems as if a friendship between a treecat and a dog would be inevitable.

I remember Nimitz learned about Frisbee by watching Alfred Harrington playing with their dog.

However, there's no textev of Nimitz playing with the dog, or how well they went along (although we could assume it could have been mentioned at that context if the relationship had been too bad.)

penny wrote:IF a dog is man's best friend and a treecat is man's best friend,

THEN a dog and a treecat could be best friends.

In my lifetime, I have seen some unlikely friendships in the animal kingdom. Like dogs and cats in domestic situations, and many more. But, it seems as if a friendship between a treecat and a dog would be inevitable.

I think that it's more likely now that the cats can "talk" to people. Now they can better express their interests in things other than "their" two legs,

And for cats that havn't adopted or are not interested in adopting a two leg, they may have more interest in living in the two legs world and sharing some two leg ideas about having a pet for company.

Some say that you are either a dog person or a cat person.
If that is true then RFC and Larry Niven are both cat people.
RFC because of the treecats, and very little mention of dogs in his books.
Larry Niven because of the Kzinti, also little mention of dogs, and the claim that with carnivores baring your teeth in a smile is seen as a threat never a sign of happiness. The broad smiles of my dogs over the years when they were happy, indicates that Larry didn't know dogs.

Daryl wrote:Some say that you are either a dog person or a cat person.
If that is true then RFC and Larry Niven are both cat people.
RFC because of the treecats, and very little mention of dogs in his books.
Larry Niven because of the Kzinti, also little mention of dogs, and the claim that with carnivores baring your teeth in a smile is seen as a threat never a sign of happiness. The broad smiles of my dogs over the years when they were happy, indicates that Larry didn't know dogs.

Interesting. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall David ever mentioning a dog. His big Maine cat has come up a time or two. And those things can get as big as some dogs. But, you're right, the author's affinity or lack thereof for canines may play an integral part of whether a canine will ever make it into storyline. Even though that particular friendship seems to be inevitable.

It could also depend on a cat's opportunity to interact with a dog. The planet in question should also play a huge role. Manticore and Grayson would seem to be dog friendly planets. Their gravity should be amenable. I can't see man spreading across the galaxy without at least wanting to take along a dog.

At any rate, a cat and a canine may even learn to communicate in some form or fashion. Anyway, before the great celery heist that introduced two-legs and cats, there should have been plenty of dogs as pets.

penny wrote:

Daryl wrote:Some say that you are either a dog person or a cat person.
If that is true then RFC and Larry Niven are both cat people.
RFC because of the treecats, and very little mention of dogs in his books.
Larry Niven because of the Kzinti, also little mention of dogs, and the claim that with carnivores baring your teeth in a smile is seen as a threat never a sign of happiness. The broad smiles of my dogs over the years when they were happy, indicates that Larry didn't know dogs.

Interesting. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall David ever mentioning a dog. His big Maine cat has come up a time or two. And those things can get as big as some dogs. But, you're right, the author's affinity or lack thereof for canines may play an integral part of whether a canine will ever make it into storyline. Even though that particular friendship seems to be inevitable.

It could also depend on a cat's opportunity to interact with a dog. The planet in question should also play a huge role. Manticore and Grayson would seem to be dog friendly planets. Their gravity should be amenable. I can't see man spreading across the galaxy without at least wanting to take along a dog.

At any rate, a cat and a canine may even learn to communicate in some form or fashion. Anyway, before the great celery heist that introduced two-legs and cats, there should have been plenty of dogs as pets.

Didn't Honor or Stephanie have a Dog when they got inoto trouble in the bush, then met a tree cat?

penny wrote:

Daryl wrote:Some say that you are either a dog person or a cat person.
If that is true then RFC and Larry Niven are both cat people.
RFC because of the treecats, and very little mention of dogs in his books.
Larry Niven because of the Kzinti, also little mention of dogs, and the claim that with carnivores baring your teeth in a smile is seen as a threat never a sign of happiness. The broad smiles of my dogs over the years when they were happy, indicates that Larry didn't know dogs.

Interesting. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall David ever mentioning a dog. His big Maine cat has come up a time or two. And those things can get as big as some dogs. But, you're right, the author's affinity or lack thereof for canines may play an integral part of whether a canine will ever make it into storyline. Even though that particular friendship seems to be inevitable.

It could also depend on a cat's opportunity to interact with a dog. The planet in question should also play a huge role. Manticore and Grayson would seem to be dog friendly planets. Their gravity should be amenable. I can't see man spreading across the galaxy without at least wanting to take along a dog.

At any rate, a cat and a canine may even learn to communicate in some form or fashion. Anyway, before the great celery heist that introduced two-legs and cats, there should have been plenty of dogs as pets.

Didn't Honor or Stephanie have a Dog when they got inoto trouble in the bush, then met a tree cat?

penny wrote:Interesting. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall David ever mentioning a dog. His big Maine cat has come up a time or two. And those things can get as big as some dogs. But, you're right, the author's affinity or lack thereof for canines may play an integral part of whether a canine will ever make it into storyline. Even though that particular friendship seems to be inevitable.

It could also depend on a cat's opportunity to interact with a dog. The planet in question should also play a huge role. Manticore and Grayson would seem to be dog friendly planets. Their gravity should be amenable. I can't see man spreading across the galaxy without at least wanting to take along a dog.

At any rate, a cat and a canine may even learn to communicate in some form or fashion. Anyway, before the great celery heist that introduced two-legs and cats, there should have been plenty of dogs as pets.

The main protagonist in Out of the Dark has a pair of German shepherds named Merlin and Nimue and they get a decent amount of page time for normal pets. Safehold also features at least one dog that is mentioned a few times. I don't think it's an authorial dislike of dogs so much as Honor has Nimitz and a life that really doesn't accommodate having other pets.

Daryl wrote:Some say that you are either a dog person or a cat person.
If that is true then RFC and Larry Niven are both cat people.
RFC because of the treecats, and very little mention of dogs in his books.
Larry Niven because of the Kzinti, also little mention of dogs, and the claim that with carnivores baring your teeth in a smile is seen as a threat never a sign of happiness. The broad smiles of my dogs over the years when they were happy, indicates that Larry didn't know dogs.

Which is a good point, but RFC HAS had stories (or at least one story) with dogs in them, Out of the Dark as someone brought up.

I think the point of Penny's topic is whether the CATS would be interested in having a relationship with a dog.and I happen to think that a "modern" cat one that is no longer hiding from two legs, and is getting out and about in the day to day lives of regular non adopted two legs probably WOULD find more chances of being around, and interacting with man's best friend.

Maybe they would ever become a cat's best friend is unlikely, but I DO think that they would BE friends with a dog.