Cats can live happily with dogs... if puss is in charge

be over the years, they found. Where there is any animosity, it is more likely to feature the cat being aggressive to the dog rather than the other way round. But actual injury despite threats to scratch is very rare.

The online survey involved homes in Britain, the US, Canada and Australia.

Of those with both types of pet, 83 per cent reported that the cat was comfortable with the canine and 92 per cent said the dog was comfortable living with a feline.

Cats are more likely to roll over in front of the dog than the other way round but dogs are more likely to be happy to share their food or bed.

The report said: “Although cats and dogs were rarely perceived as being uncomfortable together, cats were perceived to be more frequently uncomfortable with dogs than vice versa.”

Evolutionary reasons behind the results could be down to dogs being domesticated a lot earlier than cats.

This leads to them being, as a species, better behaved and more controllable than cats.

Dogs, being bigger, could feel more comfortable with a smaller animal around them than the other way round.

And though they can get along, the survey found that: “Very few owners scored their cat-dog relationship a nine or 10, indicating that although the relationship could largely be considered amicable, it was rarely close.”