I recently asked friends online a question that provoked some very interesting answers!
I wanted to know if they’d ever had—or have now—a pet (of any species) who had a best friend (non-human) of a species not its own. I asked, “Your pet (any species) is/was BEST FRIENDS with another animal (any non-human species)?!? Tell us all about it, please! What’s the story behind the friendship? Who are the two besties and when did their friendship occur? What did you and your pet—and the bestie—learn from the relationship?”
Here are some of their answers, and a couple of photos, too!
Amy Suggars (Ohio) My cat and my dog were very good friends. They played together and napped together. But the cat took that relationship to a whole new level! I have a jar on my kitchen counter filled with dog treats. One day while I was working in my home office, I heard noise coming from the kitchen. I thought I heard my dog crunching on something. I quietly snuck into the kitchen to see what she was up to. What I found was my dog sitting attentively next to the counter while my cat was sitting on the counter next to the treat jar. I noticed that I had left the lid off the jar. And then I saw my cat dip her paw into the treat jar and pull out a treat. I expected her to start gnawing on it. Instead, she pushed it with her paw off the counter and directly to the dog! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes! My cat got a treat out of the jar for the dog!!!
Deb Hunt (Washington) My pets have all been rescued—various scenarios with each—but the most surprising was a Cockatoo Boogie (he loved to dance). I have always had ‘swinging doors’ of various pets coming and going, but this bird picked a Rottweiler, Junk Yard Jane, who was literally rescued from a junk yard. She was a fearful pup, he a large-and-take-charge bird, but they loved each other so much. He loved to preen her hair and declare her “Pretty.” It was heartbreaking the day she passed; he had difficulty accepting it. He was a chatterbox, professing his love, calling her a “Pretty Girl,” and requesting they play while stating “Love YOU.” I hung her collar on his kennel and he never shredded it, just rubbed his beak on it while stating, “Love a Love a YOU.”
Sheri McEachran (Washington) I had an amazing lab-mix rescue named Jake who played with our kitten and the guinea pig by using only his front two paws while lying down. The kitten loved to jump all over him and they even slept together. The guinea pig loved to frolic with Jake … much to the astonishment of others. I had a house-trained rabbit named Harvey who befriended a mouse who lived in our yard. We had another cat (Meow Kitty) who gave one of our dogs massages. The list goes on …
Christine Hale Vertucci (Tennessee) Chica the cat loved all of our dogs, starting with Chyna, but she and Omar were practically inseparable. When Omar was recovering from the dog flu in 2016, Chica never left his side, and when Chica had to be confined after a surgery, Omar slept next to her crate. When it was Chica’s time at 24 years, we elected for a home euthanasia and had the dogs present, because we knew that would make her the most comfortable.
Photo by Christine Hale Vertucci
Jennifer Grant (New Mexico) My horse loved a cow on the other side of the fence. Horses need company.
Caro Janmaat (The Netherlands) Once I was convinced my dog loved horses. Whenever we visited my sister, his first stop was the GFG (Great Friendly Giant). Whether the horse was in the paddock or stables, my dog would find him and they would “hang out.” When GFG died, my dog still walked the stables and the paddock looking for him. When the next horse arrived, my dog wasn’t interested in the least. There are now two more horses and my dog still likes to roam the stables and the paddock. He values the horses as big walking treat dispensers, but he’s never made the connection he had with GFG. GFG was his horse friend.
Photo by Caro Janmaat
Adrienne Critchlow (United Kingdom) Not my dog, but one of my assistant trainer’s. She has a four-year-old German Shepherd whose best friend is her mum’s tortoise. Rebecca looks after the tortoise when her mum goes on holiday, and Margot, her dog, sits in front of the tortoise’s habitat every morning until someone lets him out. Tortoise and dog then spend the day together, often cuddling up (as much as one can cuddle with a tortoise) when he buries himself in her neck fur, or slowly wandering the garden playing little games of chase. If Rebecca’s mum doesn’t have a holiday booked, then the tortoise often has to come for play dates, as Margot gets tortoise withdrawal symptoms if she doesn’t see him as often as she feels she should.
Does your pet have a bestie who’s another non-human species?
Years ago, my golden retriever Jack adopted his own bestie! The next-door neighbors’ cat had an unplanned litter and, when they were old enough to go outside with the mother cat on a sunny day, the neighbors escorted the litter to their front yard, which adjoined ours. The litter stuck near their mother, investigating the new environment slowly, with little confidence. Eventually, one kitten bravely left the mother cat’s side, ranging further across the lawn. My dog, from the steps of our porch, spotted him, focused on him, and watched him intently—without moving—until the litter returned inside. Days later, when the litter was again outside, my dog very, very, slowly came closer to the kitten, approaching without obvious intention, until the kitten, clearly interested, chose to allow the approach without concern.
I was delighted to observe the final nose-to-nose meeting. I was been sitting quietly on the porch steps, supervising the situation to make sure the meeting went without unfortunate incident, which it did. For several days, this scene was repeated, with my dog and his new kitten acquaintance investigating each other with great interest. I asked my neighbor if they might consider letting me adopt the kitten. My neighbor was not sure; they hadn’t decided if they might keep any kittens.
Days later, a knock on our front door. It was the neighbor—in her arms, wrapped in a towel, the kitten my dog had developed a crush on, just bathed and clean. The family had decided that our house would certainly be a good home for the little guy and, if my dog and I still wanted him, he was ours to keep.
We did. They were besties for life.
