Person goes on a walk to play fetch with their dog when a meowing kitten suddenly comes running at them, making it known that she wants to be adopted: '[She] is the most affectionate cat I've ever seen'

Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor

Jun 28, 2026 3:00 PM EDT

If cats and dogs hate each other so much, why is it that kittens keep choosing households with dogs to adopt them?

It is a myth as old as time. Cats and dogs hate one another. A myth, yes. Because it is clearly untrue. Cats and dogs are very different animals, and there is no dispute there. But that doesn't mean that they hate each other. Of course, we can say that to people all day long, but they still don't believe it. Cats and dogs are too different. The only way for them to potentially get along is for them to be born and raised together. That's what we are told. And that is not true either.

After explaining doesn't work, we try to show people. There are so many pictures of cats and dogs being friends that you can find online. Heart-meltingly adorable proof that cats and dogs can be the closest buds. But no, that is not enough. Those are just "internet pictures". There are pictures online of anything and everything, and that is especially true in a world where we can't tell the difference between real and AI anymore.

But one thing is not fake. Not yet. Stories. Personal stories that people share, on places like r/cats, with endless pictures to accompany them. These stories of kittens popping up out of nowhere and approaching people with dogs on walks - these are the ultimate pieces of proof that cats and dogs don't need to be raised together to become friends. Sometimes, they just choose each other. It's the work of fate. Of the CDS. Cats choose to adopt dogs or to be adopted by dogs so often that, honestly, we think the myth about cats and dogs inherently hating one another should have been thrown out the window a long time ago.

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"Found kitten behind our fence."

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Oh, with a face like this… we would not have been able to resist adopting her either. And 3 dogs would not have been enough to stop us. It's fate. Of course it is. It's the CDS. Before you know it, this kitten and these three dogs will be the bestest of friends.
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If you thought anything else could have happened, then you have not been paying attention. The CDS has more power than any reason you may have for not adopting the kitten. And the CDS always wins.
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