will cats stick up for each other the way dogs will?

I know many dogs if they care about or have a strong bond with another dog they will protect and fight for that dog usually agaisnt other dogs that may attack it

Do cats ever do the same? Ive personally never seen it other than one time i noticed two cats of mine putting aside their differances so they could team up agaisnt my dog (who was being a goof) The dislike for the dog seemed to be stronger than their dislike for each other so they worked it to their advantage

that is the only time in my life i hav ever seen cats do any kind of real team work

Does anyone else have experience like this?

I have seen dogs protect cats from other dogs but never the other way around

I remember when i had a large german shepherd and i had 2 cats that did not really like each other

But when my dog came around stomping his feet and jumping around like a wild boar (very hyper dog) and trying to sniff their tails and behinds (THEY HATED THAT) they would go back to back and have each others back that way the dog had no way of getting behind them because if he did he would be met by sharp claws

When the cats were like this he was TERRIFIED of them, he felt so insecure and would calm down right away it was shocking to see the hyper moose smarten up so fast when those two cats were together

The cats had this wild scary look in their eyes also ill never forget it! Anyone else ever expereince this?

Those cats did grow up with my dog but his hyper, obnoxious and intrusive ways were never accepted

Not really sure, but they may to some extent.

I know that my cat and my friend's 2 cats (all of them were 13+ lbs neutered males) were ready to challange the neighbors tom cat (thru the screened in porch). I was going to a cat show and had my cat with me.

This was late at night when the tom came into the yard. Puddy, Mitten (mine) and Montgomery were all challanging this cat. Poor tom - he took off running in the opposite direction

When Penny attacks Ginger, Ferris gets all mad and goes after Penny.

He loves his big sister Ginger.

So I would have to say, yes.

I think what happens is that each cat defends itself, and because of old, old instincts, if another cat's around, they'll stick together, but that's not the same as going out of their way to defend the other one per se... certainly except for a mother cat with babies, I would very much doubt if a cat would originate an attack on something else strictly to defend another cat - they are pretty ultimate 'loners' in that respect, and I also doubt if any of them have an altruistic bone in their bodies.

Yes, they will. It's more obvious in a feral group. The top tom or alpha female may be fighting with an intruder and many of the other cats in the group will come running, often jumping in to chase the new cat out. (I've seen 5 vs 1, it's not pretty)

Cats will make close bonds and stand up for each other - more so in house cats that don't have to compete for food. Or they may band together simply because they all dislike the "new" cat. Overall, though, it's mostly territorial behavior -the cats in the group belong to that area, where as an intruder doesn't.

I can still remember my sister's 65lb puppy trying to play with her 2 cats. He cornered one who started yowling. From another room, the other cat came flying to the rescue, and chased the puppy through the house. He finally jumped behind my sister on the couch for cover! So yes, cats will defend each other.

Yes they will, but maybe not to the death. I mean, if the "attacker" gets too difficult they leave and let the poor "victim" fend for himself/herself.
Buddy and Ashley are very close. Wawa is the alpha and if he attacks Buddy, Ashley will intervene. However if Wawa turns his wrath on Ashley, the latter will just leave. On the other hand, if during this scuffle a strange cat appears and goes after any of the 3, he will be attacked by the other 2.

My OTB Bogart was the house ambassador. He would walk up and groom any cat that walked in the door. Our neighbors left their cat with us when they left for vacation. Melvin had stayed with us before with no problems. Melvin got spooked one time and when DH tried to pick him up and carry him to a spare bedroom, Melvin bit him hard - hard enough that when DH pulled his arm away, Melvin was hanging on by his teeth in the air. DH left a trail of blood across the house from the ordeal (his blood, not Melvins).

Bogart witnessed this. While moments before he was licking Melvin, he started to attack him, and attack him in a way that he would have killed him had we let him at him. We left Melvin in a bedroom all weekend and Bogart sat at the door growling in anger the entire time. Bogart has never reacted that way to any animal other than Melvin.

So Bogart wasn't protecting his cat buddies, but he went to an extreme to protect us. I have never since seen such a strong protective reaction by a cat before and hope that I never have to see one again. It really scared us.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

So Bogart wasn't protecting his cat buddies, but he went to an extreme to protect us. I have never since seen such a strong protective reaction by a cat before and hope that I never have to see one again. It really scared us.

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If it comes to protecting their humans, I believe cats can be as loyal as dogs. Once QT (or was it Wawa?) growled at me when I carried her for misbehaving. Skinny saw and heard her. When I put QT down Skinny went after her like wanting to kill her and it was pretty scary. Skinny is a loving cat and not selfish about sharing my attention with the others so it was a surprise to see her so protective of me.