dog & cat relations: help!

[Buddy'sParents]

I need some advice... our 6 mo puppy, Buddy, cute as he is, terrorizes our cat. She was here first, she deserves just as much freedom, etc.. as Buddy, but he's so mean to her! He doesn't attack, but he just won't leave her alone! She hisses and swats at him, but he just doesn't get it! Any advice? And just as a side note, he's gotten progressively worse.... we would tell him no or leave it and he would leave her alone, but, alas, he just.. wants to play and well, she doesn't. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

Nicole

 

[JennSLK]

I have no idea. Emma and Jay do exactly the same thing. Emma just doesnt seem to learn

 

[mjb]

We gated the upstairs off, and the cats stayed there. I would take the puppy upstairs on-leash several times a day and let them get used to him when he was controlled. He is over a year old now and has settled down a little. The gate's no longer up, although they have one room gated off with litter box and food. ; They also have a cat tree that they can get on along with lots of dressers, desks, etc., that they can get away from him. They still don't like to come downstairs if they know he's out of his crate. He goes upstairs to see them. He has learned to be much calmer around them. He has learned to approach them very slowly. They still don't like him, but he loves them. They're okay when he approaches them, but then he always tries to sniff their butts which gets a hiss and a slap. It has been well over a year now, and they're still not just living and walking around all together. The previous dog and cat I had figured it out within the first week. The cat never liked the dog, but the dog was the one who avoided the cat. He and the cat could sleep on the same bed or couch, but the dog knew not to mess with the cat.

I wish I knew the answer.

 

[mojozen]

Some dogs get it. Some don't. That can depend on the breeds that make up the dog in question, and that can also just depend on the dog in question.

I had a dog and cat live together peacefully after the first two weeks of the cat freaking out everytime the dog play bowed to her. After those two weeks, I would find them sleeping entwined or the cat sleeping on top of the dog.

But I wouldn't expect that of my current dog who has already displayed small animal aggression - if he sees a cat he tries to chase it. Were I ever to live with a cat again I'd probably end up seperating the two completely and trying what mjb has done.

 

[Vega]

YOU NEED CESAR!

 

[Zoom]

LOL! Vega, I LOVE it!

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Hahahahah! That's great.....

 

[moe]

When we first got Bailey he was 7 months old and we already had a cat, what I did initially was use the large crate we had and put the cat inside with food water and litter box(this didnt bother her as she was a house cat) and I fed Bailey and Sukie next to each other one in the cage one directly outside the cage, after a few days I left the crate door open for the cat to come out when she wanted, I also put a gate on the stairs(dogs dont go upstairs) so that the cat could run out of harms way, this worked very well, and Bailey accepted the cat, the cat also learnt that if she walked slowly he would not chase her, eventually the crate went away and the two were fine, then along came Willow, and I had to go through the same process, but I did notice, that the two dogs were more ready to give chase once they got together, so rather than risk anything happening I just kept the dogs and the cat totally seperate, the cat has free run of the front part of the house and upstairs, the dogs are only allowed free run of the back half of the house, they are seperated by a baby gate. its not worth the risk in my mind.


Mo

 

[Brattina88]

The only thing I can think of to suggest is telling the dog what to do instead of what not to do. Does he know the "leave it" command??
Try calling your dog over and asking for a couple 'puppy push-ups' (sit, down, sit, down...) or even a down stay and then giving him a more appropriate toy to play with such as a bone, kong, rope, ect...

 

[roisindubh]

"i feel your pain."

We're still having the same problems with our Mickey (lab) and Minnie (cat.) The pup started out by just wanting to get a good sniff; I'm not sure she even knew what a cat was: "Oh! A funny-looking Dog! Must play with it!" But the cat lashed out at her and nailed her a couple of times with a claw or two. You'd think the pup would have learned, but, no, every time she sees Minnie, she bounces over all waggy-tailed and gets hissed and spat at again. The cat likes to den in our computer room, so we've just been keeping the dog out of there. The cat won't come out while the dog is loose in the house, although she'll wander through when the pup's outdoors or in her kennel. Now, though, Mickey has started barking at the cat when Minnie saunters by the kennel. I suspect we have as much of a truce as we can expect, since the cat has a long history of dog-hating, but I do wish they'd at least just settle into ignoring each other.

 

[Violet21]

Me and my boyfriend are having cat/dog sessions where we bring them together and pet them all and talk nicely to them all.. our new puppy a Cane Corso is doing good, the cats are okay around him they walk realllll slow and he just stares at them. I think hes guarding them because hes trying to herd them into one room then he lays down and looks at them.. if they try to leave he barks and does a play jump. Maybe he thinks they are his cats! hehe.

he does like them tho, he sniffs noses. He only gets over excited if they run and then he wants to chase. When they stop running he stops and skids over his feet haha. He is like, hey whyd you stop. lol

 

[Violet21]

Oh i thought I would mention, that is over at my boyfriends house. I haven't moved in yet, but here where I live I have a studio carriage house right now, and my Golden Retriever and 3 cats live in the same room as eachother.

They weren't thrilled the first few days and were on top of the cabinets in the kitchen area but now 5 months later they even sleep in his crate with him. They are all good buds.. they don't exactly cuddle but they sniff noses, and Zac and one of them play together. He lays on his back and kicks at Zacs face and he pretends to bite. I got those two as babies together, so they have always been pretty close. Zac chews on him, but has never hurt him in the 3 years i've had them both.

Anyways, its possible! Esp if they are forced to exist together in a small space.. they also have accepted the vaccume lol.. as its running ALOT with 4 animals in here.

 

[afears01]

My dog, a 2 year old boxer named Bailey, loves to terrorize our three cats. All of the cats were here first, and none of them like the dog. They scratch her, hiss at her, run from her, the whole gammut. But Bailey is so fun loving and energetic that she seems not to care. As for the "time will tell" and "give them some time" advice........don't count on it. We have had Bailey for just about a year now, and nothing has changed!! Our cats adapted by finding a room or two in our house that Bailey couldn't get in to. We installed kitty doors to our bedroom and the sun room that only they can fit through (although one cat, now pushing 20 lbs, is getting dangerously close to needing a wider door). This gives them freedom and they often sit on the other side of the kitty door and tease the dog when she puts her head through it. Your cat will probably not get used to the new addition, but you can make it easier by giving more frequent treats and more love/attention. That's what I do, and my cats seem to really appreciate that the dog is no where around at night when they all crawl up and get their own special lovin!!

 

[Rubylove]

That's right. Some cats will never adapt - as our vet said to us yesterday, "dogs will adapt to anything, cats are crap at adapting" (all the while giving my cat loving scritches on her cheeks!). He said the cats need a place of their own that the dogs can never go, somewhere they feel safe, somewhere they can feel secure and comfortable. Time will tell, and our dogs are pups yet, and we do have baby gates where they can see the cats but not touch them, but it's really up to the cats to stop being scared and the dogs to stop trying to play. They'll learn!

 

[Fran27]

I've had Boris for a year now, and I've seen some improvement personally. Both the cats tolerate being smelled/licked by the dogs now. They do have a room of their own though (living room, as we're almost never in there), and they're more cautious when they go somewhere, but they still come on our lap if a dog is in the room etc. They still get chased though, as the dogs really want to play with them...

 

[Buddy'sParents]

We've been working really hard on it, last night they were laying on our bed, about 4 inches from eachother. I thought that was great! Buddy just wants to sniff and play.. Apache wants NOTHING to do with him. Maybe she's had bad experiences with dogs? But anyways, this morning, the litle booger, he went into one of the spare rooms where she was and started barking at her, I called him, said Buddy leave it and Buddy come and he came right away which is a first. (i have to remind myself that he is still a pup!).
Sometimes I wish they would just ignore the other.... let the cat be, don't hiss at the dog, just co-exist peacefully. We're not asking them to play, but we are certainly asking them to be civil. Guess it's too much to ask, isn't it?

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I guess I should have read through the rest of them first, I get so ancy sometimes....I can't imagine Apache every sleeping in Buddy's crate. I was so proud of them last night when they were on our bed only 4 inches from eachother. BUT, that was because Buddy played so hard at the dog park that he was exhausted.
Both animals have full access to the house. In the beginning, Buddy only had access to the living room because we were housetraining him. Now that he's older and well, can jump over the baby gates, he has full run on the house. Apache sticks to our room mostly, so I'm planning to get a cat tree or two so that she can get up high and still bask in the sun. We're also going to get her one of those windowsill things so that she can sit in the office with my husband (lucky bum gets to work from home). Any other ideas?

 

[Fran27]

I think that sounds great honestly. I wish I could afford a couple of those trees, they are awesome. My cats like sleeping on the top of Boris' crate actually. It's very close to me, and we put a pad on the top (used to be inside his crate until he made a hole in it), it's comfy and Boris likes having his crate covered too.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I was actually thinking of trying to have my husband and myself make one.. we have the tools, it can't be THAT hard, can it?

 

[Fran27]

I have no idea, my husband has been saying the same thing but I'm still waiting