Can dogs and cats get along?

[Joy at Home]

I have a dear female black lab who we've had since puppihood. She's seven now and the dearest member of our family. Several months ago we added a rescue cat to our family. He's one and, having never ever had cats before, we can't believe how much we love him. Our dog and cat get along wonderfully (of course, our lab is lazy and sweet and leaves him alone).

 

Enter Rusty. Okay. He's my sister's young, energetic, three year old yellow lab. She is going through a divorce, and moved into a townhouse. She just cannot keep him. He is neutered, very sweet, but very energetic. He also has not been taught manners. We are really wanting to give him a good home, and are making a trial run this week. We knew it would be a difficult process, having him get used to our other lab and all of us, while learning his place in our family and learning some obedience. I guess I underestimated how hard it would be trying to introduce him to the cat. He chased him under the bed and barked uncontrollably while the cat was terrified. I feel so bad.

 

Is it hopeless? Is there any advice on how I can slowly get these two used to each other? Am I an optimist in believing that time and patience will help all three pets live in harmony? Our female is hesitant but I see her warming up to him.

 

Any help out there?

Thanks,

Lisa

[Pajama Mama]

We had our male black lab for about 4 yrs before we added a 1 yr old male cat into the mix. Our dog is quite gentle but he did bark a little bit. For about 4 days the cat lived under our couch. Anytime the cat came out our dog would follow. He didn't hurt him but he was up his tail the whole time. Our dog started to realize that the cat was boring. He stopped following the cat and now he rarely bothers with him.

 

They are both quite funny now. They both stare at me while I'm making dinner and take turns if I toss down some scraps.

[hornblower]

Not hopeless at all. It could be just that he's over excited and unsure what to do.

 

SOME dogs though have extremely high prey drive and cannot be trusted around a cat. Dogs can kill a cat in seconds btw. I cannot agree with Margaret in CO. You would not believe how fast a dog that size can seize and shake a cat to death.

 

You can reward him for calm behaviour around the cat. I'd keep them separated until you have some basic manners on him, introduce them with him on leash, cat free to move away. You can also try to introduce him with the cat in your arms. When rescue greyhounds are cat tested, it's done with a muzzle on them (& a leash) because again, those guys will move to kill so fast that a human cannot intervene in time. So if you're really concerned, you could muzzle him for a bit until you feel he's safe.

 

My malamute X has high prey drive outside - will chase & tree cats outside (though she's never killed anything while under my care) but she is extremely respectful of our house cat. The fosters I've had here have varied - I had one husky X who spent the entire time here plotting how to kill the cat. :glare:

 

Barking and chasing on the surface sounds more like misdirected playing but I'd proceed carefully & gradually with good training. There are lots of resources for this. You want to use positive rewards and gradual desensitization training, reward him for either ignoring the cat or approaching it appropriately & manage their environment until you're sure it's safe.

[Lilymax]

My sister used to volunteer with the SPCA. If you look them up online, they have wonderful tips for integrating new pets into a household peacefully.

 

We have two dogs and two cats that live in harmony! :) Good luck!

[2cents]

I know some folks may not agree with this but we found that a shock collar worked to train our Golden to respect the cats. She was dangerously out of control and knew that she could bully the cats before we could reach her. Our cats are very mellow and one is a senior so we felt they were in danger. It was either remove the dog or try the collar (we had exhausted other training avenues). It took about 3 buzzes and she never went after the cats again and since she wasn't charging them, the cats began to approach her. Slowly they accepted each other and now they get along great. The collar administers a mild shock so the dog is corrected immediately. It also keeps the dog from associating correction with the human. It is a discomfort associated with misbehavior toward the cats...not that the human caught her in the act.

[Joy at Home]

Thanks, ladies! You gave me lots of resources to consider, and I'm hopeful that we can fold Rusty into our family with some work. It's good to hear so many success stories!

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[AnitaMcC]

I have a dear female black lab who we've had since puppihood. She's seven now and the dearest member of our family. Several months ago we added a rescue cat to our family. He's one and, having never ever had cats before, we can't believe how much we love him. Our dog and cat get along wonderfully (of course, our lab is lazy and sweet and leaves him alone).

 

Enter Rusty. Okay. He's my sister's young, energetic, three year old yellow lab. She is going through a divorce, and moved into a townhouse. She just cannot keep him. He is neutered, very sweet, but very energetic. He also has not been taught manners. We are really wanting to give him a good home, and are making a trial run this week. We knew it would be a difficult process, having him get used to our other lab and all of us, while learning his place in our family and learning some obedience. I guess I underestimated how hard it would be trying to introduce him to the cat. He chased him under the bed and barked uncontrollably while the cat was terrified. I feel so bad.

 

Is it hopeless? Is there any advice on how I can slowly get these two used to each other? Am I an optimist in believing that time and patience will help all three pets live in harmony? Our female is hesitant but I see her warming up to him.

 

Any help out there?

Thanks,

Lisa

 

I think it takes a bit longer for some. We have an Akita and a cat (he goes out when he wants). They have gotten along pretty well after a few weeks of settling in. Dog is almost 8 yrs old, cat almost 7.

 

Then a year ago my mom moved in with her two pugs and a chihuaha. It took months for her dogs to learn to leave the cat alone... they never been around a cat before. The cat is the head animal here... even above the Akita-LOL. He will attack the dogs if they corner him. Took some time before the little dogs learned that they better give the cat a very wide berth. If the little doges come too close to the cat... they will get hissed/clawed by the cat. Over time that wide berth has gotten smaller.

[AnitaMcC]

Personally, unless the cat has been declawed, I'd let them battle it out. Our dogs chase our cats for fun, until they've had enough and they turn around. No dog is dumb enough to take on one of the cats when they're spitting! The cats will tease the dogs by walking on the top rail of the fence and the dogs tease the cats by chasing them UP on the fence. And a good time is had by all...

 

Yep similar with our Akita and cat.... the cat will tease the dog from top of fence and the dog will chase the cat up the fence. So far in the house they get along without a problem. For the most part they completely ignore each other-LOL.

[LibraryLover]

It's very possible.

Edited December 31, 2009 by LibraryLover

[AnitaMcC]

You can reward him for calm behaviour around the cat. I'd keep them separated until you have some basic manners on him, introduce them with him on leash, cat free to move away. You can also try to introduce him with the cat in your arms. When rescue greyhounds are cat tested, it's done with a muzzle on them (& a leash) because again, those guys will move to kill so fast that a human cannot intervene in time. So if you're really concerned, you could muzzle him for a bit until you feel he's safe.

 

Barking and chasing on the surface sounds more like misdirected playing but I'd proceed carefully & gradually with good training. There are lots of resources for this. You want to use positive rewards and gradual desensitization training, reward him for either ignoring the cat or approaching it appropriately & manage their environment until you're sure it's safe.

 

I agree. Let them be together with close supervision.

 

When we brought our kitten home, we kept him locked in a bedroom for the first few weeks when the Akita was in the house until the kitten was older. When we brought them together to get to know each other several times a day... we had the Akita on a leash or held on to his collar. This went on until we knew the dog would not hurt the kitten.

 

When mom's dogs joined the house we didn't worry too much about the dogs hurting the cat... the cat is same size as the pugs and bigger than the chihuahua-LOL. He is an outdoor cat and has to protect himself on his own outside and he does it very well so far.

[Guest Katia]

Hmmmm.....I can't give you a success story here, only our experience.

 

We had a yellow lab. He was given to us when he was 8 yrs old....by a rancher friend.....who had gotten him from another rancher friend, who had gotten him from yet another rancher friend....You get the drift.

 

And the reason he kept getting transferred from ranch to ranch? He was a cat killer. And those ranchers need their cats. He was an adorable dog; good personality; full of love; nice; friendly; etc. etc. But...he killed cats. Most of these ranchers were used to training their new dogs to leave the cats alone, but they had no success with this dog. He would just...kill them.

 

So he became our outside dog, and the kids loved him, we loved him and he loved us. He stayed in the back yard and our cat stayed in the front yard. We had a very smart cat!

 

When we moved, we gave him to a farmer friend who kept him 'til he died. This farmer was retired and had severe asthma and this yellow lab would follow him all over that farm to keep an eye on farmer. If farmer would have an attack, the dog would race to the house to get his wife. It was amazing! He was an awesome dog.

 

But he killed cats until the day he died. Some cat-killer dogs just can't reform.

[Samiam]

We've always had cats and dogs together. Whenever a new animal has been brought into the mix, it takes some getting use to by both parties. But in the end, they usually find the path that works for them, which has either been the cat in charge, or they tend to just ignore each other, depending on which animal we had at the time.

 

Currently, we have a 2 year old beagle, a 7 month old Lab, and a cat who is 3-ish. The beagle and Lab wrestle with each other, and occasionally chase the cat. The cat tends to ignore them both, BUT we have on more than one occasion, found the cat snuggled up, sleeping on the couch next to a dog. And just this past week, since both dogs received plush new dog bedding for their crates, we have found the cat and the beagle snuggled up inside the crate.

 

I guess there are always the cases where an animal is to the extreme, ie the Cat-Killer Lab, but in most cases, I think the "norm" is that they will get along, or at least ignore each other. It doesn't sound like your puppy is being aggressive, but instead, a normal toddler. He is acting just like a 3 year old child who is not used to animals acts. Picks them up by their head or tail, carries them in odd positions, usually ends up getting scratched before they learn their lesson. I think a week or two, and the Lab will have lost interest in the cat, or the cat will have taught the Lab a lesson so the Lab will know better.

[LizzyBee]

When I was a kid, we used to have a dog that would let the cats lie on top of him on the front porch. :lol:

[Donnado]

I have recently viewed cute Utube videos on dogs who are friendly with their cat friends. You should go check them out because I think they could encourage you of the possibilities.