Fighting like cats and dogs

[Illiniwek]

Moved to a country home about a year ago, brought two Black Labs with us. Country home came with one mean ol' barn cat who the dogs really enjoy chasing around the property. The cat is smart enough and quick enough to get away from the dogs, but they won't leave him alone until he's out of sight and mind. These dogs, who live inside, have never bothered cats before, but there's something special about this particular "outside" cat (probably the fact that he runs away) that they can't resist.

On Sunday night, some _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from town drove by and dropped off an incredibly adorable kitten. We heard him mewing from under a bush, and the dogs did, too. We were able to keep the dogs away, but I'm sure that they'd maul him the first chance they got -- not on purpose, but by accident. My kids are bound and determined to keep the cat, but we can't keep the dogs inside forever.

Any advice on how to improve our feline-canine relations?

 

[kokopelli2]

the best way i know of to make cats and dogs get along is more supervised face time. it worked for my dog.....now all she wants to do is play with all the ferrell cats we have and cant uderstand why they dont want some big dog hanging out with them!

as well i think the last worry for that kitten would be the dogs. i am sure a fox, coyote, hawk, or owl would get the kitten before the dogs play with her to death.

 

[rancar]

I have a cat just like your barn cat....it hates dogs. We've grown to love the stray cat we adopted...would love to get a dog but we see nothing but trouble. Sorry, no advice here....we're waiting on the dog until the cat passes on.

 

[hazmat]

Supervised play time. Introduce the kitty to one dog at a time. It has been my experience that two labs chasing a cat is more than twice the excitement of one lab chasing a cat.

the dogs will learn to live nicely with the kitty. I'd bet the barn cat is instigating the chase from the dogs for sport. If he really feared them, he'd stay clear.

I don't know if you are planning on letting the kitty inside the house or not. I think you will get better results if you do. The labs will respect that the kitty is part of "the pack" and won't harm it out of respect for the alpha (you).

 

[rmorgan]

Our dogs will rip a coon or woodchuck apart, but are, well, pussycats with our three cats; the cats even jump on the dogs' backs every now and then for rides. Our experience has been that once we show the dogs that the cat is family rather than prey, they are fine, and the supervised visitation that everyone's talking about is the way to do that. They will work out a pecking order, which will probably have the kitten at the top after a few months./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[wasabi]

I agree with previous posts...they will work it out as a pack.

We have three (outdoor) cats and two (mostly indoor) dogs. One of the cats (burnt toast) even sleeps with our pug (bonsai) outdoors on a deck chair!. The whole crew can be a riot chasing each other around, but it is a game for them.

 

[MikePA]

We've had cats and dogs for years. Some started out as puppies and kittens while others were introduced later in life. While I'd be careful with a dog and a kitten, all we've ever done is let the animals sort things out on their own.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

this is a lesson to be learn one way or the other for your
younguns
pa

 

[mrolson]

Well our limited experience has been that the supervised vists work. We have introduced three kittens to our Brittany this way. And they all ended up being great friends. Sometimes is comical, the cats will jump out of the fence row on top of the dog /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Sometimes when I kennel the dog up at night I have to get a cat out first, no you two can’t sleep together. And if the dog isn’t paying attention to the cat he gets upset and harasses the dog into playing. Ya every once in a while I have to tell the dog to drop the cat /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I only wish I could keep the dog out of the cat food and the cats out of the Eukanuba (cats aren’t worth Eukanuba). However, we have only tried kittens and I don’t think this would work with a seasoned barn cat and the dog doesn’t kill for fun. So I guess a lot depends on the animals.

 

[Richard]

we have similar deal as uncle next door has just brought home a new (but adult) Aussie shepherd (? I think)...none the less, we've slowly acclimated him with our cat and also realize one "official meeting" of the cat's front claws to the dog's nose will quickly garner the dogs attention and a touch of respect. the last dog (recently hit by vehicle) learned same lesson and once learned, they all either became buddies or simply respected each others space.

 

[bmac]

Sadly, we have not had the success that others here have enjoyed. Have 2 house cats (litter mates) that we got as kittens about 5 years ago. They have had the run of the house until this past December when we brought home our family Christmas gifts - 2 Shih Tzu (?SP) puppies.

Despite our best efforts, the cats will not tolerate the puppies. I guess the cats are too old to appreciate the chasing games that the pups want to play. The cats have been declawed, so there is no danger for the pups. But, I'm afraid one (if not both) of my cats would have a stroke were I to force a face-to-face. Not to mention that the cats still have their rear claws and I would probably suffer the most from this exercise.

So (and I am embarrased to admit this), we put up a kiddy gate at our bedroom door. The cats can easily leap over the gate to go in or out of our bedroom. This is where they spend most of the day. We do try to make their life interesting in that their food and litterbox are downstairs. So, the cats have to occassionaly leave their sanctuary to take care of their important duties. They will listen for doggy noises and when things are real quiet, they will venture from the bedroom. Sometimes, we have a face-off. The pups go nuts, the cats freak out and we have a race to the bedroom, sometimes with a few laps through the kitchen, just to make it interesting.

As we kennel the pups at night and whenever we are away from home, the cats do have "safe" times to get out.

My idea to put the cats and pups in the kennel together for a No Holds Barred Texas Cage Match was quickly vetoed by the bride.

Any suggestions?

 

[hazmat]

bmac,

Try them one at a time, The two pups tend to egg each other on & increase the "exitement" level.

You've done the right thing providing a safe haven for the cats. We have the livingroom gated & when kitty has had enough of the 4 month old lab, she retreats.

 

[rancar]

Following story is something I picked up at a Yahoo bulletin board. This is interesting story about dogs and mean spirited owners. In this case the dog has the last laugh. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
______________________
kabbamonte
by: atomthebomb (76/M/Kanoonga Hills)
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 06/25/02 10:50 pm
Msg: 24638 of 24768

I have been working since I was 12 picking beans and strawberries at V-7 Produce and getting paid by the weight of the bushel. Most people working today don't know what real work is and they get paid 100X the people who do. Funniest thing though. They had about 15 dogs when I worked there and they had this one dog whos leg got infected from a barb wire cut. Nobody cared about this dog because he ran around the farm stirring things up and running wild around the town of Berwick. Not disciplined or listening to the older folks who ran the place. It got so bad that he chewed his own leg off. After that, nobody would even touch the dog and he hobbled around finding his own food & mice and drinking out of puddles. He loved the farm and his owners, but they didn't love him. I felt for this dog, but I swear I was the only one. Everyone hated this dog with passion because it was such an embarassment to have around. Well, five years later the farming industry had trouble in Iowa and that little farm had to shutdown and sell its assets. They put all their cats and dogs to sleep and the farm turned into empty lot. Here is the craziest part, I drove by 4 summers ago, 8 years later, and I swear to God on my life this is a true story, I saw that same 3 legged dog with another dog and 4 puppies laying under a tree happy as could be in the wild. I hope that answers your question.