Dogs And Cats

[kmaci]

Just wondering if some breeds of dogs get on better with cats than others? Or does it not so imprtant if you get a puppy when you have an adult cat?

[GSD FAN]

I had an adult cat when I got my German Shepherd. My pup wasn't the problem, the cat was. He didnt want to share the house with a dog. Now they are kept separately - for the dog's safety.

[Remarkabull]

I'm sure there will be some out there that will disagree and say it's all to do with how they are raised, BUT I have had Bull Terriers in the past and they both were cat killers. My female killed 5 cats and while the male didn't actually 'kill' any cats, he definately got involved in the chasing and attacking part! They would never do it while I was around, only when nobody was in the yard with them. My own cats could lay with them and rub against them while we were there and she would all but ignore them but if a cat went into the yard while no-one was there, it was dead. Both dogs were raised from pups around cats and this developed when the female was around 12 months old. I have had other bully owners tell similar stories.

ETA - I am not bully bashing, I LOVE the breed. They are beautiful dogs and have many wonderful traits, small animals are just not one of their strong points! Although I have known a 'few' that were fine with cats and such, but they were older dogs - they tend to 'mellow' as they age.

Edited August 4, 2010 by dobesrock

[Aussienot]

I think the bigger problem is finding a cat that gets along with dogs. Most dogs can be trained to accept and tolerate cats, particularly if raised together from puppyhood. However, in my experience some breeds tend to be less cat friendly, specifically the bull terrier types, and with some dogs it can be an uphill and losing battle.

Any dog with high prey drive can present a training challenge in living with a cat; and if the cat is not "helpful", it is hard work. Supervised room sharing may be the best outcome you can achieve.

[Guest belgian.blue]

It depends on the cat as much as the dog.

My Belgian will herd/chase cats and my Pointer will just lick them. The cat they both live with puts up with anything the dogs do to her.

My parents have a twenty year old Burmese male who won't put up with anything from my dogs, he has made my dogs scream many times and he chases the dogs. Both my dogs are scared of that cat

From my experiences, Pointers are great with cats.

[Mas1981]

I had ridgebacks and 3 cats, the one was semi- ok with with cats, she would lick them etc but I would not go so far as to say I would leave them alone together, the other ridgie was terrible with cats, she would try hurt them if she cornered them. My lab is wonderful with my cats, he is friends with them both , I often leave them unsupervised, the male will even walk on top of Mason if he is laying down and he will cuddle with him.

[Chiwogabull*]

I had an adult moggy when we got or Chi puppy, apart from her stalking him while he was tiny they get on great!

add a couple of years and along came Quatro our Bull Terrier Miniature, the cat took a couple of months to come around to sharing with 2 dogs

Add 1 british shorthair kitten and all still get along great...except Calvin the Brit trys to "hunt" all the other animals

Our Older moggie Tahlulua still doesn't "like" the others but tolerates them.

[Flye]

Gary had an interest in our cat when we adopted him, but not aggression. She's quite timid with new things, but we're at the point now where she will hiss at him if he annoys her, and he leaves her alone.

I think this is the best we will get with these two, but I can easily see him and another cat being friends. He licked her on the nose once.

The thing that helped the most was taking the bell off her collar. He was more interested in chasing the noise than chasing the cat.

[Dame Aussie]

Sorry, misread your question!!

I have found bigger dogs to better with cats, just my experience, but having said that, I think it depends on how they're introduced and the younger they are the better.

Edited August 4, 2010 by Aussie3

[Guest Pandii]

I have an adult Shar Pei and added 2 kittens about 2 months ago, the kitties hissed and carried on but all is good now, and kitties and doggie often are in the house together unsupervised

[Simply Grand]

I've only had one dog but he is good with cats - he's a toy poodle x maltese but from what I've read is very poodley in character. As a baby he was 1/5 the size of my two cats (5kgs each - he was 1kg) and was not scared of or aggressive towards them, but established a good but different relationship with each. Now the dog is fully grown, all three are about the same size.

With the old, cranky cat - he mostly leaves her alone, which is what she likes, but sometimes gives her a bit of a licking, which she seems to quite like. If she gets cranky, he backs off.

With the younger cat - the dog seemed to establish a higher rank right from the beginning and bosses the cat around BUT being a cat, he can escape to higher ground when he wants to then the dog leaves him alone.

If we see a cat on a walk, he'll look at it but be very wary. If it doesn't approach he'll just stand still until we walk on, and if it does approach, he'll just sniff hello, then we keep going.

I'm sure it's an individual thing but from my experience, and what I've read about poodles I reckon they'd generally be pretty good with cats. Also, I think it depends on the cat and its reaction to change in general. Also, the cat needs to have a safe area that they can get to when it gets a bit much... because that's pretty likely to happen for the cat before the dog

[jacqui835]

My experience has been that each pet will love everyone in the house that is there when they arrive but not necessarily the new additions after they're established. This has been with large terrier and guarding breeds. So when we got 2 cats, they loved the dog we currently had, would actively try to be affectionate with him, cuddle him etc but he basically tolerated and ignored them - much to their dismay. Dogs that came after the cats love the cats and actively try to be affectionate with them, but the cats at best tolerate them and at worst, actually attack them. All of our dogs have chased strange cats (should they enter our property) and all of our cats have run from strange dogs. Our cats don't like other cats either and they seem quite willing to take advantage of our large dog. My dog ignores strange cats when on walks, so I'm not sure if he chases the strange cats on our property because he wants to hunt them, because he's territorial or if it's because he thinks he's protecting the cats or a mix of everything.

The terriers were strong hunters and actually caught rabbits and birds on occasion but never hurt the cats, or even defended their beds etc. One did overturn a mouse cage we had and killed several mice, but interestingly, he never attacked any of the rats. Just used to follow them around, intrigued. My dad always thought it was because he could somehow tell the rat was more intelligent lol. The doberman we have now isn't really interested in chasing animals, so I would probably recommend the non-hunting breeds if tolerance of other animals is a priority.

[indigirl]

My dogs had never been around cats, until I got 2 kittens 18 months ago. I now have 4 cats and the golden retriever and kelpie cross get on fine with them. One of the cats regularly sleeps cuddled up with the golden. I also have 4 iggies and while they are mildy curious about the cats they also get along with them. The kelpie cross seeks out the cats to play with them.

I can safely leave the dogs and cats in the house unsupervised.

[CrazyCresties]

I had a greyhound, spaniel and 2 cresties and 3 cats......the 3 cats ruled the roost!

[Dory the Doted One]

I looked after a Rottie that was petrified of my cat. Found out later she lived with some cats that terrorised her and bullied her. My cat thought it was brilliant, as my Rotties at the time weren't very cat friendly.

I've had a rottie that was good with cats, but she was socialised as a puppy.

Dory (staffy x cairn) 's Oscar the Shark Slayer (Kitty boy) who is a new addition. And he 's her too. Just this morning they were both wrestling in the bath while I was having a shower. And we regularly have Dory pinging off furniture in a cat like fashion.

*bat bat* *boink boink* for hours on end.

[minxy]

At my parents, our Rotty, Bearded Collie and cat all get along swimmingly. A friend of mine has a staffy and a cat, and they seem to get along fine. Annndd.. the only other one I can think of is another friend of mine who has 2 cats, a GR and a BC and they all get along fine too. I've got 2 cats at the moment and when I get my puppy I know one of the cats will freak out at first, but I reckon she'll get use to the idea. She was pissed when we first brought home our second cat, but within about 2-3 days she was fine. They're now best of friends.

[Aussienot]

Labradors can be good with cats . . . .

[Teebs]

I'm sure there will be some out there that will disagree and say it's all to do with how they are raised, BUT I have had Bull Terriers in the past and they both were cat killers. My female killed 5 cats and while the male didn't actually 'kill' any cats, he definately got involved in the chasing and attacking part! They would never do it while I was around, only when nobody was in the yard with them. My own cats could lay with them and rub against them while we were there and she would all but ignore them but if a cat went into the yard while no-one was there, it was dead. Both dogs were raised from pups around cats and this developed when the female was around 12 months old. I have had other bully owners tell similar stories.

ETA - I am not bully bashing, I LOVE the breed. They are beautiful dogs and have many wonderful traits, small animals are just not one of their strong points! Although I have known a 'few' that were fine with cats and such, but they were older dogs - they tend to 'mellow' as they age.

Over the years we have had a Cattle dog, 2 SBTs, a British bulldog, a Aussie Bulldog and a Bull Terrier - all have been fine with cats, both their own, and other peoples cats

I have had cats here before the dogs, then introduced new cats into the family. the only problem I have ever had with a cat is Sumo, he would hiss and carry on when the dogs were around and they would chase him, now they all get along very well

Atlas and Kaos often go visiting friends with me, and they both get along with every other cat they have met,

[kelpiekaye]

I have found that dogs that are brought up with cats are good with their own cats, but beware other trespassing cats. I had a rotty that killed my neighbours cat, was good with my cat and suprised the hell out off me when I found him sleeping with a stray kitten in his bed one morning.

So basicly if the cat was afraid of him and ran his prey drive kicked in. If the cat showed no fear it was safe.

[kmaci]

suprised the hell out off me when I found him sleeping with a stray kitten in his bed one morning.

how cute