Charlie vs. The Cat

[MK&C]

Well, Charlie is now 5 months old now and is an absolute joy to have around...most of the time (he's a puppy, you know? ). In puppy class, he is now known 'the humper'...never saw that one coming! He doesn't hump people, just the other puppies. But when he sees our cat, he just goes crazy. I've tried to introduce them with his leash on, but he just goes ballistic, barking, jumping, doing flips, trying to hump him...everything. As long as he can see the cat...he's just crazy. The cat's declawed, so he can't defend himself. And he just stands there and takes it, I feel terrible. I don't want this to go on forever. I've read alot of dog/cat introduction guides that say to put the dog in a room with a baby gate so the cat can jump over it to escape, but that doesn't work with these two - kitty just doesn't/can't move. How can I get them to live in harmony with eachother?

Please help! I REALLY don't want to have to separate them for life, our cat's very special to our family and is just the sweetest thing...

 

[Elly]

I have been told that humping is a dominance thing .

We have a kitten and two cats and our pup Casey (11 wks).

Casey will try and jump on the kitten and trys to grab his neck ears etc.

He doesnt actually hump yet but he might later on.He trys to do this with the cats too but is just too short.

I dont know whether I should interfere or not.I clap my hands sometimes saying no and he stops for a bit but will try again later. I have heard that a water bottle can help to. Just a squirt when he starts.

It is fortunate that the kitten will just take off where Casey cant go but often the kitten acts like he is enoying getting his ears and nect nibbled and will purr and just lay there.

Sorry I am not much help .

 

[mjb]

Maybe your cat hasn't decided that she doesn't like it yet. My cats stayed away from my puppy as much as absolutely possibly for the first year or more. I also introduced them when he was on-leash. I used treats for the puppy, and he was very interested in the cats but was more interested in the treats. He would calm down on-leash with treats enough that the cats could sniff him, etc.

My cats would growl and hiss if they were unhappy with him. When they've done nothing, I assumed they were okay with the behavior.

How large is your puppy? Unless the cat is absolutely pinned down, I would think she could get away. She should be able to outrun the puppy to jump over a gate if she wants to. Does she have her back claws? I would think she would turn over on her back and use those on the puppy if she felt it was necessary.

My vet claims that his cats are declawed and never had any trouble putting his Dobermans in their place. I've heard several people who've said their declawed cats took charge of their puppies. I think sometimes it's the puppy's and the cat's temperament. My pug and my prior cat knew that the cat was 'top dog'. My current dog has figured out that these cats reign over him, too, but he's been more persistent in trying to get them to play. He still tries to get them to play, and aggravates them, but he knows when to stop. He just doesn't stop quite as soon as the cats would like!! They're not quite as forceful as my previous cat.

 

[MK&C]

Maybe your cat hasn't decided that she doesn't like it yet. My cats stayed away from my puppy as much as absolutely possibly for the first year or more. I also introduced them when he was on-leash. I used treats for the puppy, and he was very interested in the cats but was more interested in the treats. He would calm down on-leash with treats enough that the cats could sniff him, etc.

My cats would growl and hiss if they were unhappy with him. When they've done nothing, I assumed they were okay with the behavior.

How large is your puppy? Unless the cat is absolutely pinned down, I would think she could get away. She should be able to outrun the puppy to jump over a gate if she wants to. Does she have her back claws? I would think she would turn over on her back and use those on the puppy if she felt it was necessary.

My vet claims that his cats are declawed and never had any trouble putting his Dobermans in their place. I've heard several people who've said their declawed cats took charge of their puppies. I think sometimes it's the puppy's and the cat's temperament. My pug and my prior cat knew that the cat was 'top dog'. My current dog has figured out that these cats reign over him, too, but he's been more persistent in trying to get them to play. He still tries to get them to play, and aggravates them, but he knows when to stop. He just doesn't stop quite as soon as the cats would like!! They're not quite as forceful as my previous cat.

I'll have to try giving him treats while on-leash (he was on-leash before too).


My cat hisses and paws at him after it's gotten out-of-hand, and Charlie's just literally on top of him. He's bigger than our cat, but only by a few inches. He does have his back claws, I suppose he could use those, but I personally have never seen him use them.

But will our cat end up fearful of the dog? It seems like he might be, but then again I've never owned a cat and a dog at the same time. Not that I'm going to wait to introduce him this long, but will Charlie be more calm over the cat when he gets a bit older?