DOGS AND CATS
We recently adopted a 3 year old male (ROCKY) from the OES rescue of colorado. We have only had him about 2 weeks and he is a sweet heart! He has never been around cats, but we decided to take a chance and hope that he would adjust and be nice. So far it has been a day to day struggle trying to get him use to them. Not to mention trying to get the cats use to him. We have one cat that keeps trying to get to know him, but he always ends up frightening her. Sometimes I think he just wants to play and is courious but doesn't know his own size and strength and other times I think he just has the "I'm gonna get that cat attitude". I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what I can do to help them get along. |
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| Congratulations on your new sheepie!
Do you have a sense of whether Rocky wants to eat the cat? My wild child Maggie liked to chase the cat but she clearly wanted to play or to lick him. I wasn't worried for the cat's safety, I just didn't want him to be annoyed. I did a number of things to help Maggie and my cat get along. There are lots of people with cats on this board so I am sure you will get tips from others (or just links to other posts where this has previously been discussed). Here's what I did: 1. Restraint: By keeping Maggie on a leash in the house the first few weeks, under my supervision, or in a crate, I could keep the cat safe. I would also walk Maggie past the cat and give a gentle leash correction if she looked or lunged at him. Plus a baby gate let me designate the dog area from the rest of the places my cat could go. The cat could escape the dog if he wanted to. 2. Redirect: When I would see the cat in the distance (that's what usually provoked the chase), I would redirect Maggie's attention with a command (sit, down, etc.) or a toy. 3. Command: I taught Maggie the stop command, first on easy stuff and then gradually built up to stop chasing the cat (this was necessary for when redirection didn't help). The citronella remote command collar really helped with this step. 4. Reward: I would give Maggie treats whenever she saw the cat (but I held the leash so she couldn't chase him) or when she obeyed a command. It got to where the cat could be on my lap and Maggie at my feet with out any issues. The harder challenge is to reward when the cat is across the room. You have to do it before the dog is off on a chase. 5. Pack position: I made a point of greeting and feeding the cat first, and even letting Maggie see me offer the cat her own bowl of dog food (with something tasty in it the cat would want) to reinforce the idea that the cat was higher up in the pack hierarchy than Maggie and deserved some respect. Maggie's interest in the cat did not go away, but I eventually concluded that the cat was safe and they could work it out together. Which they did. Best of luck to you! |
| I don't know anything about cats, but WELCOME TO THE FORUM! |
Like Val said, you have to sdetermine if he is chasing them to play, or chasing them to eat. My boy LOVES his kitties and always wants to play with them. He chases them, licks them, paws at them. They get plenty of exercise getting away from him, but it is all in good fun. When one of the girls gets sick of him being on their case, they whack him and he backs off (eventually anyhow  ) If this is the case, no worries. Just let them all figure it out for themselves.
However, if there is any meanness to it, i'd work on training the behavior to stop! |
| Our home is the same as IRISKMJ... Chipper loves to play with the kitties, and when they are "done", or tired of him, they let him know with a whack.
Welcome to the forum and good luck. Remember, they are all transitioning. |
Welcome to the forum, and congrats! 
I've always had cats and dogs together and haven't had a problem, so I'm not sure what to suggest other than to let them get to know each other on their own terms. Make sure the cat has a safe place it can get to that the dog cannot get to. |
| My house is a lot like the others who have posted. One cat runs across the living room ON PURPOSE so Yuki can chase her. Later that day, that same cat is VERY ANNOYED with Yuki chasing her. Sometimes she goes at her so fast, my cat rolls on her back in a submissive state. Of course that worries me because that leaves her more vulnerable to get stepped on, but Yuki always licks her and backs off when she does that.
We just brought in a new cat who has never been around dogs. She hates Yuki, but will come out from hiding if Yuki is in the room. She just hisses as him while THE CAT walks by her. It's like she puts herself in bad situations. I often wonder why she always tries to walk out into the living room ONLY when Yuki is in the way (a dog who is looking for ANY sign of wanting to be chased). |
rockymtnsco wrote: Hello Everyone,
We recently adopted a 3 year old male (ROCKY) from the OES rescue of colorado. We have only had him about 2 weeks and he is a sweet heart! He has never been around cats, but we decided to take a chance and hope that he would adjust and be nice. So far it has been a day to day struggle trying to get him use to them. Not to mention trying to get the cats use to him. We have one cat that keeps trying to get to know him, but he always ends up frightening her. Sometimes I think he just wants to play and is courious but doesn't know his own size and strength and other times I think he just has the "I'm gonna get that cat attitude". I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what I can do to help them get along. i have had my oes for a cple of months now ges 6 months now we have 4 cats also withch have a large hotel in the living room with 4 levels thye love it ,as having problems with the cats yes we are my large male cat when my oes just arrived he jumped on his back and scared him big time i scoled cat fro thet has not done it since my other 3 teddy plays with him now a little and is not scared anymore she gentley pops him on the nose and he backs up in playmode we try and stop as much as possible smokey small cat he licks her face and walks away from him smokey is cool no threat to anyone tiki onth other hand is nfemale not fixed hisses at him twhen they are tired teddy sleeps rigth next to him they are getting used to him as part of the household now its takes time and i no im in it for the long haul but withing 1 month they have dramaticly immproved they no longer run from hin if they can witch helps he just towers over them quite funny i dont have fear of him hurting any of my cats at all he is gentle as a pussy cat only big and clumsy LOL IT WILL GET MUCH BETTER . |
| We have the cat food, water and litter box set up in a room with a baby gate on the door. The gate sits up off the floor about 4 inches so Zoey can run right in, but the dogs can't get in there.
We also have some safe places for Zoey in each room - a table, cat crate or shelf - that the dogs can't reach. We tried keeping Zoey on one side of the gate for the first week. After an hour, she climbed over it to visit the dogs. Sometimes the dogs chase her, sometimes she chases them (all five pounds of her). She loves to help groom the dogs - chewing their legs or belly fur while I groom them. Grrr. She rules the house. |
| i as well have no cats but welcome to the forum and congrats on your new oes. i hope it all works out with getting him adjusted to the cats and opposite too. |
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