This is an issue I was hoping would not continue. But sadly it has :(and now I need help! My mother's Aussie dog (Austin) has killed his third cat this morning. When he was very young we found one dead(obviously from an attack by something), then a few weeks ago we found another that was full of holes and chewed up. We were not sure which dog was responsible (we also have an Anatolian Shepherd) and since the incidents were so spread out we hoped it was just a fight that got out of hand. Now this morning I came out of my house to find our little calico lying in the yard bloodied and dead. I took her away to bury, was so sad my little bitch plays so nice with this calico kitten and while I was digging the hole she is sitting there nudging the poor little thing trying to get her to play. Anyway, I went to the barn after burying her and was feeding the young calves. I put milk out... we have two dishes one for the dogs and one for the cats... they are not close together and have had no trouble before. Then Austin jumps around a gate and grabs a little orange tabby and shakes him banging him against the barn wall. I got the kitten away and he is fine so far, we are monitoring him closely and if he seems to go downhill he will be rushed to the vet since this kitten is a family favorite. Now we have put the cats dishes in a pen where the dogs can't get in so that is already done. Is there anything else that we can do to stop this behavior? Also we contacted Austins breeder and found out his father is known to have killed cats too... is this genetic? Sorry this post is so long. Thank you all for your help!
A very sad ,
QT :( :( :(

HI QT

I have a cat hater amongst my dogs and keep her away from them at all times. She is a wolf hybrid and on the occasions that we spent trying to socialise the cats she nearly grabbed one.

I just want you to know I am thinking of you, and hope you find a solution for your problem .

Theresa

Not a nice situation for you QT, but once a cat killer, always a cat killer. I have had Labradors in rescue that have killed cats and sheep, they don't improve. If your situation is such that the cats and dogs cannot be seperated, if it were me, either the dog or the cats would have to be rehomed. As I said not an easy situation for you and I wish you luck with your decision.
Dawn.

QT - don't have any suggestions - just wanted to pass on my sympathies. It must be so horrible for you. I think if it were mine - I would have to re-home the dog well away from children and any small animal. I just couldn't take that risk.

Poor you

Pam n the boys

Thank you all for your answers. I was araid that there wasn't a solution except to rehome someone. :( We will try with the seperate food for a while and just watch him very closely. If he does it again, I suppose he will have to be rehomed. It is a shame though, we love him very much. But it would be nearly impossible to find homes for all the cats that are in the barn. I was letting my two siamese house cats out on little ties to play in the yard, but now they won't get to do that anymore. If something happened to one of them I think my hubby would just go out with the gun!! (the siamese and our lil bitch are our children;))
My two neices, three and 6months, play with him all the time and he has shown absolutely no aggression towards them so we arent really worried about him being around children, but will be extra watchful anyway, just in case. Hopefully it is an issue of protecting his food, since he also has bit my little bitch quit badly if she gets too close to his dish, we are going to feed him alone in the porch and hopefully that will stop it.

Would muzzling help? Seems like he is aggressive to dogs and cats...I wouldnt give him another chance, its not fair on the cats.

Muzzling on a farm/ranch might not be a good idea for safety reasons. It could get caught on something and trying to keep him under watch at all times is probably impossible :(

Sorry to hear about the sad demise of your kitty, QT. Rehoming your barn cats wouldn't solve anything, especially since rats/mice in the barn would definitely increase :rolleyes:

I hate to say this, but I doubt he'll ever 'get better.' In fact, if I was analyzing a human serial killer, I'd say that he's 'increasing' as he's becoming more confident about his position. He went after 2 cats in two days --the one that you managed to save. Every other death had been spread out. It will likely only get worse. :(

You could likely have to worry about the other dog that you mentioned. It is possible that he 'taught' yours that killing a cat was 'fun' or 'acceptable'.

Wish I could give you sound advice, but I have none. Would a {{{{{{{{{{Hug}}}}}}}} help at all? :)
toodles

You are right muzzling out here is not an option. I have been looking out for my other dogs and neither one is showing any signs of being in 'cat distruction' mode. My little bitch lives in our house and we have two housecats that she is very gentle with so I am not really worried about her. Also the Anatolian is so mellow, he has never hurt anything... well, maybe a few muskrats:D... and also it would be very unlikely that the breed he is would refraim to killing, they are bred to protect stock. Am talking to my mother about possibly rehoming him, not a nice issue... but necessary.
Oh and thank for the hug... it helps a little:)!
QT

if it was me in your place id have a kennel and run built for him, then the oppurtunity would never arise, yoiur cats and little bitch would be safe from him,