We are looking at getting a kitten but are unsure how our 1 year old whippet will take to it. He is very lively and playful but has absolutely no aggression in him. However, he does have a chasing instinct and will chase rabbits (although i stop him so dont know the consequence) and will occasionally pull on the lead after cats. He tends to back off from other dogs when 'told off'. We have the space to keep them separate if needs be. 

I do not advise you bring a kitten into a house with a Whippet. This would be incredibly dangerous for the poor cat. Whippets are very high prey drive dogs and will not hesitate to chase, attack, and possibly kill a cat. Never trust a Whippet with a non-canine pet. I urge you to reconsider, as this would be a bad situation for the kitten, and end up being a horrible and sorrowful situation for you and your family.

I agree 100% with Belgian, this is an extremely bad bad idea, cats and Greyhounds,Lurchers,Whippets DO NOT go well together. I have 5 cats and know this for definate when a few years back a neighbours Whippet tore one of my small cats to pieces. If you check with The Greyhound Trust you will see that they only ever re-home to cat free homes. Do not do this.

I recently met a group of people representing greyhound rescue.  They had some wonderful greyhounds that they had rehomed. I asked about keeping cats with greyhounds and they told me that they had cats.  I was suprised by this but they said they had had no issues with them.  I'm not suggesting that the original poster should go ahead with getting a kitten just saying what I was told just 4 weeks ago. 

Hi hillbilly, I have to take back what I said about The Greyhound Trust not re-homing to homes with cats, I have just checked on their website and I see that they say Greyhounds can live with cats, maybe it's a recent change, I'm not sure. I still think that it is not a good idea and especially as the OP's Whippet is such a youngster.

I was told by my Bull terrier breeder that my pup would not live with cats but he loves them and is very gentle- I had older cats when he first came to live that would attack him so was a worry and he eventually did get arsey with one of my particular nasty cats- when I introduced a kitten when he was 18 months old I made sure that he could not knock the kitten causing distress to the kitten and getting him excited  but let him have a sniff while I was sitting on the sofa dog on floor kitten on my lap. I held on to his collar with gentle learning and in a controlled area it can be done but I still would not leave him with the kitten until it was older and they were cool with each other, it took a couple of weeks the kitten was only 6 weeks old so just him  being an  a lardy could of caused injury.

wow, Ive learnt something today then!  Im no expert on whippets or Greyhounds but always thought them to be incredibly gentle dogs, of course I am aware they will chase anything in sight, but I wouldnt have thought would have actually killed the prey , Ive always had cats and dogs together never with a problem and assumed most dogs would get on with cats and accept them .

I too enquired with a Greyhound Rescue stand at a country show last year where I was smitten by this gentle old rescue girl they had there, the lady told me most Greyhounds would be fine with cats. 

After learning this, I agree the OP is not advised to get a kitten not worth the risk  shame though

Beth

I think generally meadowhay they do get on fine together, my lot do, although the Collie will try to make the smallest cat run so that she can chase her, if the cat stands it's ground hisses and swipes out the dog will back off.

Greyhounds I understand are very gentle and lazy, but I was always lead to believe that the ex racers saw a cat as a hare and the chasing instinct in them is very strong. Perhaps many owners of both do find that there's no problem, I would be a bit reluctant to try though.

A friend of mine has Wolfhounds and Greyhounds. They would never consider getting a cat because these sight hounds do chase and would kill if they caught a cat. Its something i have learned of them.. I think it may be slightly different if there is already a cat in the house and you bring a pup in and bring them up together. But the other way around, i'm not so sure i would risk it..

For anyone else reading this forum and considering a retired greyhound (or a lurcher or whippet) as a family pet. Many of them CAN live with cats, most rescues cat test the dogs before rehoming them and many can live happily with cats. I don't see a problem introducing your whippet to a new kitten providing you're sensible, take it slowly, always give the kitten it's own space so it feels safe and never leave them alone together for at least the first couple of months :-)

There is a world of difference between chasing and killing rabbits outside, or even strange cats and their own cat in the family. Most dogs know the difference and I personally know many sighthounds that live in harmony with cats. A friend who has 3 ex racing greyhounds also has a cat, the cat stalks up to the dogs while they're sleeping, jumps in the middle of them and proceeds to 'knead' their sides to make himself comfy. The poor dogs are too scared to move and just look up with 'save me' expressions :-)

perhaps an idea would be to take on an older cat, who is less prone to mad episodes. kittens move very fast and may stimulate the whippet to chase. i have a rhodesian ridgeback and a young cat and they have been fine together, play rough, but never hurt one another. HOWEVER i do not leave them alone together when i am out, i worry as they are still so young and silly something could happen and its not worth the risk.

I agree with Tigger2, it very much depends on the dog. I got 2 young cats in August and am still working on introducing them to my dogs, particularly my setter who will chase! They are never left alone together.

to the OP, only attempt this if you are prepared to take a lot of time over your introductions and you can let them live completely separately if it doesn't work out.

> Never trust a Whippet with a non-canine pet

whippet kills bird

lurcher kills kitten and then eats chick

These dogs are working dogs too, they know the difference between stuff they should chase outside and other pets inside :-)

This is a really hard one, it doesn't just depend on the dog but individual circumstances too.

My Auntie found a greyhound dumped in a ditch in the middle of the New Forest, she of course took him home and he was the most darling, gentle dog.  Not long after a couple of young feral cats turned up and joined the family.  The dog was so in love with these cats, he washed them, gave them his food and let them curl up in his basket with him. 

A few months later one of the cats suddenly sprinted after a butterfly and in an instant instinct kicked in and the cat was dead.  The poor dog was heartbroken, he knew what he had done and he was devastated.  He didn't eat for over a week and they thought he would die from grief.  He did pull through but the other cat ran away back into the forest and was never seen again.

Of course any dog breed could react like this and this dog was obviously a failed racer so had been trained to chase.

I also have 2 dogs with very high prey drive who are fine with my cats but not anyone elses, I never leave them unsupervised however as accidents can happen. My dogs are also not allowed upstairs so the cats always have a safe haven.

Going back to the OP, I wouldn't judge your dog on his reaction to rabbits but how he reacts to cats when on his walks. I tend to come across more cats on an early morning walk as the 'night shift' are all waiting on their doorsteps to be let in for breakfast.  Your dog will let you know if he wants to chase them.

When i have introduced kittens into my household it's always been the kittens that had the upper hand and given the dogs a good
bashing on the nose lol
They have always become the best of friends. My daughter in law has a wolfhound lurcher cross and cats, the dog catches rabbits, hares and even sadly a baby deer once, but has never chased the cats.

You could introduce them by keeping the kitten in a crate at first to to be safe though.

liz

tigger2, those pictures are great, i love the one with the kitten!!! i was aprehensive about opening them, dreading what i might see!

You have just said that the dog pulls to chase after cats... why why would you to do that to a kitten?

Introducing a Kitten to a dog - A Word of Warning

After researching the subject on various internet sites, we recently bought home a 7 week old kitten to co-reside with our 8 year old cross-breed dog.  We figured that by getting such a young kitten we could avoid a lot of territorial bickering.  We were not wrong, however despite our dog's good will towards the kitten a tragedy occurred.  A door mistakenly left unlocked led to an unsupervised encounter between the two.  It seems the dog either attempted to pick up the kitten like a puppy, or was trying to play with her.  Two hours later our new kitten was dead from internal injuries.

To prevent this happening I crate my kittens when I am not around to supervise. I would not rely on a door ever & if I was leaving the dogs & cats for any length of time the dogs would be crated as well.

I'm surprised you got such a young kitten, kittens should really be @ least 12 weeks old before they leave the breeder, irrespective of whether the kitten is a pedigree or not. I did get my kittens @ 8 weeks old, but only because the lady whose cat had had the litter was living in a flood area & she would have had to live in a caravan if they had been flooded-no place to keep a single kitten let alone 3

i would be happy to take on a kitten at 9weeks old.

Good breeders(whether planned litters or "accidental")shouldn't let their kittens go until they are at least 12 weeks

i disagree, both of my cats were obtained at 9weeks and both have grown up to be happy healthy well adjusted adult cats. my eldest is 15 and fit and healthy. i wouldnt take on one any younger, but would be happy at 9weeks. veterinary advice is no younger than 9 weeks for kittens.

My vets say 12 weeks

I got a 6 week old kitten from the RSPCA a long time ago. I was a bit dubious about taking one so young but was told that as it's mother was feral , it was better to take it sooner rather than later .  She was a lovely sweet thing .