When I visit my partner's house with my 2 year old patterdale bitch, the 'resident' cat behaves very aggresively towards my dog. ( she has been visiting since she was a puppy) I am concerned that my dog will seriously harm the cat ( who is not very bright) My own cats get on well with my dog, well one does after a few 'spats', the other keeps more of a distance. Do you have any advise? I am also concerned about how they would get on if we ever live together !!

My mums cat whenever we went round used to really have a go at my two girls, (labs) it ended up with Tog(the cat )having a real good go at Min and caught her on the nose. Still has the scar to prove it ! Min from then just kept away from Tog to avoid a confrontation. Tog however did not mind Mars as she just left him alone and didn't try and play with him. They used to end up sleeping next to each other!

I think at the end of the day they will get used to each other and will sort the diiferences out them selves. If your girl hassles the cat then there will be some sort of confrontation. She may have to learn the hard way as Min did!

Lucy

Our cat hates Barney and he hates her. No matter how we try they just want to get at one another. On the other hand the cat is okay with Molly and vice versa. Think it comes down to personality like us sometimes :D
Gina

would you try and restrain the dog in any way or just let them 'slug' it out?

Just keep an eye out when they are together. Step in if you think it is going to go pear shaped. At the end of the day I am sure they will sort themselves out but without knowing your girl and the cat it is very difficlut to say. I knew the Tog very well and of course know my girls well !

Lucy

thank you for your help....and reasurrance!

Please be careful. Dogs canines are capable of inflicting terrible injuries to cats in the blink of an eye. They may have cruel claws but they also have fragile bones and soft abdomens. If you think that your dog may bite the cat then give him a sharp 'no' or 'uh uh' every time he thinks about going near it.
Letting them slug it out may be a decision you may live to regret.

Hi Roma,
personally I wouldn't risk letting them *sort it out by themselves* in this instance.
I think you need to keep and eye on both of them and discourage both parties from confrontations. Cats can do a lot of damage if their timing is right, but if the cat *misses*, the terrier is not going to give it a second chance to strike again!

We just keep an eye on them but of course there are different situations and mostly the cat is fine if she is on the sofa or a chair etc, the dogs leave her alone then. Molly only wants to play so they are okay together (the cat is bigger than Molly so we have to watch she doesnt hurt Molly). With Barney it is a matter of making sure the cat isnt cornered. Works pretty well most of the time and is getting better but as I have said I think (my opinion only) that if they do not like one another like Barney and the cat there is not an awful lot you can do about it.
Gina

Hi,
I stayed with my husband's grandmother for 6 weeks with our 9 year old Yorkie. My g-in-law had a psychotic black cat that had a real personality disorder (1 min. loving and friendly -- next very seriously biting your leg :( ) Pepper, my Yorkie, hated and had fought barn cats where we had been living. She even tangled once with a Bobcat that reached out of a cage and grabbed her. (My arm suffered from that encounter :( ) Cats were the enemy to her, but I didn't want to upset my "new" in-laws :)

Within a day staying there, Pepper learned that Ebony and the other one (very shy) were completely off limits. I put her on a leash and every time the cat walked by, I told her to "leave it" and "sit". A couple of days later, Pepper stayed off of the leash permanently :) It worked for her :)

Now I did allow her to be proactive when Ebony walked up and got within about a 16 inch space from her, just for safety's sake. Ebony was about 18 pounds to Pepper's 7.5. And very unpredictable. I would "ssst" the cat to keep her away from Pepper. Ebony would taunt her deliberately, but Pepper ignored her antics.
No fights happened during the entire time we were there, so something must have worked :) There were little chases from Ebony getting too close, but it was controlled bursts :)
toodles