Hi,
I have a 9 week old Staffy pup and also a cat . I am unsure of cats age as we took her in as a stray about 5 months ago .
All has been fine between them except for the occasional "hiss" from cat when puppy gets too daring . The thing is , now puppy is used to her and now that he's feeling braver he likes to approach her and sometimes he will bark at her . She just gives him " the look" as if to tell him not to bother her . I dont want to seperate them too much so that one could possibly become jealous of the other .Does anyone have any tips on this . There have been no fights between them but I dont want a situation to arise in the future if you know what I mean .
Has anyone had a similar problem ? And if so how did you remedy it ?

Hi,
Well we have two Siamese in our house as well as a Australian Shepherd. When we got her the cats were one year and 6 months. They did hiss at the dog to begin with but now they seem to accept her as a minor irritation. The older cat ignores her and has mastered 'the look'. The younger cat will play with her, seems he doesn't mind being roughed up a bit. :rolleyes: Anyway, they are more than likely just trying to establish who is boss in the household, and will probably just accept eachother in due time. If you are worried about the pup causing the cat too much irritation make a space where the cat can get to but the puppy can not, so the cat can have a little alone and quiet time. Hope this helps.
QT

Thanks very much . I'm glad there hasnt been instant hate between the two of them but I just didnt want a situation to arise in the future where one of them could possibly be hurt due to puppy getting braver . At first Noodles( the cat) stayed out of his way but now shes more curious as to what this little bundle of energy is and come closer to him . Hopefully they will become companions given time . Thanks again .

Hi there ,
I have a ten week old Newfoundland bitch and three cats.
They sound to be reacting the exact way yours are ! pup was cautious to begin with , but now she feels she rules the roost and barks at them to encourage them to play~all three look on in disgust!
I am a firm believer in letting them sort it out them selves , i do tell Cru'Ella firmly "no" when she barks and jumps at them , which is begining to work (in that she knows she really shouldnt).The cats are gradually getting more acustomed to her~but sadly , as this happens the pup becomes ever more "frisky" around them !
They do warn her with a hiss if shes too out of line , and she has been caught once by a claw~so she knows to back off at a hiss now.
I really thing its a "let them get on with it..but watch an intervine if needed" situatipn!
let me know hows yours get on ~ and ill keep you posted on mine !
Zoe x

Hi Zoe
yeah Noodles the cat has raised her paw to him once and he ran off . As you mentioned when she merely looks at puppy this is when he seems his bravest . I think puppy just wants to play with her sometimes but obviously he cant ( due to those needle teeth that he has - he just wants to bite everything , but in a playful way not a vicious way ) and I think i was really worried about him getting a swipe across the face and damaging his eyes. I will let you know how things progress .
Lel

I have a similar situation as you Lel and Zoe.

My dog Saffy is 14 months old now and my two rescue kittens (who we got in November) are now 6 months old. My dog is very good with them, lets them eat from her food bowl, and if the kittens growl loud enough, will even let them have any treats on offer. They have hit her nose and spat at her several times but as she has long thick fur over her face she barely notices (she is a briard). I think the cats are very good and don't put their claws out either though so that helps. We have got to the stage now though that they are so brave they will let Saffy push them over with her nose when sniffing them. The problem we are finding now is that when she tries to play with them (and they don't run away) she actually stamps her front paw at them - this causes them to run away now at the first sign of playfulness from her. (I have been caught by her paws like this and it does hurt as she is so big).

It is a shame that now she sees them as playmates I am having to stop her as she could hurt them. I only hope that soon the novelty will wear off and she will become bored with them. The other problem of this is that when they do run away, she thinks that too is an excellent game!

One thing I did do was to put Saffy in the garden every time she barked at the kittens as this frightened them. She soon learnt she mustn't bark at them. I am also worried though about her becoming jealous and so don't want to put her out for trying to play. Will just have to keep an eye on them.

Hope all goes well for the two of you.

Fiona and Saffy

I have 3 cats and 1 dog.

Meeko my eldest cat was 4 when we got misty the cat who was a year old, then we got ebbie and few weeks later, i think it is just a watch and see situation, ebbie loves playing with them and chases them in the garden - they invite her to now, when they get bored they just turn round and swipe but with their claws in as a warning if she carries on the claws come out. Got merlin the kitten just after last xmas - ebbie was more scared of the little thing than he was of her - but now they are best buddies.

All the cats had places to hide and climb upto if they wanted to - they all chose to teach the dog her place.

Nikki xxx

I think you'll find the puppy will know exactly how far he can go with your cat! If he's standing there barking at the cat, he wants to play, but is quite aware that he can't just 'jump' on the cat! We have 4 young cats, all who came after the dogs, and they get on fine, however the oldest cat who is nearly 10 (was 2 when the first dog arrived), has never accepted the dogs. And the dogs instinctively know (one is a puppy), to not touch him or go too near him, whilst they will jump on the younger accepting cats, knock them over to play, etc. Sometimes I find yes we do have to be careful, for example, our last puppy got very excited one day when we were going out, forgot about the old cat and ran too close by him, so he actually had a claw stuck in his nosepad which I had to pull out, causing a bit of bleeding. But all in all, I don't think you'll have a major problem - your puppy will know his place!

HELP!!!
All has been fairly ok between the two of them and I was fairly hopeful that they would get along ok . This past few days though he is always running up to her , backing off and barking loudly at her . He has only done this occassionally beforehand , but now he is doing it EVERY time the cat comes into the room . The cat is getting very edgy now (which I can understand )-but i really do want them to become friends , or at least tolerant of each other .
We have told him NO very firmly whenever he has done this so he knows its not acceptable behaviour .
What else should we do ?
Lel

I'm sure your dog does understand when you say no - the problem is, it is more rewarding for him to try and get a reaction from the cat. It is a shame for the cat at the moment, as you say, she is getting fed up, but they do need to find their own balance. It would probably be a good thing if she did lash out at him, because he would be more wary from then on and more likely to give her a wide berth. If she is so laid-back that she won't lash out, then you really need to make a stand with your dog so that he knows you are top-dog. You don't need to make him cringe or run away or anything like that. I would try growling at him, and growl the words 'leave it' (you must sound like you really mean it), then when he shows submission, go and play a game of ball or 'find it', away from the cat of course! Do you know anything about clicker training? I have used this for obedience, but am using it to stop my pup jumping up on people at the moment. I can give you some details if you want to email me - my address should come up if you click on my name at top.
Otherwise, I think with time you will find things do improve - your puppy will get older and you will be giving it other things to do, even if it's only basic obedience. I think they will tolerate each other eventually, although it doesn't sound like they will be best friends!

Lel

Can't help you I'm afraid but if you find the answer pelase share. My Dobe does this still to my cats and that is a year on...So there goes any hope of mine that they will all learn to tolerate each other. Still, here's hoping for your sake that this will sort itself out for you better than it has for us :(

Beth

We've had dogs and cats for years and years and there's no cut and dried answer to the problem. I once asked a famous dog expert for advice and he said to put the puppy in a crate and the cat in a separate crate and allow them to sniff each other from the safety of a cage and gradually get used to each other. The thought of doing that for a week or two was too much for me though!
The advice you got saying the cat should have her own territory out of the pups reach is a very good one.
The other solution you could try is to crate your puppy - or take him right away and put him in another room - each time he barks at your cat.
He only wants to get a reaction from her/him - he just needs to know it's not acceptable behaviour! Usually with time they do learn to respect each others' space and needs - sometimes they become good friends, sometimes they just tolerate each other.
The problem is usually in introducing puppies to cats who are established already in the house. Cats are so territorial and your two are just sorting out the pecking order between them... who's boss etc! Once they've established themselves and your puppy gets bored with trying to get a reaction, they should settle down OK.
It's very hard I know, but try not to let it worry you too much - you'll give off tense vibes which won't help!! Easier said than done!
Most animals learn to live together in peace given time. I'm sure it'll work out fine.
.. Just thought of another thing - give each a cuddle, preferably in front of one another and even at the same time to let them know each is loved and it's all right to share. You could even find something they both love to eat and give them a bit at the same time and see if that helps. I've seen two 'enemies' overcome by greed and eating out of the same bowl. Just make sure both of them feel equally wanted.
Let us know!
good luck and all the best
Alison

Thanks Alison,
We do try to stroke pup and cat infront of each other but I think pup gets jealous when we show the cat any affection . He starts getting whiney and starrting to jump at her again . Poor cat is really good actually . She will walk up close and have a little sniff of him when he is asleep , or dozing . Its just every now and again she gets fed up and will raise her hand to him . He then thinks this is great fun . When he actually approaches her , he is wagging his tail so i HOPE he just wants to play . Time will tell!!!
Lel

Lel
Thought I should clarify that Jake (my Dobe) is wagging his tail at the cats but the problem is more from the cats side so to speak. They totally hate the dog and spit and hiss at him when he tries to approach them (although it could be said that his bounby, boisterous approach doesn't help the situation :) )

Beth

It all sounds quite normal to me! Noodles is obviously interested if she's sniffing the pup while he's asleep and not a threat! And I'm sure the puppy is just keen to get to know Noodles and get her to play with him.
It really does take time - I would say in another 2 - 3 weeks you'll notice an improvement.
Much as you wanted them to make friends immediately, introducing different animals to each other, let alone a different species, is bound to take longer than you think!
The only problem I had which went on for a long time was years ago when I had 2 Burmese and brought a Golden Retriever pup into the house. One cat was fine after the first few weeks, but the younger cat refused to come downstairs until we moved! They became the best of friends after that! With cats, it's usually territorial.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you all - meanwhile if there's anything else I can help you with, write!!
Alison