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Cat is male and a little over two years old and neutered. He is 9 pounds and some kind of mutt. Dog is about four years old, spayed. She is husky/greyhound mix and around 90 pounds. I recently moved in with my SO and the cat is mine. They have been living together now for about seven weeks. He is usually fine but has very much so asserted his dominance and will often just bull charge the dog and slap her face. The cat is not playing, he is angrily lashing his tail with his ears back and using claws. The dog can just be lying in her bed sleeping and the cat will slash her face. The dog is terrified of the cat and will do nothing to defend herself. In addition to that, the dog is no longer listening to any commands given to her. She will not sit, lie down, get in her bed, or stay for more than two seconds before running to a "safe zone". The dog has had no prior problems whatsoever but is totally afraid of the cat to the point where she no longer leaves our bedroom without a baby sitter being two feet away.
Even if we were to correct the cats behavior, I fear the dog will always be terrified of the cat now. Before anyone recommends spraying the cat with water, I will say that this cat regularly falls in the tub, toilet, and sticks his head into running water from the sink. He loves water more than a dolphin, so that won't do anything to deter him. When we first caught him doing it, we would give him a spanking then put him in his kennel for an hour. He now just waits till we can't see then sneaks around the corner to let the dog have it, so to speak. It seems the cat doesn't really fear being reprimanded and continues to enjoy tormenting the dog. Not sure if this is even worth trying to fix at this point as my girlfriend is also allergic to cats. Anyone been through something similar?
No, that's a new one on me. I wish I knew what to say that would help. The cat really has it in for dogs, apparently. I seldom feel sorry for dogs, but in this case I'll make an exception. I wonder whether or not the cat has been tormented by a dog at some time. I hope it works out.
No, that's a new one on me. I wish I knew what to say that would help. The cat really has it in for dogs, apparently. I seldom feel sorry for dogs, but in this case I'll make an exception. I wonder whether or not the cat has been tormented by a dog at some time. I hope it works out.
I had the cat since he was about a ten week old kitten. Prior to that the cat was only with the litter and mom. The cat has been indoors his entire life with the occasional fifteen minutes outside sniffing flowers under my supervision. He has never encountered any other animals other than his litter.
Yeah advice is fine also. I imagine most people haven't encountered this as the cat is quite odd. The weird thing is he LOVES humans. He will follow around whoever is home all day and just sit in there lap or fall asleep right next to you. For some reason he just doesn't like the dog. He may just have to be a pet that is solitary.
Yeah advice is fine also. I imagine most people haven't encountered this as the cat is quite odd. The weird thing is he LOVES humans. He will follow around whoever is home all day and just sit in there lap or fall asleep right next to you. For some reason he just doesn't like the dog. He may just have to be a pet that is solitary.
My first thought is that it's better for all concerned if you are able to safely rehome your cat. (Can you give us their names?) In this case you'd be the one making the biggest sacrifice, but it may be the best thing to do, given the situation of your SO being allergic, added to everything else.
One thing I would add here, and that is I don't think it works to ever strike or paddle a cat. A dog, yeah, that works in some cases, but I think cats are just wired differently.
My first thought is that it's better for all concerned if you are able to safely rehome your cat. (Can you give us their names?) In this case you'd be the one making the biggest sacrifice, but it may be the best thing to do, given the situation of your SO being allergic, added to everything else.
One thing I would add here, and that is I don't think it works to ever strike or paddle a cat. A dog, yeah, that works in some cases, but I think cats are just wired differently.
You said, "He may just have to be a pet that is solitary." and I think that's the case.
Last edited by Macrina; 04-20-2010 at 01:19 PM..
Reason: LOL, sorry about the double post! Tried to do a thing with quotes and couldn't make it work. :smack:
Yeah advice is fine also. I imagine most people haven't encountered this as the cat is quite odd. The weird thing is he LOVES humans. He will follow around whoever is home all day and just sit in there lap or fall asleep right next to you. For some reason he just doesn't like the dog. He may just have to be a pet that is solitary.
He is jealous of the dog and sees the dog as a direct rival for something he prizes very much: human attention. Try and make a fuss over him and have your GF do too (in front of the dog) and see if the attacks peter out.
Why is that weird? After all, humans have been the great providers of absolutely everything since he can remember. It's ALL he knows.
We had a cat that wasn't entirely dissimilar - although his attacks on dogs weren't malicious, they were more along the lines of "Let's see if I can scare the crap out of that 80 lbs moron" or as was his motto in life: "Because I can." He'd do slightly mean (unfortunately very funny) things like scare the bejaysus out of a sleeping dog - dog would shoot out from its bed and cat would take it over, but he never went at it to draw blood. Big difference.
There are a few risks here with the situation as it stands - a) the start of behavioural issues from the dog due to insecurity/fear or b) the dog "snapping" both literally and figuratively. While the dog may do nothing to defend herself at the moment (and bless her cotton socks for not doing so), the fact is that all animals have their breaking point.
It sounds to me very much as if this is actually to do with territory - the cat sees the dog as an invader and he uses every opportunity to attack her in the hope of driving her off. You can hardly expect a cat to understand the vagaries of human living situations.
While you sort out what you want to do about it, I would highly, highly suggest you keep them physically separated at all times. In all fairness, it's a big ask of the dog to put up with this and the stress of constant fear will eventually take it's toll. Even if she spends more time in a crate, she'll be better off.
My first thought is that it's better for all concerned if you are able to safely rehome your cat. (Can you give us their names?) In this case you'd be the one making the biggest sacrifice, but it may be the best thing to do, given the situation of your SO being allergic, added to everything else.
One thing I would add here, and that is I don't think it works to ever strike or paddle a cat. A dog, yeah, that works in some cases, but I think cats are just wired differently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FiveHorses
Why is that weird? After all, humans have been the great providers of absolutely everything since he can remember. It's ALL he knows.
We had a cat that wasn't entirely dissimilar - although his attacks on dogs weren't malicious, they were more along the lines of "Let's see if I can scare the crap out of that 80 lbs moron" or as was his motto in life: "Because I can." He'd do slightly mean (unfortunately very funny) things like scare the bejaysus out of a sleeping dog - dog would shoot out from its bed and cat would take it over, but he never went at it to draw blood. Big difference.
There are a few risks here with the situation as it stands - a) the start of behavioural issues from the dog due to insecurity/fear or b) the dog "snapping" both literally and figuratively. While the dog may do nothing to defend herself at the moment (and bless her cotton socks for not doing so), the fact is that all animals have their breaking point.
It sounds to me very much as if this is actually to do with territory - the cat sees the dog as an invader and he uses every opportunity to attack her in the hope of driving her off. You can hardly expect a cat to understand the vagaries of human living situations.
While you sort out what you want to do about it, I would highly, highly suggest you keep them physically separated at all times. In all fairness, it's a big ask of the dog to put up with this and the stress of constant fear will eventually take it's toll. Even if she spends more time in a crate, she'll be better off.
FiveHorses, you are awesome! This is such good advice I hope the OP listens to you. . .
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I hope the OP listens to you. . .
