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I'm sorry you're ill but as others have said, prey drive is the most reliable indicator of whether a dog will be likely to kill a cat or any other small animal. Personally, I'd trust a pit bull with a cat before I'd trust a greyhound or malinois with one. Of course the individual temperament of the dog is what will be the determining factor.
Why doesn't your mother adopt a rescue dog that has been living with cats in the foster home. There are plenty out there. Then you know the dog is able to live with cats.
Not sure why you started a thread in the cat forum but the people posting here are usually the ones with more dog knowledge.
This breed is known to kill cats, other dogs, and humans. Yet is constantly coddled and made excuses for.
My mother expressed interest in adopting an animal of this breed. This particular breed brutally murdered a cat of my friend’s and my mother knows all about it.
I have an illness which may kill me within 3 years. I have two cats which WILL outlive me. I have a life insurance policy in which my mother was named the beneficiary. She had agreed to care for my cats using my life insurance money:
But then she decided she might want to get a dog of this breed “which shall not be named”. I asked her first if she was crazy. She said no, she just really liked the breed. I asked her how could you like a breed that loves to kill other animals and people? She said, “not mine!” “He will be sweet!”
Yeah right.
I’m just at a loss for what to do.
I already responded but I'd like to add a little. I am my animals' advocate first and foremost and I do or try to do what I believe is best for them. While the intent of wills can be perverted as given in an example, my instructions regarding any animals outliving me are that whomever is most likely to take care of my animals in a way I would approve of, gets my estate. I don't think anyone could take as good care of them as I do but I suppose most people who love their animals feel that way. My sister is a lawyer and the executor of my estate and yes, there are no guarantees in life, but I am trusting her to make appropriate decisions. There are people in my extended family who might qualify but since circumstances change, I want her to not be legally locked in to one person.
If there is someone you trust enough doing something similar may be an option. That person may not necessarily be able to keep your cats to the ends of their lives, but could take them temporarily if necessary, while searching for the right home.
I just cannot believe some of the posts on here and believe me when I say that some of them are bitter and rude sounding and wonder if some of you did not read before you posted what you did . This OP has a lot on her plate and some of you are acting like it is her fault she got terminally ill . I agree she should change the beneficiary but I do think she has said that there is no one else . I think you can put something in a trust with a rescue that someone will take them that has been vetted . But I wish you the best of luck OP and may God bless you richly .
I'm sorry you have the added stress of worrying about your kitties.
Perhaps you can go with your Mom to pick out the dog so you can see it's personality for yourself?
My sister has a much beloved cat, and they got two rescue dogs to add to their household, who are bully mixes. They have never harmed the cat, and the cat rules the roost if one of them oversteps his kitty boundries.
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Why doesn't your mother adopt a rescue dog that has been living with cats in the foster home. There are plenty out there. Then you know the dog is able to live with cats.
This is good advice. Lots of us keep circling back to the individual dog versus breed traits. Here's the perfect way to balance the two. Narrow down the choices to dogs with cat experience. Next step, a controlled supervised meeting with YOUR kitties.
I once had a very interesting foster/adoption experience with two cattledog littermates. They did have more than the usual early history in common, same bloodline, same early exposure to the same things. One had intensely high prey drive....never would trust this one around any smaller pets ever. The other was completely uninterested in other smaller animals; either ignored them or was intimidated by them. Wasn't even interested in chasing toys. Eight years later I still have this dog and she's just the same. Her littermate had too much prey drive for me and now lives where she can boss stock around to her heart's content.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-14-2018 at 03:18 PM..
Thanks for the info, but no. I really just can’t. It’s not about me, it’s about my two (adult) cats.
Hi, you know any of dog breed is capable of murdering cats, dogs, and humans. Its all about how you raise them. Dog owners who behave badly with there dogs are responsible for all murders.
Please think about it. There is a whole community on Facebook that has these breed and they are super happy.
. . .why doesn't your mother adopt a rescue dog that has been living with cats in the foster home. There are plenty out there. Then you know the dog is able to live with cats.
this is good advice. Lots of us keep circling back to the individual dog versus breed traits. Here's the perfect way to balance the two. Narrow down the choices to dogs with cat experience. Next step, a controlled supervised meeting with your kitties.
I once had a very interesting foster/adoption experience with two cattledog littermates. They did have more than the usual early history in common, same bloodline, same early exposure to the same things. One had intensely high prey drive....never would trust this one around any smaller pets ever. The other was completely uninterested in other smaller animals; either ignored them or was intimidated by them. Wasn't even interested in chasing toys. Eight years later i still have this dog and she's just the same. Her littermate had too much prey drive for me and now lives where she can boss stock around to her heart's content.
I've avoided this thread until now. Parnassia (and Rowan) make an excellent point here. Although I do agree with OP about the instinctual capacity of pit types, and the potential for problems, it is also a fact that most of them are above average as family pets. They have a lot of breed traits that make them very suited to the family pet sort of life. Which is a big part of what makes the topic so difficult.
So, if Mom won't change her mind, consider other arrangements for the cats.
If Mom will get a dog prior to when the cats need to move in with her, you can test them together.
The personality and instinct traits of the individual dog are more important for outcome than the breed tendencies.
I love the cattledog example above. It is not at all unusual in the farm dog types to see a wide variance in working desire between littermates. And, btw, cattledogs are another breed that are generally untrustworthy with cats, as a breed tendency. BC are much more trustworthy that way. Generalizing, of course, as, again, it is the individual dog that ultimately matters. Which is one reason the example above is so good!
This breed is known to kill cats, other dogs, and humans. Yet is constantly coddled and made excuses for.
My mother expressed interest in adopting an animal of this breed. This particular breed brutally murdered a cat of my friend’s and my mother knows all about it.
I have an illness which may kill me within 3 years. I have two cats which WILL outlive me. I have a life insurance policy in which my mother was named the beneficiary. She had agreed to care for my cats using my life insurance money:
But then she decided she might want to get a dog of this breed “which shall not be named”. I asked her first if she was crazy. She said no, she just really liked the breed. I asked her how could you like a breed that loves to kill other animals and people? She said, “not mine!” “He will be sweet!”
Yeah right.
I’m just at a loss for what to do.
I have owned different breeds that have been known to kill cats, even other dogs and three breeds that have been known to kill humans. Some of these individuals got along great with cats, some not so much. Mine never killed a cat, that I know of, certainly not my cats, or a dog or a human.
So there is that. I would suggest you find another beneficiary for your cats if you do not feel good about your mothers dog choice.
I don't think dogs are fated to go after cats, especially if they grow up together and are all family. But don't just bring in the cat and assume that its hunky dorry with the dog(s). Train them to be together and give them time to adjust, and do not teach them to be agressive to each other or anoter of their species or any people, and keep recharging their training.
And if the dog is new, or the cat is new, make sure both have a space to call theirs until they get to know each other and there is no agression shown in the process, and know the signs your dog or cat is waiting for a reason to go kaboom.
This is sound advice when introducing any new animal.
There are people in my extended family who might qualify but since circumstances change, I want her to not be legally locked in to one person.
I think this is a great point. There are many reasons why a person who originally was willing to take in your animals may become unwilling or unable to do so down the road. So having a backup plan in place is always a good idea.
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