Can a dog ever overcome hatred of cats??

MissyBlissy · 20-09-2017 12:26AM #1

I recently found a week old kitten and have been hand rearing it. I'd love to keep it, unfortunately I have a dog, who does not like cats. He is old, and therefore pretty blind and deaf, so he's not always aware when it's in the room but when he does become aware of it (while it's safely in a cage), he barks and tries to bite it. I read a quote from the Humane society that basically said a dog that behaves like that in the presence of a calm cat will never learn to live with it . As you can imagine, I've become quite attached to it and would love to keep it, but this seems disheartening and I don't want to make them both unhappy either. Has anyone been in a similar situation and had any success? Or should I accept its not going to happen?

20-09-2017 12:33AM

My sister had a westie. ....viscous wee thing at times and went absolutely silly at any cat that crossed his path. That was until my sister got a cat that was the absolute boss of him, not one bit afraid and he got plenty of scratched noses until he learned he was coming off the worst.

So he changed his tune and they lived happily in peace, so much so that he tried getting amorous with the cat on more than one occasion :-)

So I guess it really depends on the individual cat and the dog....not the most helpful answer I know

pawrick · 20-09-2017 03:21AM

When I was introducing my cats to my dog I tried the crate method you mention with the most calm cat, alternating between which was in the crate. In my case it seemed to work best with the dog in the crate rather than having the cat in it. For the more aloof cats it took longer and involved getting them used to one another's scent by swapping some of their bedding around and allowing them sniff each other safely through a dividing door over a period of a couple of weeks. Not sure how I'd have managed if my dog was snapping as you mention but I'd definitely make sure he was tired out first to burn off as much energy as possible if he reacts in that manner as it should help him calm down more quickly.

Also, sometimes a persons anxiety can rub off on their pets, have you tried getting someone else to introduce them while you aren't in the same room? I think it is possible with a lot of patience while ensuring neither one can injure the other.

Knine · 20-09-2017 11:23AM

368100 wrote: »

My sister had a westie. ....viscous wee thing at times and went absolutely silly at any cat that crossed his path. That was until my sister got a cat that was the absolute boss of him, not one bit afraid and he got plenty of scratched noses until he learned he was coming off the worst.

So he changed his tune and they lived happily in peace, so much so that he tried getting amorous with the cat on more than one occasion :-)

So I guess it really depends on the individual cat and the dog....not the most helpful answer I know

Don't try this. If I left a cat to try to 'boss' my terriers around I would have a dead cat.

Some dogs will never learn to live with cats and some will tolerate them. How old is your dog? Is there any way to have a safe area for the cat so you could keep her?

Ms Doubtfire1 · 20-09-2017 04:35PM

Knine wrote: »

368100 wrote: »

My sister had a westie. ....viscous wee thing at times and went absolutely silly at any cat that crossed his path. That was until my sister got a cat that was the absolute boss of him, not one bit afraid and he got plenty of scratched noses until he learned he was coming off the worst.

So he changed his tune and they lived happily in peace, so much so that he tried getting amorous with the cat on more than one occasion :-)

So I guess it really depends on the individual cat and the dog....not the most helpful answer I know

Don't try this. If I left a cat to try to 'boss' my terriers around I would have a dead cat.

Some dogs will never learn to live with cats and some will tolerate them. How old is your dog? Is there any way to have a safe area for the cat so you could keep her?

agree with this. if your dog is old, specifically blind, he will only smell an intruder, not necessarily being able to determine that it's a tiny kitten rather than a full grown tiger.On the other hand, he is an old dog and being in a (large) crate won't bother him as much as a young and active dog. I'd go with the crate solution for at least a month - until he had time to convince himself that there's no tiger in the house he needs to eat.Give it time. Play it safe.

Zimmerframe · 20-09-2017 04:57PM

I have a collie dog and a black cat. The neighbor down the road has an identical black cat, I couldn't tell the difference myself.
The dog would spend the day lying together and "headbutting" our cat and when she had kittens, I'm convinced the dog used to babysit them.
But when the neighbors "identical" cat arrived, the dog would go beserk, hair standing on her back, chase her down the road and I have no doubt that any hesitation by the cat would be her final moment.

Can a dog ever overcome hatred of cats??

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