brand new puppy and a mostly outside pet cat?

[royta]

So, my daughter and I are watching a movie on this lazy Saturday afternoon, and we hear a dog ki-yi-ing in our garage. We go outside and see that our neighbor's beagle is trapped in the corner by our female cat. Poor beagle was scared to death, and ki-yi-ing for dear life. It was the craziest site.

OK, so now everybody knows a little bit about our killing machine cat. So what do you do about a cat that hates dogs? We're getting a Brittany puppy mid March and obviously we'll need to keep the two separated for a while. I plan on crate training right away, so at least I know the cat can't get to the puppy.

Have any of you experienced anything like this? I don't want our cat to beat the crap out of our dog and create a pansy out of it. I understand Brittanys can be a little on soft side and I'm a little worried that our cat might keep our dog from becoming bold and confident. The cat is probably a 75/25 outside to inside three months out of the year, but mostly inside in the winter. Is there a chance our cat will warm up to our dog?

[ezzy333]

And what do you think the cat is going to do to the pup? I would be more concerned that your pup nay grow up hating cats? I always liked to have cat around to put our pups in their place. We had two black cats that would go with the pups and I when we went for walks and loved to play with the pups once they got their pecking order sorted out and we never lost a dog to a cat though we have had a couple of cats bite the dust before we were able to get all of them adjusted to their own place.

Ezzy

[royta]

I guess I'm worried about the cat whipping the crap out the pup and leaving me with a soft weak cowering dog.

Do I not need to worry?

[Cajun Casey]

Cat got its front claws? If so, worry.

[shags]

A cat will put some respect into a puppy, but it won't fight until it kills it, IME. I've had a few barn cats (with claws) that would have it up to here with a dog, and teach it a lesson, then everyone is done for at least a while. We had one dog that would harass Big Momma cat until she got sick of it one day. She ambushed that dog, ran him down, jumped on his back and rode him biting his ears and head for about a hundred feet. Dog never messed with her again, but he still was bold and never hesitated to kill varmints.

I think you have more to worry about having a cat-hating dog that will kill your kitty than the other way around.

Good luck, it probably won't be an issue at all.

[brad27]

I've seen dogs that have lost eyes because of cats..........

[Cajun Casey]

I've seen dogs that have lost eyes because of cats..........

Exactly.

[dreamerofdreams]

See what happens, a bit. Maybe you'll luck out like we did.

My cat beat the ever living crud out of a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Like... the cartoons you see, where the dust is flying and such? That was what happened. Blood everywhere. The cat owned that dog the whole time we dogsat. I thought we'd have trouble when we got our brit pup.

No trouble at all.

The cat let the dog mess with it and all sorts of stuff. 10 months later, the cat has never clawed the dog, not once. I think at first he knew she was a baby. And now that she's bigger, she's part of the family. They both sleep in the bed with me at night and play together now.

[Sharon]

Very risky to have an outdoor cat- coons, cars, skunks, coyotes and whatever else they have in Utah. Where I live it is illegal - huge fine.

[mask]

I too had a dog lose an eye to a cat. The dog walked by the cats bed and the cat took a swipe at it. I'm no fan of cats so I would get rid of the cat before the pup came home.

[royta]

Very risky to have an outdoor cat- coons, cars, skunks, coyotes and whatever else they have in Utah. Where I live it is illegal - huge fine.

A cat isn't worth having if it can't be outside earning it's keep, slaughtering the voles and mice. Of course it comes in all the time, but she doesn't have a problem staying out all night in the summer months.


Thanks everybody.

[Back]

Get rid of the cat... Problem solved!

[Duckdon]

Get a Drahthaar. Problem solved.

[Qwernt]

We have an indoor cat (still has claws though) and she put the puppy in her place long before it got to the point of worrying about eyes (though it does happen). That said just yesterday dog went up like it was going to mess with cat, and suddenly yelped and ran, apparently the nose got bopped a bit.

It took a while for the dog to understand cat body language. When dogs want to play they do that nice play bow. When cats are worried they will crouch which looked too much like a puppy bow to the puppy... Now that they know eachother (3 years), they will play tag in the house. The cat will walk up and soft bat the dog (no claws) and then run. The dog knows it is ok to chase and they have a bit of fun (but the cat is always in charge). Funny to me, since this is the same dog that will kill a rabbit on the run no problem.

[KNFriss]

Don't worry to much about the cat and dog, most cats will adjust to the addition of a dog..
Our current cat would beat up out neighbor's dog and other neighborhood cats, when we got the puppy she was skitish, but since winter they have become good buddies. And I totally agree with the others that a cat will put your dog in place.

[royta]

Well, my 8 1/2 week old Britt is learning not to bark or jump at the cat. Man that cat can throw some quick jabs.

[RoostersMom]

I've seen way too many dogs loose an eye to a mean cat. I wouldn't let a pup with no sense around a mean cat.

I'm also an avid hater of outside cats. They kill way too many songbirds and quail as well!

[whatsnext]

My parents cat got my pup in his right eye the part underneath his eyelid not his eyeball, i have no idea what the correct terms are maybe someone else could clarify. But it did take a little hunk out of whatever you call that covering behind there eyelid , you cant tell by looking at him but it could have been real bad so i would take NO chances if i were you.

[Sharon]

and then there are these:

[royta]

The cat is actually very good around the pup until the pup decides to get goofy with the cat. I've been keeping the pup in check around the cat.