My household is home to a four-month-old male Yorkshire terrier puppy, Tucker, and an approximately ten-year-old neutered male cat, Tiger.
Now their relationship isn’t really as big a deal as it might be, since the cat stays outdoors. They only really get to interact when we let the puppy out to play or use the bathroom. And there’s no real hostility between them…but the puppy has decided that he really, really wants to be friends with the cat. He’s actually very polite by dog standards - for instance, he’ll lay down and wag his tail and wait if he sees the cat approaching him, which is what he does when he’s greeting a much bigger dog, or when he wants something from us humans. But of course his constant sniffing and licking and general puppy enthusiasm is pretty annoying by cat standards.
Now the cat has never been especially sociable even under the best of standards (but he did always play nicely with our old dog, although they weren’t best friends or anything), and he seems to look on the puppy with mild disgust…but on the other hand, he’s fairly restrained with him. I’m not sure if he knows the puppy is part of the family or just realizes how young he is or what, but he is careful not to hurt him. When the puppy gets too familiar the cat will swat at him or bite him gently, but never hard enough to make him yelp or draw blood. Of course, the result is that the puppy usually doesn’t take the hint and I have to go drag him away.
So, like I said, it’s not a real problem. But I am a little concerned that the cat might lose his temper one day and claw the puppy in the eye or something, and anyway, it’s getting fairly pathetic to watch the puppy’s desperate attempts to make friends. I’d like to one day not have to watch him so closely around the cat, but he doesn’t seem to be learning. Is there a way to teach the puppy proper manners for dealing with cats?
I have two of each. Sounds to me like yours are making nice progress. I found it takes about a year before they all have accepted that they live in one big pack together. However, I’ve had the new dog for about a month and the cats are already sleeping with him on the bed. Some cats adapt faster than others.
Your cat sounds like he’s been a loner for a while so I wouldn’t expect them to be best friends any time soon. Don’t worry about pup’s eyes: my dogzillas are Boston Terriers: HUGE targets in terms of eyeball surface area. The cats usually swat with the claws in – just to send a message the dog is bugging them. Also, the dogs have learned to keep their eyes closed when the cats are swatting! (My dogs are no dumbasses!)
Just don’t leave them unsupervised while the dog is still learning the rules. If he does get nailed by a cat, just take 'em to the vet. They have stuff you can use to help heal the corneas with no lasting damage; just an ointment.
There’s not really anything you can do. Just go about your normal routine, be sure to give both eqEnjoy!
The first week my puppy came home, she jumped on one of the cats while it was sleeping…it spun around and slashed her with her claws out. It not only scrathed the cornea, but actually punctured the eye itself so the goo was leaking out. We rushed her to emergency vet that night, and took her to the regular vet the next day. They weren’t hopeful about her keeping the eye, but after 3 weeks of vet visits and antibiotics, wearing an elizabethan collar, thankfully she kept her eye.
Dogzilla is right…don’t leave them alone without supervision until you’re sure they are okay with each other!
Is anyone else reminded of those old Warner cartoons where the puppy sneaks up behind the cat and barks, so the startled cat ends up stuck to the ceiling?
That particular toon is notable (there was a less-memorable sequel) because they actually let the cat have the “last word”.
Anyway, I’d be perfectly happy to let nature take its course, except that the puppy doesn’t seem to be taking hints at ALL. The cat hits, bites, hisses and the puppy keeps right on sniffing him obliviously, until I show up and drag him away - and as soon as I put him down, he goes right back toward the cat. That’s normal?
Hm…when my cat met her first dog (my cousin’s dog, actually) she gave her one sharp swipe across the nose, drew a little bit of blood, but just a surface scratch, and that dog has yet to get over her fear of that cat! The dog will play with other cats, but when she sees the black one…she’ll cry or find another way around her if she’s in her path!
I’m tempted to tell you to let you cat get a bit angry and get a hood hit in - it will show the pup that shes not to be messed with.
Also, give your pup lots of other toys when he’s not responding to being taken away from the cat - it might teach him what is and what isn’t to be played with?
I am not pet expert though. Mine adjusted fine to one another, so I never had issues like this.
you keep interrupting the lesson - don’t pull the puppy away unless it’s bleeding (yes, sounds cruel, but the puppy is thinking the cat is a toy, and is trying to figure out how to “work” it - until it learns that there are unpleasant consequences, it will continue).
Most importanty, THE PUPPY WILL OUTGROW THE CAT! If it does not learn to respect the cat now, it may decide to play real rough with kitty somewhere down the line.
let them work it out before serious injury results
[sub]Claude Cat and Frisky Puppy can be found in Terrier Stricken, Two’s A Crowd, and No Barking[/sub]