Our new dog is afraid of our cats. Our cats aren’t dog aggressive, they pretty much ignore the dogs, but Westley is afraid that the cat sleeping on the other side of the room will suddenly wake up and claw out her eyes or something.
In a different thread, saje gave me the advice to give Westley yummy treats whenever she is in the same room with the cats so I tried that, but sadly the cats all wanted some of her treats and came running. That of course made Westley do some fear pee on the floor and hide under the stairs.
Westley likes carrots but isn’t crazy about them. Do you folks have any ideas about something I can give a retired greyhound for treats that cats won’t want?
This is probably a generalization, but most dogs like sweet things and only one cat I’ve ever known has liked them. (This cat broke into a box of chocolate chip cookies. I thought it was just beating up on the box for the hell of it but no, it wanted the cookies.)
So there are all sorts of dog cookies you can buy. Including blueberry cookie treats. I can’t imagine a cat liking them.
It’s really hard for me to say, though, because my dog will eat anything and my cats are picky.
Maybe try bribing the cat with some cat treats in place before walking over to give a treat to the dog?
My now departed cat used to love bread and frozen french fries (baked not fried.) I once saw the little bugger jump from the floor to the top of the fridge just to get at the bread I hadn’t stuck in the cabinet yet. It may have not so much been the sweet as the more complex carbs.
Cats are too curious. If you lay anything in front of the dog, the cats are going to investigate. They may very well turn there nose up at the treat once the get a closer look, but by that time, the damage is done, poor Westley will already be hiding under the stairs.
Years ago, I had two cats, completely unrelated to each other, that both loved carbohydrates, despite the fact that “they” say cats aren’t interested. Favorite carbs were popcorn, sponge cake (or any cake at all, but sponge cake was The Best), Doritos, and bread.
It sounds like what you need to do is give your cats treats first. Then treat the dog.
Also, it sounds like separating the species with baby gates for awhile would be a good idea, so they can get used to each other without feeling their space invaded.
My cats were all strays, so they are garbage guts. Blueberry cookie treats sound like something that will work. I’ll stop at the pet place and grab some tonight. Thank you so much.
I’ve been told that milk bones are bad for dogs because they make them fat. Greyhound owners are totally judgmental about other greyhounds weight, so I am trying to not let my greyhounds get fat. I can only take them to the dog park once a day, so they don’t get nearly as much exercise as they need.
All the furry residents in our home go totally nuts over freeze dried chicken. Yeah, its a mystery to me too. I was hoping that if I had some in my pocket and just put them in Westley’s mouth that nobody but her would notice. I was wrong.
You are so right. I’m hoping to find something that I can have in a pocket or pouch and just put in her mouth really quick while I pat her and tell her what a good dog she is. Anything I put on the floor will bring the cats.
I actually did think about this. Cat poop is used meat and probably not terrible for dogs…but…besides the gross factor, I don’t want to encourage the dogs to surf the litter boxes.
I will try the bolded part, thank you. That’s a good idea. Westley will see everyone getting treats, including her “sister” so might stay around long enough to get treats of her own.
The problem with baby gates is that the cats go over them without even thinking about it. I use them to keep the dogs away from the litter boxes. I’m pretty sure that the dogs could jump them as well, but they are very well trained. (They are retired greyhounds, they came to us trained to an inch of their lives.) I just don’t want them to have temptation right in their faces by leaving those rooms open for them.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. I really do want this to work, I want Westley to feel safe in her home and I really don’t want to have to rehome her. She’s a sweetie pie and I do love her a bunch.
Cats can’t taste sweet things. They have a mutation that disabled their taste receptors for sweetness somewhere along the line. So sweet treats, especially those without some underlying umami taste (meatiness), sound like a good choice.
