# *headdesk* Really, cat? Really?



## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

It seems our cat is finally aware that the puppy is not going anywhere. While Brady has improved tenfold around the cat (cat can literally walk by brushing against his nose and he won't react), the cat has decided this is HIS house and Brady comes second. :doh:

This morning, the cat literally lept on the dog, yowling to try and get at his food. The dog just looked at him like "wha??" No reaction, but this is inappropriate. The cat also will NOT leave the room/area where the dog is. Which is fine, except he is totally bullying Brady. It's like he's trying to get Brady to go after him cus he knows I'll stop him. 

So what do I do? I can't not stop Brady, that would be unteaching him. I am trying to stop the cat, but he's a cat...and an a**hat :tape:

Is this just one of those things that will eventually pass?


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## A&B (Mar 26, 2011)

:laugh: IME No.... The cat will continue to be an a**hat! 

Bobby (my cat) will launch himself of higher areas onto the dog and start games of chasey. I let them play, Bobby is a tough bugger and will stand up to the dog without hesitation (he's a very dog proof cat). I stop the games if they get too rough, but from day one they've played "tag" up and down the house and I haven't had any injuries of any kind excluding one scratch to my hand when I stopped the games one day.

They will work out their own rules. I let Bobby initiate the games, Batty very rarely does, and I let Bobby tell me when they need to be stopped. I'm lucky because I have a vocal cat. Batty is 18 months old, Bobby is around 4 years I think.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

I do suggest you put the cat ut of the room when the dog is eating. I feed all my animals in separate places. I do hand feed dogs sometimes just as part of the resource guarding prevention I do. 

I have a cat who tackles my dogs. I supervise their play. Your cat may be looking to do likewise with your puppy. Supervise the play and be careful not to let it get out of hand. Just like kids, they can get "over stimulated" and need a time out.


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## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

Cats are such brats. When I have my puppy on tie-down, Buddha the cat, will come and sit a foot away from the puppy and tease her!


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Yeah, I handfeed Brady too. He is not food aggressive at all. He doesn't care if the cat or I get into his food. (I care if the cat gets into his food...cus he's FAT) LOL.

I'll begin removing the cat during feedings.

I think, when I'm a lil more comfy, I'll let them interact a little more. Right now, I allow Brady to sniff, lick, approach, and gently play (licking only. no nipping). Buzzy (my cat) bats him (without claws) when he is getting too close. We'll see!

I know Buzzy will always be a brat  LOL He always has been


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Cats need to be the bosses around dogs. It's the only way it's safe to keep them together (of course don't leave them unsupervised together). I never punish our cats for swiping at the dogs, it teaches the dogs to keep a healthy respect and distance. I don't let the cats fixate on and bully the dogs of course.

I would recommend just putting the cat in its own room for a few minutes if it starts acting silly. Set some boundaries, and if the cat steps over, it gets put in a room alone for a few minutes, such as the bedroom or laundry. Somewhere boring.


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

lil_fuzzy said:


> Cats need to be the bosses around dogs. It's the only way it's safe to keep them together (of course don't leave them unsupervised together). I never punish our cats for swiping at the dogs, it teaches the dogs to keep a healthy respect and distance. I don't let the cats fixate on and bully the dogs of course.


I agree with this. I also don't punish him or reprimand him for swiping. They need to set their boundaries. At this point, I just prevent Brady from biting (particulary swishy tails) and I'm using previous poster's idea of removing the cat during feeding time  Hopefully this sets things right!


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

Yeah cats are evil beings, I'm not too fond of them personally & do not have one of my own but the barn cat here is very dog proof & i let him & Jo play, but he is the one who will tell her off if she gets out of hand.


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

dogdragoness said:


> Yeah cats are evil beings, I'm not too fond of them personally & do not have one of my own but the barn cat here is very dog proof & i let him & Jo play, but he is the one who will tell her off if she gets out of hand.


Awww... my Buzzy isn't evil, just a brat. He was here first, after all


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

lisak_87 said:


> Awww... my Buzzy isn't evil, just a brat. He was here first, after all


I do not own any evil cats. I have a cat named Naughty (so you can guess what they are sometimes) but they are good cats. Very smart.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I had a cat who would rush outside past us into the backyard and taunt my big dog. He knew exactly how far Scout could reach on his tether and the cat would run back and forth just out of reach. One day we'd moved Scout's tether and he managed to catch the cat! He didn't hurt him (Scout liked cats), and I thought it kind of served the cat right, haha.

I have a cat now, Lily, who is extremely patient with Crystal and Casper (if they run up and tackle her, she just glares and ignores) but doesn't like my brother's pit bull at all. Jade will be lying on the couch, asleep, and the cat will creep up and jump on her. She'll also chase Jade away from food and will walk up and swipe at her for no reason. Jade eats in a separate room to avoid the little bully cat!


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

lil_fuzzy said:


> Cats need to be the bosses around dogs. It's the only way it's safe to keep them together (of course don't leave them unsupervised together). I never punish our cats for swiping at the dogs, it teaches the dogs to keep a healthy respect and distance. I don't let the cats fixate on and bully the dogs of course.



Interesting. Is a cat's swipe like a dog's "air snap" where it's just a "back off" sort of thing, and not a failed attack (i.e. the cat was actually looking to injure the dog but missed because the dog evaded)?

It's probably good I don't have a cat too - I don't think I'd want either one to "boss" the other one around and my would-be desire sounds like it's not a winning strategy.

Can a cat and dog not be taught to co-exist in true peace (not via intimidation, i.e. dog scared to cross cat because he might get clawed)? Are their natural communications just that far opposite?

I mean, from the sound of the OP, it's like the dog isn't paying the cat any attention yet the cat is having his way with the dog - and this is how it _must_ be?


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

KBLover said:


> Interesting. Is a cat's swipe like a dog's "air snap" where it's just a "back off" sort of thing, and not a failed attack (i.e. the cat was actually looking to injure the dog but missed because the dog evaded)?


I think sometimes it can be one, and sometimes it can be the other. There are definitely times when I've seen my cats clearly intend to make contact and the dog just got out of the way fast enough, and times when the cat seems to be using the paw more like a warning. With the latter, what I've often seem them do is start by just holding the paw up "cocked" (so to speak) as if ready to strike but holding back, slowly winding up, and if dog doesn't back up then they quickly take a true strike or a rapid series of strikes.



> It's probably good I don't have a cat too - I don't think I'd want either one to "boss" the other one around and my would-be desire sounds like it's not a winning strategy.


I don't think my cats or dogs really boss each other around. They have various relationships with each other as elaborated below, but they're mostly co-existing in the same space. 



> Can a cat and dog not be taught to co-exist in true peace (not via intimidation, i.e. dog scared to cross cat because he might get clawed)? Are their natural communications just that far opposite?
> 
> I mean, from the sound of the OP, it's like the dog isn't paying the cat any attention yet the cat is having his way with the dog - and this is how it _must_ be?


It depends completely on the individuals, I think. I have four cats altogether. Two of them are pretty much completely neutral towards the dogs, they show no interest in initiating contact in any way, friendly or unfriendly -- very much a "you stay out of my face and I'll stay out of your face" kind of thing. The other two ADORE Maisy (now that she's outgrown trying to play with them). They will head bump, groom, and curl up to nap with her. She will sometimes groom them back and seems to like them to nap with her. Since Pip doesn't care for the cats at all, they pretty much leave him alone, they don't try to be friendly with him but they don't try to boss him, either. Squash still pretty much sees the cats as toys, and since his version of playing is still "paw you or chase you" they avoid him for the most part.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

KBLover said:


> Interesting. Is a cat's swipe like a dog's "air snap" where it's just a "back off" sort of thing, and not a failed attack (i.e. the cat was actually looking to injure the dog but missed because the dog evaded)?
> 
> It's probably good I don't have a cat too - I don't think I'd want either one to "boss" the other one around and my would-be desire sounds like it's not a winning strategy.
> 
> ...


Yes, a cat's swipe is very much like a dogs air snap.

I've had dogs and cats that got along VERY well, in fact my first Pixie Bob 'raised' my Boxer and Frank (my pug), played with them and was thier best friend. He slept with both when they were puppies, would eat with them and when the Boxer was sick would come get me if Taz started vomiting. He'd play chase with them (going both ways), I miss him SOO much and wish he'd been around to help me with Angel.


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

My cat and my mom's dog were the best of friends.

Every morning, my cat would walk out of my bedroom with me, go straight to my mom's dog, and rub his face allllll over the dog's head until the dog licked him lol.

I'm hoping Brady and Buzzy will get along fine when Brady stops trying to treat him like another puppy


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Many of my cats LOVE the dogs. Penny doesn't like them near her, but Toby LOVES his kitties (Moose is not allowed in the same space as kitties due to inadequate cat socialization when he was young, so now he wants to eat them ). Of course, cats don't follow the same rules as dogs, and if a dog breaks the cat rules he'll be slapped (if the kitty isn't serious about hurting the dog, claws will be kept in). But if they're friends, that doesn't happen too often. Only if the dog gets way too cheeky .

I have always wanted to get a puppy and a kitten at the same time and raise them together. Since I never have any shortage of kittens (funny how that happens even when all the kitties are fixed ), if I ever get a puppy in the future I'll be sure to keep a kitten that year, too. Toby has raised several of my cats from kittenhood, but it's not quite the same as it would be if they were raised together, I think.


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Willowy said:


> Of course, cats don't follow the same rules as dogs, and if a dog breaks the cat rules he'll be slapped (if the kitty isn't serious about hurting the dog, claws will be kept in). But if they're friends, that doesn't happen too often. Only if the dog gets way too cheeky .


lol so far Buzzy is doing no-clawed warning smacks. Cold nose in the butt and chomping on tail are not pleasant. Last night, Brady got ahold of Buzzy's tail and started doing the toy shake. UGH. But Buzzy didn't really react...This is a long process -.-


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

KBLover said:


> Can a cat and dog not be taught to co-exist in true peace (not via intimidation, i.e. dog scared to cross cat because he might get clawed)? Are their natural communications just that far opposite?


They can totally get along! Crystal gets along with all three of my cats. Allin and Lily never swipe at her. She will chase Fynne (playfully) and Fynne will give her a slap occasionally, but without claws extended. Casper is a bit more annoying; he wants to play, and he plays a bit rough sometimes. Fynne will knock him upside the head, Lily will give him the dirtiest look and then just leave, and Allin will actually play with him. I have a couple of videos that illustrate the relationships.

Casper tries to get Lily to play; she warns him with the "cocked" paw, but in the end just leaves:






Allin actually plays:






I had to teach Casper that collar-grabbing is unacceptable, but that was it. Cats and dogs are fairly good at communicating. The one thing my dogs will never understand is why the cats will run up and rub their heads against the dogs!


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Just thought I'd share....


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Can Cats and dogs co-exist peacefully? :rockon: You betcha.... Like this.....


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

View attachment 24817


Here we go. Yay for figuring out attachments.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Elana55 said:


> Can Cats and dogs co-exist peacefully? :rockon: You betcha.... Like this.....
> 
> View attachment 24813
> View attachment 24814
> ...



Hahaha - that's awesome, I especially love the bottom-right picture. Atka's like, what are you up to? and the cat's all like "watch me dance!"



lisak_87 said:


> View attachment 24817
> 
> 
> Here we go. Yay for figuring out attachments.


LOL I love this too


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## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Oh shoot...I wanted to caption it "I wasn't going to eat it...I just wanted to taste it" (line from Winnie the Pooh) lol. Ah well. have to wait until I catch a picture of him licking the cat again.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Heheh, that's such a cat thing to do... lounge right outside the ex-pen.


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

My cousin has a VERY bold little kitty. The lines of communication are definitely a bit off though between her and Lola. The cat wants to play "I'm the hunter and you are my prey!" and Lola wants to play chase. I watch and let them work it out on their own, and generally when the cat persists, Lola warms up and becomes more comfortable. 

[video=youtube;06yLv0DrCU8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yLv0DrCU8[/url][/video]


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