# Puppy plays with kitten....is this ok?



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

So, my husky puppy Faolan likes to play with my kitten Lucky. They are about the same size as each other height wise, but Faolan is definitely heavier and Faolan is also growing faster so they wont be for too much longer. Faolan plays like a puppy, all biting and wrestling, where Lucky does the kittln play of stalking and pouncing and chasing. They usually are fine, but sometimes Faolan will get a but over-excited and Lucky will "yell" at him because he bites a bit too hard. They have not hurt each other yet but I am worried one will accidentally hurt the other. And it is clear that both are initiating play, Faolan is not just harassing Lucky (except sometimes he will try to keep playing when Lucky is telling him he wants to stop). My question is should I let them play, or should I try and stop before one (or both) of them gets hurt?


----------



## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I think it's fine, just as long as it is supervised. If it isn't somethings horrible things can happen: 










And if you don't immediately intervene, they can only snowball into WORSE things:


----------



## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

I would let them play, it will help later on in the years if they have a good relationship from the start. Unless the cat has been declawed, it can take care of itself against a dog/puppy most times. And as long as it has a high place where the cat can get to where the puppy cant it should be fine.


----------



## Alice Kaye (Dec 23, 2010)

My 8 month old German Shepherd/Hound mix who weighs like 75lbs now, plays with our tiny tuxedo cat all the time. I've actually found him with her head in his mouth but I gotta say she can really handle her own. If she gets mad at him, he knows it and usually backs off. He can be kind of scary around her at times because he's so big and he'll chase after her, but he really has no interest in hurting her. I think he's sad because she can't really "play" with him and he gets bored.

Once I own my house, I'll probably get a second dog (but I need to curb Otto's destructiveness first! ).


----------



## bordercolliacd (Jul 8, 2011)

I have a very small eight week old kitten, and he plays with my five month old puppy all the time! In the beginning she only ran away, and I could tell LJ was disappointed that Ivan (the kitten) wouldn't play with him. Now they play pretty happily with each other. LJ puts her head in his mouth too, but neither have been injured and I'm usually supervising so I don't worry much.


----------



## Alice Kaye (Dec 23, 2010)

bordercolliacd said:


> I have a very small eight week old kitten, and he plays with my five month old puppy all the time! In the beginning she only ran away, and I could tell LJ was disappointed that Ivan (the kitten) wouldn't play with him. Now they play pretty happily with each other. LJ puts her head in his mouth too, but neither have been injured and I'm usually supervising so I don't worry much.


Yeah, I make sure to supervise them. Bella (cat) is an indoor/outdoor cat and she's pretty much only inside when I am. I don't trust her. She gets into things, can open closets and cabinets and basically gets the dog to do her evil bidding when I know it was her who instigated it. Haha.

BTW: I love your kittens name. Wonderful name! :wink:


----------



## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

It's great that the kitten gets to start out building a strong relationship with the dog before it's huge. This is how you create dog-savvy cats that won't run when dogs harass them. I've let my 40lb dog play with a kitten before, and everything was fine. I wouldn't have even considered it except the kitten was clearly into it, and would even try to initiate play when the dog was called off. In my experience, it's the older cats that were raised in the absence of dogs that have a hard time living with them.


----------



## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

My cat and puppy play all the time too 
Buzzy keeps Brady in his place. Brady adjusts his play style to suit the more delicate features of a cat. One bop of Buzzy's paw and Brady is put in his place lol. They're like brothers.


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Well this is good. I do have another cat named Jaylan that is 2 but she is always out of reach of the puppy by sitting on the backs of couches or on top of the bearded dragon's tank or up on her cat tree, so I don't really know what she thinks of puppy but obviously she is handling his presence ok, lol. I doubt they'd ever play together! 

Lucky was actually found in the engine of my dad's mustang after he drove 4 miles to drop my siblings off at school 2 months ago >_> poor little guy could have been fried to death in there but _luckily_ (yes I know his name is a bit corny but my dad named him and it just stuck) he survived and is now showing signs of becoming a big fat lap cat! <3


----------



## Independent George (Mar 26, 2009)

I demand more photos of puppy-kitty interaction!


----------



## lisak_87 (Mar 23, 2011)

Buzzy was concerned when Brady came home with a cone of SHAME










This is still my favorite though:


----------



## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Pictures of puppy cat interaction, this is the best I've got...love this pic! Hemi (the cat) has been keeping her distance more as Caeda grows and gets more rambunctious. 










As a side note, Hemi is just like Luky, found under the hood of a truck, a Dodge Hemi actually lol. She was outside of a pub we were at one night in November a couple of years ago. Terrified and cold. She came around and is now my lovey little "purr bag".


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Ironically, Hemi looks just like my other cat, Jaylan! I have pictures of both of my cats in the "other pets" section


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

I wish I had pics of my first Pixie nad my Boxer, Mathayus (cat) litteraly played nurse to Taz (dog) the first two weeks he was home as Taz was SOOO sick. He would sit in the paly pen with him and come get me if Taz got sick, they were the BEST of friends. Matthayus also helped raise Frank (our Pug) and was good buddies with him as well.


----------



## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

My 78 pound full grown GSD plays with my little (well not as little anymore) kitten all the time. They wrestle (well, jake, the kitten wrestles with Nash's head). Chase each other, Nash tries to play that face bitey game dogs play, with the kitten, but Jake usually just smacks him for that. Nash is also always flea biting the kitten. Its really cute. If Nash ever gets to rough Jake just gives him a good smack in the face with his nails and thats that.


----------



## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

Sam and Omar (cat) play together all the time. On Omar's part, it involves a lot of hissing and paw-waving  But they have never hurt each other ever. They're just like squabbling siblings 

Omar has all the weight on Sam (18 lbs vs. about 6 lbs) and yet Sam is always winning, haha. Omar is very passive/lazy.


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Well, I am getting worried again. Faolan jumps on Lucky every chance he gets, basically every time Lucky's paws hit the floor, and today while they were playing Lucky was yowling and it was getting increasingly louder and Faolan wouldn't let go until Lucky was biting him hard, till Faolan started yelling too. Are you sure I should let this continue? Faolan doesn't seem to be learning to bite more gently. =/


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

If pup is hurting the kitten then you need to intervene. Make sure the kitten has a safe zone to get where the lip is unable to follow.


----------



## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Cadence loves his kitties, but he can get too rough with them sometimes... When he does, I call him off and he'll go back to playing nice. Personally, I prefer this kind of play: (video of Cadence playin with Reagan, one of my foster kitties)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fGJuvSd-g&sns=em

This is better to me than the running around/wrestling/chasing because there's no chance that Cadence might step on the kitties on accident.


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Lucky has a ceiling height cat tree he can escape to as well as any furniture because Faolan can't climb up on the couches yet. 

I think I am going to try and give Lucky a break from Faolan, I am afraid Faolan will really hurt him. =/


----------



## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

Independent George said:


> I demand more photos of puppy-kitty interaction!



Walter was not exactly a kitten, but Bella was young and foolish:










The result of her foolishness shows on the tip of her nose:










...she never did learn her lesson....lol



Daenerys said:


> Well, I am getting worried again. Faolan jumps on Lucky every chance he gets, basically every time Lucky's paws hit the floor, and today while they were playing Lucky was yowling and it was getting increasingly louder and Faolan wouldn't let go until Lucky was biting him hard, till Faolan started yelling too. Are you sure I should let this continue? Faolan doesn't seem to be learning to bite more gently. =/


You need to set playtime limits/boundries before someone gets hurt! If the kitten was bigger and wiser, he would know how to handle the puppy - but they are both young and relentless with eachother...they don't know any better.


----------



## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

Samantha (dog) and Omar (cat):



















Despite having at least 10 lbs on her, Omar is never in control... Sam is always doing the biting / playing  When Omar has had enough, he shows it by giving her a strong bat or two with his paw. Generally I just let them work it out on their own.

They play together just fine but we make sure Omar has a place he can get that Sam cannot to make sure he can get some "space" from the dog.

I strongly believe many animals can work things out all by themselves though, with supervision of course.


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

BellaPup said:


> You need to set playtime limits/boundries before someone gets hurt! If the kitten was bigger and wiser, he would know how to handle the puppy - but they are both young and relentless with eachother...they don't know any better.


How would you recommend I do that?


----------



## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Mirada (GSD) and Barrett (the cat) have played together since they were both little.

Mirada now weighs 55 pounds, and Barrett weighs 10. We have no issues. All play is supervised, but there have not been any serious issues with Mogwai and The Carrot Cat playing together.

Every now and again, Barrett will try to play with my 87 lb male, Strauss, but it usually ends in failure, as Strauss couldn't give a crap about the cat, lol.


----------



## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

Daenerys said:


> How would you recommend I do that?


"Leave it" is a good start. This command is very versatile and can work very well on anything you want the dog to leave, including cats. Sam knows "Leave it" but the cat is VERY tempting and so we're working with her on that.. she's getting it in short bursts, leaving the cat alone in the room for, say, 2 minutes at a time. Baby steps 

Your puppy is very young, but not too young to start training. Start now and as she gets older it'll get easier.


----------



## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

Yes, read up on some training tips for "leave it". You must have ready something more tempting and yummy for the puppy to divert his attention away from the cat. As *soon* as your pup turns to you after saying "leave it!", praise & reward with a treat.

And/or if playtime gets too rough, say "enough" and remove puppy from the kitty until he settles down. And since it is getting pretty rough, I wouldn't leave the two alone for any length of time. They may not mean to harm eachother but again, they don't understand yet how rough is too rough. 

Puppy training classes or at least a few good books will do a world of good in the long run - not just regarding kitty/puppy relations.

=)


----------



## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

He should be starting puppy classes soon, as soon as in the next couple of weeks. We have been teaching him "leave it" but I hadn't thought to use it with the cat!


----------



## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

Daenerys said:


> He should be starting puppy classes soon, as soon as in the next couple of weeks. We have been teaching him "leave it" but I hadn't thought to use it with the cat!


Yep, I also have a leave it and it translates to all sorts of things, cats, counter surfing, weeds (he loves to eat funny looking grasses,), the other dog, and anything else you can think of. Leave it is one of the most used commands in my arsenal.


----------



## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Daenerys said:


> How would you recommend I do that?


Not that "Leave it" won't work, but we've been taking a different approach. I don't think I mentioned how we are dealing with our cats and the puppy. We are no where near complete success yet, but we've come a long way with one particular technique that has only been working because the cat doesn't run the second she sees the dog:
1) Keep the dog on a short leash (preferably harness to prevent choking!), go towards the cat as close as you can without the dog bolting or freaking out. Make sure the dog can see the cat, if it does and is calm....give treat (click treat if you are clicker training). 
2)Get a little closer, when the dog goes for a run or starts pulling don't move! (be a tree). Once the dog calms down (which it will after trying EVERY way to get at the cat) give it a second of calm....treat. 
3) Repeat 2 until you get REALLY close with the dog calm. 
4) Once you get to the point of contact let some nuzzling go on, gentle contact so long as the cat is obviously ok with this. No treats needed since the treat is touching the cat. As soon as the overexcitement happens, but before scratching might start pull back on the leash and correct it ("no", yelp, whatever it is you do) or say leave it and let the cat safely escape. If it doesn't run, or the "leave it" works have another go at contact, maybe it'll stay friendly longer!

This only really works if you have a cat that is ok with it, otherwise you might have to train the cat to come close to the dog (while it is in its crate or whatever). Cats like treats too....the same theory applies! 

We are stuck at 4. She still gets overexcited after a short while, but the cats are more likely to walk safely within 4 feet of the dog when she is calm without being chased. If she is in major play mode...ugh, all bets are off. This has taken months, so it is by no means a quick fix! I don't know if this will work for you, but it has improved things for us a lot, but has by no means caused perfect harmony. 
Hope this helps....good luck!


----------



## paxfounder (Apr 27, 2012)

I am having almost the same problem, accept it's the cat who can sometimes be too rough. The dog (Tali) either yips when the cat (Garrus) bites her ear to hard or matches the playing level and over powers the cat in playing, which can make the cat make a noise of pain. Tali has a very gentle soul and calm attitude, she is a rottweiler X Irish wolfhound ( she is going to be big!!). So what we have been doing is letting them play, but only while we are around. Then when one gets too rough. We either say "no" to the Tali, or remove Garrus from the situation. It's too soon to see if this will work in the long run, but it's only week one with these crazy guys.

Here is a vid of them playing. They are both 9 weeks old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6jZ1lAMJ2I


----------



## begemot (Feb 1, 2011)

Where are all the people from the husky-chihuahua dog park thread, who warned about all dogs having prey drive and not being safe with little dogs in dog parks?

Please keep your cat safe. Dogs kill cats all the time, and often the owners think they are just "playing," or that their dog would never do that, up until it's too late. You have to teach the dog to respect the cat's boundaries and keep a calm head around him.

Like someone else said, the cat also needs a dog-free safe zone in the house -- and not just a cat tree. A room with a dog gate blocking access, that has one of those little cat doors in it that you can leave open would work, plus a litter box and water. This will prevent the cat from getting seriously stressed, and give him somewhere to retreat when he wants to be able to move around worrying about being jumped on.

Also, are they ever loose alone together? Where do you put the dog when you are not there supervising him?


----------



## Elliebell (Mar 13, 2011)

To help our cat live with the dogs, she not only has a safe zone (the basement), we also have side tables and end tables around that are within jumping height for the cat so that if Neeka gets too feisty, Marlee (the cat) can jump to an area that Neeka can't get to. Marlee is also allowed on the dining table and counter tops when there isn't food around. Our old cat who gave Neeka a couple of good swipes across the nose so she now has a healthy respect for cats.

SiSi is a doll, so she can be offleash with our foster kittens, but Neeka gets too excited. We usually put her on leash, get her to lie down, and allow the kittens to approach when they feel comfortable. Neeka is simply too rough with them to be allowed to go for them on her own terms.

And now for some pictures of SiSi and foster kittens


----------



## BrittanyG (May 27, 2009)

I AWWWWWEEEd at those pics. Precious.


----------



## Cheetah (May 25, 2006)

Elliebell said:


>


This pic makes me melt! So adorable.


----------

