Help! Terrorist Cat On The Loose!
By Thomakis
@Thomakis (45)
January 27, 2008 1:50pm CST
My cat is a very sweet creature. Sometimes.
We have 2 dogs also, a shih-tzu poodle mix and a yorkshire terrier. The terrier is a male, and so is the cat, so we have expected there to be some friction between the two, but never to this extent. I'd often find them staring into each other's eyes, and I'd know that conflict would be imminent. Often this involves the cat scratching at the dog's face, and the dog barking very agitated, but never actually fighting back. I have always wondered why dog never gets sick of it and just bites the cat, because I think that would seriously solve the problem, as there would be at least something to discourage the cat from persisting with the monkey business.
I know, I know. We still haven't neutered the cat, so I know that must be done pretty soon, considering he's almost a year old now. We also experience much anguish having to listen to his 1 am symphonies, for which I promptly spray him with water, which usually keeps him quiet for some time.
Now that may sound like animal cruelty, but it's a tiny water beam, and i just spray enough for him to freshen up a bit :) it's just a temporary solution to the problem.
Any ideas on why the cat and the dog are not getting along? would neutering the kitty solve this problem?
1 response
@lightningd (1039)
• United States
27 Jan 08
While I am a firm believer in neutering and spaying your pets unless you intend to breed them, it's been my experience in having several cats and dogs throughout my lifetime, that dogs and cats pay absolutely no attention to if they are male or female when it is a different species. Now, it's known that two Tom cats will fight with each other, and two female cats will sometimes fight. Same with dogs. But, if you have a male dog and a male cat... that has nothing to do with how they get along.
The singing may or may not improve with having the cat neutered. Some it does, some it doesn't, especially with certain breeds of cats.
As for them getting along, if they're not going at each other and picking fights, then I think they have already worked something out. The staring contests, well, that's just a game to them. Especially since the dog never goes into attack when the cat swats him.
I have a 12 year old neutered male cat in the house, and an 11 month old male blue heeler. Dog wants to play with cat, cat doesn't trust dog completely. Occasionally, dog will be sleeping and cat will do a sneak attack, and get him to chase him. It's a game.
As for the water sprayer... that is a great tool for stopping cats from nasty habits. It's much less traumatic than hitting the cat or throwing a hard object at it that could do serious damage. A little water never hurt anyone!
