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Cat and Dog - No Truce After One Year

1K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  cubbysan 
#1 ·
I hope someone can help me make peace between our 9-year-old cat, Gabe (Siamese), and Nugget, our 13-month-old golden. Gabe moved himself upstairs the day we brought Nugget home, and has rarely come down in the year since. His food, water, and litter box are upstairs.

We have confined Nugget to the downstairs with gates, and she's only allowed upstairs (on leash) when she's with my husband or me. Gabe stays hidden. When he and Nugget happen to "meet," Gabe acts terrified - hisses and scrambles to get away. Nugget, of course, has always been fascinated by "that thing that runs and makes noises," and will take chase if we aren't quick enough to stop her. I've tried everything I can think of to ease them into tolerating each other. I guess I thought things would be rocky at first, but that they would work it out. I don't know if I did the wrong thing by keeping them apart, but I did it out of love for Gabe - and always hoped the gates would give Gabe a feeling of security, and, at the same time, allow them to get used to each other at a distance. Hasn't happened, and we're no closer to a truce than we were a year ago. :-(

FYI, it's not that Gabe has never been around dogs. We had a dog when we brought him home as a kitten, and they were fine together. We were only without a dog for six months before we got Nugget.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I feel like we've erected the Berlin Wall in our house. Should I just tear it down and tell them to work it out between themselves?
 
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#2 ·
I wouldn't leave them alone together try having them meet with one person controlling nugget and one controlling Gabe let them get used to being near to each other. If Nugget bothers Gabe another thing you can do with him is train him to not bother Gabe. One technique I've heard about (I have a 6 year old rabbit he and Levi don't get along so I've looked into this to) is to have them in the same room both under control and when nugget stops paying attention to Gabe reward him.
 
#3 ·
aw no! poor things. cat vs dog can be a difficult situation. im not an expert in this but I'm happy to share my experience.

my cat "mozart" wasnt exactly happy when I walked through the door with a bouncy, nippy 7lb golden retriever puppy. Two and a half years later, I am happy to say that they co-habitate nicely. they have both accepted that they need to live together, but they dont have to like each other.

The first few months, I tried to keep them separated and monitored their interaction. At first mozart wouldnt let Chloe within 5 feet of him. He would hiss and swat (he is still clawed). So what I did was locked both of them in the bedroom with me. I held Mozart in my lap and let the dog sniff him, praising both of them and rewarding treats to chloe. I wanted Chloe to know that her calm, sniffing and even ignoring actions were right. I wanted Mozart to know that he was safe and that the dog wasnt a threat. I did this for only a few minutes at a time and each time getting longer and longer. I never allowed Chloe to chase or bark at the cat.

After awhile Mozart stopped seeing Chloe as a threat and would let Chloe approach him. Now, if puppy Chloe got too excited or wanted to play Mozart would swat, hiss and run away.

I put a cat door in the room with his litter box so he always had an escape route.

I wouldnt say that they love each other but they get along and I can trust them home alone. :)

Good luck on the battle field!
 
#4 ·
Our cat/Golden story will not give you much hope. Many years ago, our cat Mick was born in our house--he would grow to become a large, long hair. We already had a Golden Retriever named "Golda." The two got along great. Mick would even rub up against Golda in an affectionate manner.

A few years later, Golda passed and we got Chewy, a Golden puppy. From day one, Mick would have nothing to do with Chewy. When their paths crossed, a battle would ensue, and would end with Chewy backed into a corner. All Chewy ever wanted was to play. Most of the same time we had Chewy, we had two other cats also--they always steered clear of the dog. However, they were able to live together without barriers.

Fourteen years later, Chewy passed, and Mick was still around. We got Max; Mick was very elderly by then. We separated them in different parts of the house with a baby gate. Mick passed away about a year ago.

Based on our experience, I doubt your cat will change. Throwing them together could be hazardous.
 
#5 ·
That's a very long time to keep up a battle. Cats can be very stubborn. I'm not sure this can be fixed. One of our cats, our oldest, likes Jess but hates all the other cats. She pretty well lives in our family room in the basement. Any attempts to get her to stay upstairs are met with hissing and screeching . She is happy in her little"princess suite".
 
#6 ·
We got Max our Maine **** last May and he was 7 months old in October when we got Rocky our 2 month old golden puppy. Before bringing Rocky home I did tons of reading and everywhere it said that we needed to introduce them.

Max was the king of the house so we still make him feel like he is. The day we got Rocky before coming in the house with him I stayed outside and my boyfriend quickly locked him in a bedroom and I ran in and put Rocky in the bathroom with a sort of baby gate and then we quickly let Max out of the room. He walked around the house for a couple of minutes and checked everything was in order and uh oh it wasn't...there was a weird looking creature in his bathroom! They sniffed each other and that's how they met. Max didn't like him and he hissed at him and what not, Rocky never understood what was up with that weird looking "dog", after all he just wanted to play with his new friend and housemate. Max was very curious and wanted to know more about Rocky, he stayed on tables, countertops and places where Rocky couldn't reach whilst examing him and if he came too close well the hissing began and also the running away to hide in a safe place. This went on for a week or so. Then after that for another week or two Max "tolerated" that thing that usually licks its bits and chases after its tail. Recently they play and chase after each other, they also eat and sleep at the same time. We always, always...stroked, cuddled, and gave treats, etc. to both at the same time. We never let Max feel like we love Rocky more than we love him because we don't, we love them both the same. Also, we never left them together alone, if neither of us could watch them or if we had to go out, we'd leave Rocky in the bathroom (we still do).

So there's hope for Gabe and Nugget. Make sure you introduce them to each other properly and give them time, time to know each other and bond. I hope it works out for both of them. I think the eating bit made them come close together. When we knew we were getting Rocky we decided to feed Max at certain times (before he always had food available for him to eat whenever he wanted to) so when Rocky came home we started to feed them together side by side.

I hope my story helps :)

Here's a video of Rocky and Max :) http://youtu.be/2yFFtD9MAag

And a pic :) Mammal Dog Canidae Dog breed Cat



Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App
 
#7 · (Edited)
I wouldn't give up hope just yet, at 13 mos., Nugget is still young and prone to puppy antics and still thinks "the chase" is the ultimate. As Hank matures he doesn't see A.J. (cat) as somthing to chase and more or less ignores him. Sometimes I find them cuddled together on the porch.
 
#8 ·
I think you do need to "tear down the wall" but keep control of Nugget and teach him to not even go near the cat, keep him on a leash. Teach Nugget a solid "leave it". The cat hasn't had a chance to figure out Nugget won't hurt him, give him time in the same room with Nugget NOT bothering him and he should eventually decide to venture out on his own.

But don't just let Nugget go at him.
 
#9 ·
Thanks to ALL for your suggestions! I think you're right...that we need to spend more time teaching Nugget that Gabe is off limits. If only Gabe will come out of hiding long enough for Nugget to actually see him! He has become a regular Houdini, and has a sixth sense about when Nugget is heading upstairs.

We do try our best to make sure Nugget doesn't get the opportunity to confront Gabe close up. Gabe does have claws, and I don't want any scratched eyeballs. These children, it's always something!

~Cindy
 
#10 ·
Six years later, my Maine **** has never accepted Brady or MacKenzie. Strange thing is that before them, we had two other large dogs that she had no issue with, but they were senior dogs.

Princess basically lives either on the second floor, where the goldens are not allowed because of her, and the finished basement. Occasionally, we need to carry her between floors because she feels trapped. The two floors where my kids' bedrooms and playrooms are on. She is my daughter's cat, so all her human interaction is mostly with my three daughters, since I always have two golden retriever shadows with me.

If the dogs are both outside, she will sneak down downstairs for some attention, or she occasionally will sneak in my bathroom closet that is off my bedroom, and wait until I am by myself, then come out for attention.

With Princess, I don't think things will ever get better. On the day we bought her as a kitten from the breeder, the breeder's 9 month GSD puppy was chasing her through the house, so bad that the breeder locked the puppy in her car the rest of our visit. I am sure she was tramautized by that dog.
 
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