Pulling a cats tail

Hello Everyone,

recently we got a new puppy, whom is very attracted to my cats tail, and my cat in general. It is rather difficult for me because the puppy pulls his tail and gnaws on his ears. my grandparents think its cute becuase he would play with our old dog who passed away a month or so ago. The puppies playing is a lot more agressive (i assume do to its age and not knowing its own strength) but i am concernd that the puppy is hurting my cat, and im even more concerned about his tail being pulled!

i was wondering if anyone could give me some insite to what exactly happens inside a cats body when there tail is pulled. i know that it hurt, and causes them a lot of grife, but is there something inside of them that could potentional be harmed?

as well, does anyone have any tips or dealing with a hyper puppy and a lazy old cat who just wants to sleep!

please please any insight would be very helpful!

thank you.

A cat can be seriously injured if the tail is pulled hard enough - tail pull injury.

It can injure nerves that lead to the bladder and kidneys, leading to problems with those organs as well as the colon.

Do you have a cat tree or someplace high that the cat can go to and get away from the puppy?

my dog bites my cats ears too :/
it looks like it hurts but theres no way to stop it without stopping the play all together and the cats wont even allow that.

Originally Posted by katachtig

A cat can be seriously injured if the tail is pulled hard enough - tail pull injury.

It can injure nerves that lead to the bladder and kidneys, leading to problems with those organs as well as the colon.

Do you have a cat tree or someplace high that the cat can go to and get away from the puppy?

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he is a very lazy old male cat, jumping on the furnature is about as much physical activity in one day he is willing to do! other then walk to get food.

the puppy is already big enough to jump on the beds and couches.

You could dislocate the fine tail bones or sprain the muscles. Its NOT cute to let the puppy do that - because if its not stopped now, it will get worse when the dog is full grown.

I agree that you should stop this behaviour ASAP. Especially if the cat isn't in good enough shape to climb a tower, he's probably not in the condition to fight the puppy away if he's being hurt!

You might want to look into some dog training methods as far as teaching pets to play together. I've heard of the command "LEAVE IT" being taught to dogs which gets them to instantly stop what they are biting at and to come to your side. If your puppy is big enough to jump on the couch, he's big enough to learn some manners!

I know your grandparents mean well, but this "cute" behaviour could cause a lot of problems for your cat...

Lots of animal shelters and pet stores have dog training classes, including the popular "clicker training" that seems to be working so well. The shelter where I volunteer even has a special class for kids to learn how to train their dogs! Check out your local resources... I'll bet you can find some excellent help.

Good luck!