Cat With Ambitions

We already had Prada ( our year old polydactyl Russian Blue ) many months before we brought Siera home. We trained Siera immediately that Prada was not to be chased, because we knew that her breed ( treeing walker/german shepherd ) has a high prey-drive, and Prada is declawed.

From day one the cat never backed down. After a while it seemed as though they were becoming pack members...playing together, following eachother from room to room, sleeping in the same chair.

But.......there seems to be a problem developing. The cat has begun drinking from the dog's dish, and the dog just looks away. This morning, Prada even walked up to the entrance to the crate, stood there until Siera left the crate, then proceeded to go inside and drink from her dog bowl even though hers was still full.

i am bothered by the fact that our 9 lb cat is intimidating a 35 lb puppy. Should i interfere ( and if so, how? ), or leave it alone and the dog will handle herself?
Thanks.

I guess your cat is taking advantage of the pup's age to establish the pecking order - and that she is the alpha. Others with more dog/cat experience can chime in... please!

I purposefully put our cats higher than the dogs in the pecking order of the house. My dogs are big and could kill them if they didn't have respect for them. Water bowls are shared in my household and put in central locations. Food bowls on the other hand belong to the critter I give the food to and I draw the line on that one. My cats are not allowed near the dog food and the dogs are not allowed near the cat food.

I would let them work it out. My Stumpy trained my 2 dogs very well as puppies and now the dogs will protect the cats in return.