eye contact??

Hello,

i have recently moved into girlfriends place. I have cat..she has dog..
They took a while to be able to be uinb same room. Now what happens is my cat just walks around anywhere he wants even if the dog is in the same room..he will even come sleep in the same bed as dog. The problem is when the dog has eye contact weithtcat. Then the cat growls and hisses. The dog just wants to play. They can lye right next to each other and will be fine until that eye contact is created. The dog is small snowzer type. The cat is black short hair. Is ther a way to get the cat to be more comfortable with dog so that eye contact doesn't make him aggressive???

thanks

Time...just give it time. If the cat is not attacking the dog and visa versa, I wouldn't worry about it too much. We have a 100lb dog and 5 cats in the same house..and time always heals everything.

I think the cat will assume direct eye contact as aggressive. He's probably hissing because he thinks the dog is challangeing him.
My cats are usually ok until one will stare down another then they start hissing and I have to divert their attention to something else.

the cat is attacking the dog. the dog is scared of cat. but hissing mostly only occurs when eye contact is made or dog comes to close

So long as no one is getting hurt, just give it time--and separate them if a full blown fight does break out. Also, I wouldn't leave them alone with each other when someone isn't there to "chaperone".

My guess is this: dogs communicate one way, cats communicate another...kind of like men and women (lol).
The cat is probably misinterpreting the "play" signals from the dog as "agression", and, honestly, the cat may never want to play with the dog.
So long as WW3 isn't breaking out, I'd consider the match a success!
Also, you could try giving the cat treats when the dog is in her line of vision--will help her associate Mr. Puppy with positive things!
Good luck, and you might want to consult your vet or an animal behaviorist for help if you find things aren't better in a few months.

Hell, my cats have lived together all their lives, and more or less get along fine, but they sometimes fight too. As long as the poor dog isn't feeling totally terrorized, and doesn't seem to have any SERIOUS scratches, I wouldn't worry. Your pussycat's just trying to establish who's boss.

They obviously seem to be able to co-exist quite well, since you're not in the middle of WW3 , and it's only eye contact that seems to be the problem, the dog will learn