My cat is attacking our puppy.Help!

mikononeikan

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Hi, My cat Kirara is a little over a year old. We've had a dog before that was really old and died of cancer. She attacked that dog, too. We waited a few months and now we have a puppy. I understand she may think that this is her house, but it really isn't. I don't think that's the real problem. because she attacked the other dog when it was here first. I live with a lady who is blind and when I go off to work I have to close Kirara in my bedroom so that she doesn't get outside. She may think that is a form of punishment because when the other dog was alive I'd close her in there after she had attacked the dog. I know it's not fair for Kirara to always be locked in the bedroom while I am away and because I can't trust her to leave the puppy alone, but the blind lady says if she attacks the puppy again she has to leave. I don't know what to do. The blind lady thinks cats are just like dogs and that my cat is just being mean for no reason at all and she wouldn't understand or even listen to me when I say maybe there is a reason. She doesn't think that the cat is unhappy because of being shut in the room all of the time and nor does she care.
 

puppycat

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thats not a good situation. Your cat probably doesn't know the dog well enough. Always being stuck in that room, it hasn't had the time to just "get to know the dog". Also, your cat may be one of those that will never get along with dogs. Try making the cat feel like number one when the dog is around. It can be sort of an alpha thing. I am not sure what kind of routine you have in the house for the animals but perhaps let the cat always eat first or praise the kitty first when you get home. You need to have another punish method when the cat attacks the dog. You want your cat to feel comfortable in teh room where she is left for the day. Don't put her in the same room that she gets punished in. Thats like punishing a dog and putting it in the crate where it is kept for the day. So your cat thinks it is being punished everyday. That could be a reason the cat is acting out as well. it probably does not feel confident enough in his own environment.
That is how we introduced teh ferrets into our home. We made sure she felt confident in that she was still number one. Before we greet the ferrets we greet her. We feed her first and praise her lots when she leaves the ferrets alone. She is not threatened by them and now plays well with them. I hope this helps and if not I hope you get teh help you need soon. I would hate to hear if you had to loose your baby.
 

zissou'smom

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How did you introduce them? Did you just bring the puppy home and stick them together right away?
Cats are not dogs, nor do they attack for the same reasons.
When cats first meet each other, they kind of fight it out for a little bit to decide who is the alpha. This may be whats going on here. Or maybe your cat doesn't like dogs. Why did you get a puppy when your cat attacked your last dog?
 

momof3rugratz

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My Bassethound Dazy Mae passed away also and she was a big dog but her and skittles where inseperable. Now I have a 8 week old Pom and what I did was leave skittles be and the pom I did close the pom off so she has to sleep in the livingroom or the kitchen. Skittles gets my bed and me. She likes it that way. She has seen BABY (pom) and her hair stood up then baby came down the hall skittles ran. Now skittles just chooses not to go near her. If baby walks in the room Skittles will stay put unless baby goes within inchs of her and then she walks away. No fighting at all. I will not force them to like each other. I figure if they don't then they will stay away from each other. Skittles always can hide good. She is cleaver.
 

larke

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What I don't understand is why, after you knew she attacked the older dog, you went out and got another dog. I mean I realize maybe you like dogs, but it might have been a good idea to think about the possibilities before doing it, and maybe have some kind of plan to deal with problems if they arose. Not very fair to either of them. Cats react like that to dogs because they're scared, because their territory is being encroached on, because they smell funny, they bark, etc. etc. You can't blame the cat here.
 

momof3rugratz

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I might be interpreting her post, but what I am thinking is she ownes the cat and the blind woman owns the dog so it is a roomate relationship setting right...
 

larke

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Well... she said 'WE have a puppy'. Actually it's not very clear who lives where, people or animals or which ones, and what their relationship is to each other.
 

momof3rugratz

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that is true. She has not posted since the other day. Hopefully I didn't say something wrong. I was tring to help.
 

larke

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No, not at all that I can see - I thought maybe I did! You can't solve them all, can you!
 
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mikononeikan

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it is a roomate thing i live with the blind woman and her husband and they are like parents to me. she allowed me to get a kitten and i grew very attached to my cat. the blind woman i live with does not understand cats at all. she thinks they are just like dogs and can be trained the same way. she has a lot of experience with many different types of animals so i tend to trust her opinions it wasn't until i found this site that i realized we did some wrong things when training the cat. she has all these rules and my cat and i have to follow them. i fell in love with the puppy too. that's why i said we have a puppy because i am the one who is trainig the puppy. well, the blind lady says my cat is aggressive towards her grandchildren and certain strangers. but she only attacks them if they get too close to her or try to pet her or pick her up. she does let some strangers touch her, but no kids at all. this is probably because when she was a kitten 2 of the grandchildren would chase her around the house and fight over her of course i told them about 50 times please leave the kitty alone. but the blind lady doesn't see it that way. i love my cat she is my baby. the blind lady loves her dogs and has always had dogs (among other animals). i didn't try to throw the cat and the puppy together i just let them be but the cat went up to the puppy and attacked it. and the blind lady wanted me to get rid of my cat. so i tried to compromise with her and was willing to get my cat declawed i'm not crazy about that idea but i don't want my cat to hurt the puppy either. a friend of mine said there are these caps that you can buy and put on the cats claws. i'd rather try that. we are just afraid that the cat might scratch the puppies eyes and blind the puppy. i hate having to keep my cat in her bedroom all the time becuase we're afraid she'll hurt the puppy. it's not fair to her. so thank you for your help and i hope those cat claw caps work.
 

larke

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The whole thing sounds like it's hard for everyone, and I'm just wondering if, hard as it might be, you would consider finding another home for the cat, one where he has more freedom to be himself, where no one (who can't see) would be affected in any way by him, or her puppy or grand children, and where you could relax. I think the lady probably has all those rules because if she doesn't live that way she'll be in trouble - have you thought about all the different ways being blind may feel like, and how you can be frightened by small furry things suddenly in front of you (or anywhere else) unexpectedly, causing problems you can't see to fix, etc.? She may be trying to be very good to you, as well as she can, but asking her to put up with a wild kitten may just be more than she can handle Her rules allow her to 'control' her environment so she can live a reasonably decent life, but the cat may just be the straw that breaks it up. And your cat deserves a decent life too. Just something to consider.
 
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mikononeikan

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well before we got the puppy the cat was happy the only time she was locked in the room was when i was working (i work part time) and at night when we went to bed my cat sleeps with me and she seems fine when i'm in the room with her. i couldn't leave the door open then because shhe use to like to go and wake everyone else up really early in the morning. if nothing else works then i'll have to get my own place. with the older dog she use to try to cuddle with her too but that dog was so afraid of other animals no matter how friendly they were. the dog was okay as long as no other animal came near her. i thought that the cat just wanted to play with the older dog because that's the way she acted. she acted the same way when i got a job living with a 90 year old woman and her 2 cats she'd attak the cats like she wanted to play with them. i thought she'd be happy with a little playmate. but appearently she doesn't want that playmate to be a dog. or maybe she might not want a playmate at all. if things don't get better then i will get a place of my own for her where i know she'll be happy. because i don't have any rules for her as long as she keeps using her litter box. i don't have nice furniture but i don't really want her scratching it up in case i get better furniture. but other than that i don't have many rules. i was going to get a place with my mom because she's not happy where she is but i don't know how my cat would like her cat.
 
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