Behavior With Cat

[Guest Erin]

What does it mean when my greyhound tries to put her paw on my cat? Is this a form of "playing" or something not so cute? This has happened twice and each time my cat has stopped (by swatting her away).

[Guest Greytluv]

I have 4 cat zappers so I don't know. Maybe a dominance thing

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

More information is needed. What are some of the other things that your greyhound does leading up to the "pawing". Also, what is your greyhound doing when pawing? Any whinning, panting, puffing of cheeks, chattering of teeth. Does your greyhound rush up to the kitty as soon as the cat is in sight? Does your greyhound "hunt" for the cat? At first it sounds as if your hound wants to play with the cat, but the play may be that the hound is treating the cat like a stuffy, which will not end good. We need more information to give you a good idea of what is going on, so explain as much about the entire situation as you can. I do foster hounds and have 2 cats, as well as I do cat testing for a group. If your hound does any of the behavior that I mentioned above, muzzle your hound right away.

 

Chad

Edited December 24, 2009 by Greyt_dog_lover

[Guest Erin]

When I first got Clementine, she was VERY interested in the cat. Whining, searching for the cat, etc. But she soon lost interest for the most part. As far as I can tell, her attitude toward the cat isn't consistent -sometimes she's scared to walk by the cat when he's on the clothes hamper (I have to escort her by), sometimes she whines and sniffs the cat, sometimes she justs stays put and whines, sometimes they touch noses with no whining, but she mostly ignores the cat. The only behavior that I'm really concerned about is this pawing thing -she's erect with her ears up, tail wagging, and she whining. No puffing or chattering. She then tries to put her paw on the cat. Once the car swipes, she leaves hom alone. She doesn't hunt for the cat at all. Regardless, I kept them separated for the first couple of months (while I was gone) and now I muzzle the dogs (I have two greys) while I'm gone. My cat is smart -for the most part he's relaxed and acts confident, but he seems to know to keep an eye on Clem. Since I'm new to dogs, I just want to make sure I'm not being naïve about this pawing thing.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

It sounds as if she wants to play with the cat, but as I said, she will probably play too rough and injure the cat. I would discurage this behavior with either a loud verbal correction (if that works), or what works a LOT better is a squirt gun. A nice small stream of water in the butt or the head will almost allways work. The only issue with the latter is if the cat gets hit with overspray, then the cat will take off,stimulating chase response in the greyhound. A tricky thing to do, you have to be accurate with the spray.

[RobinM]

As I was told a long time ago. Cats and Greys "playing". Playtime can turn into Prey time in No time.

 

I would not allow them to play and would discourage it. My Teddy and Ollie sometimes will go after the cat to play when they are in a very playful mood and the cat runs by. So far for me a very LOUD NO or HEY stops them fast. I have had Teddy for 3 years and Ollie just a month.

[Guest SillyIzzysMom]

Millie and (rarely) Stella will sometimes give the whole chase and or play-with the cat thing a go. They both cat tested out tolerant and really, 99% of the time ignore the cat. But every once in awhile when one of them is feeling especially full of beans. . .

 

I holler at the offender (usually Millie) and she stops immediately, giving me an "oops!" look. Like RobinM said, I think a 65 pound animal "playing" with a 10 pound animal is a bad, bad idea even if the dog really means no harm.

 

So, to minimize vet visits (and worse) we have a strict "NO KITTY!!" policy around here--there is no such thing as innocent messing around with the cat as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I have a dog-savvy cat who doesn't try to provoke the dogs into a game. . .thank goodness!

 

M