Boris And Angus

[Guest jharr]

So we have had Boris home for 4 days now. He was tested cat safe at the shelter. Our cat Angus has been with us for almost 8 years, so he pretty much owns the house. For the first few days though, Angus pretty much hid upstairs. Boris thunders up the stairs so there is no sneaking up on the cat . Now the cat is letting his curiosity get the better of him and he is reclaiming the territory he sees as rightfully his. So here is my question. When Boris notices the cat staring at him, he starts to whimper. His ears aren't up and he only looks for a few seconds and then looks at one of us like we should do something. So I don't think he is conflicted over wanting to chase the cat. Is he just a big chicken? Angus is black and about 9lbs, so not very big. Are there steps I should take to get these two more comfortable together?

[Guest krystolla]

Direct staring is a pretty aggressive move on the cat's part, Boris is probably uncomfortable about it. He's probably hoping you'll intervene and scare away the terrifying kitty.

 

I'd suggest yawning, licking your lips or other calming signals when he gets upset. He needs to get used to the cat being rude (because cats are generally rude by dog standards) and learn that even with the staring the kitty isn't going to hurt him. Walking through the sight line between your Boris and Angus might help too. You don't want to punish Angus for staring since he'd then associate the punishment with the dog, but interrupting him would be a good idea.

 

My cats let up on the staring routine after a few days so you shouldn't have too much time before things get easier on their own.

 

Size doesn't have anything to do with it, I had a 8 pound Egyptian Mau cat who cornered two 70 pound golden retrievers. We had to rescue the goldens, they couldn't figure out how to get away from the scary monster. After that they wouldn't go within five feet of him.

[Guest Jubilee251]

I think Boris is a big chicken.

 

Molly does the same thing, although she first chased the cat when she came home. Now, if the cat is in her way, she will not walk past him. She'll whimper and whine, until I physically move the cat out of her way and she feels it's safe to proceed.