Cat Owners: At What Point...

[ramonaghan]

We have several... otherwise, they'd eat not only the cat food, but also the cat turds.

 

I don't know if Sweep hasn't discovered the litter box or just isn't that interested, but either way I am counting my blessings on that front.

[rascalsmom]

I would like to add that the worst animal-caused injury our family has ever dealt with was cat-to-cat. It happened long before we had the dogs....we came home to find our male Siamese, Sammy, with a big gash in his rear leg and the leg dangling. Turned out his Achilles' tendon was nearly severed. He had surgery, and ended up recovering completely. The only thing we could figure that happened--and we are pretty sure about this--is that our other Siamese, Daisy, did it. She hated him, and he harrassed the crap out of her. I think he probably attacked her, as he was wont to do, and she defended herself--and hooked a claw into his leg.

[ramonaghan]

I would like to add that the worst animal-caused injury our family has ever dealt with was cat-to-cat. It happened long before we had the dogs....we came home to find our male Siamese, Sammy, with a big gash in his rear leg and the leg dangling. Turned out his Achilles' tendon was nearly severed. He had surgery, and ended up recovering completely. The only thing we could figure that happened--and we are pretty sure about this--is that our other Siamese, Daisy, did it. She hated him, and he harrassed the crap out of her. I think he probably attacked her, as he was wont to do, and she defended herself--and hooked a claw into his leg.

 

Yikes! That's a valid point and not one I'd ever have thought of. I find the occasional mystery scab on the cats but have never encountered anything like that. Glad Sammy recovered! (And now I'm off to make bubble wrap suits for all my animals…)

[rascalsmom]

Yeah, Sammy was only about 2 when that happened. He never learned, though, and continued to harrass Daisy until he died at age 7 (he developed diabetes). Daisy--who also killed and ate my daughter's parakeet--lived to be almost 19. As you can imagine, Daisy didn't put up with any crap from the dogs.

[Forevermybabies]

My greys were all very tolerant of the cats. One of my cats would routinely "knead" anyone who was feeling ill or was injured. This included the dogs. After Sunscreen had surgery one day, I walked in to Jezebel working hard on his ribcage as he snoozed. LOL

[GeorgeofNE]

My George does snark at Mister Bigglesworth (who is know as Da Ebil Won and also YLB (you little bastard)). But if George wanted to hurt him, he would have. Truthfully it was Mister Bigglesworth who bit George on the tail once hard enough to make it bleed! I believe he weighed about 5 pounds at the time.

 

I never give a second thought to leaving George and the cats. Never. Any more than I did with my former dog, a pit bull mix. I happen to think a cat safe dog is...cat safe! Yes, any animal can do unpredictable things, but I'm not going to crate my dog for life on the off chance that he's going to go nuts one day. It's his home too.

[ramonaghan]

I just posted a pic in Cute and Funny that's given me some reassurance about the whole thing.

[Feisty49]

Annie and Penny-the-cat, after an introduction that lasted a minute on the first day while Annie was muzzled, have never been separated in the house. Annie 99% of the time ignores the cat. The other 1% she sniffs the cat's butt when cat walks by. I get stink eye and warnings from a couple of people in my group, along with stories about how after X number of years one of their Greyhounds turned on the cat, but I don't see it happening with Annie and Penny. Could it? Sure. Life does not come with guarantees.

 

Annie has no prey drive. On our morning walk yesterday, we flushed out a rabbit as we walked on the grass along the bushes in the town park. I almost stepped on it! Annie, who was doing her sniffing thing, looked up, saw the bunny a foot away and returned to sniffing.

[Guest starr511]

Oh, not long!

 

George hated his crate and I dispensed with it after a few weeks, but I was really never concerned since he showed NO interest at all.

 

This is my wish that someday our doggies will let our cats sleep on them or even next to them. For now, they just co-exist. Love your cat. Is it an egyptian mau? Very pretty. Love those EARS!!!

[Guest starr511]

 

 

Yup, I think you've summed it up perfectly. I'm another one who prefers to err on the side of caution, and all my dogs are crated and the cats in separate rooms with the doors closed when I'm not home. This way, I can be sure that there won't be any trouble or unexpected surprises when I come home. They are animals, and you never know what might make someone upset. And cats can sometimes have a tendency to tease dogs and p

ush their boundaries. LOL

 

And I'll say that my dogs are about as close%2

[kolarik1]

My greys were all very tolerant of the cats. One of my cats would routinely "knead" anyone who was feeling ill or was injured. This included the dogs. After Sunscreen had surgery one day, I walked in to Jezebel working hard on his ribcage as he snoozed. LOL

 

Adorable!

[a_daerr]

This is my wish that someday our doggies will let our cats sleep on them or even next to them. For now, they just co-exist. Love your cat. Is it an egyptian mau? Very pretty. Love those EARS!!!

 

I believe The Evil One is a Oriental Shorthair.

[Guest WhiteWave]

Ronon was left loose with the cats from day one. My roommate had 4 cats. We got Ronon b/c he was the only Greyhound at the kennel that was cat safe. He is fine inside/outside with cats. Current cat likes to sit on Ronon's head and he will just lay there until I make her move.

Joey was smaller than the cat when he came home so, I was more afraid of the cat hurting him!

 

Just last week, I put Mira (my foster pit bull) food down for her to eat breakfast and took mine outside for their raw food. I hear barking barking barking. Go inside, the cat was eating Mira's food and she was barking at her, but from a safe distance! Cat didn't care the slightest.

[Guest GreytBengalMom]

We've had Eddie about three months, and he never really showed much interest in our cat. We started leaving them alone together for small bits of time, after about a month and a half. Now they're alone for full work days (6 hours). We never had an issue, ever. They both go outside in the yard together, too. That is always supervised, because I worry our kitty will hop the fence.

 

Eddie never paid much attention to our cat. I watched him like a hawk for a month and a half before I felt comfortable, but in all honesty I'm sure they would have been fine together even before then. Eddie never even batted an eye when a bunny was in our yard, I think his lack of a prey drive may have been his reason for retirement at age 2.

[Guest DMBFiredancer]

 

While I haven't actually done this, I can say that I no longer worry about whether I remembered to turn off the stove, etc.—now it's always "did I lock the crate door?"

 

I had this exact moment today (except mine was "did I out the cat upstairs and lock the gate?") and thought of what you said!!!

 

I know this is an older thread, but I was wondering if you ever did end up letting sweeps and the cat have the run of the house together?

 

I feel like I hit the lottery with a dog who is not interested in my cat. I know it is WAY too early for me to do this, but I was wondering if there would be a time in the future when I could at least have the dog muzzle free at night (cat with run of house, but she sleeps at night.) I can hear Gracie pawing at the muzzle in the middle of the night as if to say, "Come on!! Haven't I already PROVEN to you that I don't care about that damn cat!!!!"

[ramonaghan]

 

I had this exact moment today (except mine was "did I out the cat upstairs and lock the gate?") and thought of what you said!!!

 

I know this is an older thread, but I was wondering if you ever did end up letting sweeps and the cat have the run of the house together?

 

I feel like I hit the lottery with a dog who is not interested in my cat. I know it is WAY too early for me to do this, but I was wondering if there would be a time in the future when I could at least have the dog muzzle free at night (cat with run of house, but she sleeps at night.) I can hear Gracie pawing at the muzzle in the middle of the night as if to say, "Come on!! Haven't I already PROVEN to you that I don't care about that damn cat!!!!"

Hi again! Nope, after eight months, I still haven't left them all alone together when we are not home. Paranoid, I know! But, since I work from home, on most days everyone is free and doing their respective thing (sleeping, usually). When I do have to run errands or whatever, Sweep is rarely in her crate for longer than a couple of hours, so I don't beat myself up too much about it. I will get there, or at least graduate to a baby gate when we have a house that's better laid out for that (which will be soon, I hope!).

 

It really is all about what feels right/comfortable for YOU. Your cat seems to have adjusted much better than mine did (well, Olive the stress-puker anyway; Henry was grumpy but fine) and that takes some of the strain/guilt off you. But—and it sounds like you know this—Grace hasn't been there long enough to show her full personality, so another month or two might be a good idea just for safety's sake.