Hi,

I am looking at getting a puppy and I have found a gorgeous 7 month old puppy in need of a new home, but I could have a problem, and I am after some honest advice.

I have a 3 year old cat who is a house cat and never goes outside, she has free roam of the house and she means a lot to me and I really wouldn't like to see her be hurt or killed.

Is 7 months to old to be able to teach the puppy that my cat is not for chasing and killing or has that time passed and the liklihood is that it would go after my cat and I couldn't train that out of the Husky ?

I apologise if questions like this has been asked previously.

I have posted this to other forums... just want to be sure, the pup is gorgeous and needs a good home.  

Thank you

Mishima was 5 months old and probably the most difficult to break of the cat fixation. It really depends on the dog. Is it possible to do a trial? Or is this a private rehome? You can probably work it but its going to depend on your handling ability.

Keep the cat and dog separated unless you're working on their interaction. Make it clear the cat is completely off limits. No chasing and absolutely no mouth on the cat.

Hi,

Its purchasing from someone I haven't met so I wouldn't be able to do a trial

Do you know if the puppy has been around cats so far? I also think it depends on the dog. Some huskies ignore cats, some can be trained, some can never live with cats.

Depends also on your cat. Is she a runner? Does she stick up for herself and won't back down from the dog? My cat Genji stands his ground , swats when he's being pressured by pupppy, and doesn't run unless he wants to play. he and the dog are doing fine. My cat Romeo is more skiddish and while sometimes holds his ground, other times he runs, and gets chased. He isn't doing as well with the dog yet. Running cats invites chase.

I agree with Li. Neither of our cats run and Dizzy used to get in trouble if he even looked at the cats. Now I let him look, but if his ears perk up then I correct him (I can pretty much always tell what that dog is thinking). He now will stand or lay a few feet away and look at them and wag his tail, if he drops his head then he gets corrected (this is stalking behavior for him). He really wants to be friends but they detest him (as any proper self respecting cat should) . If your cat runs, than I think a 7 month old is a bad idea. Do you have a friend with a dog that could come over? Then you could gage your cats reaction to that dog and that would give you a better idea.

7 months isn't too old, but you will need to be very assertive all the time. Don't let it slip once. See if you can bring a friend's dog over to test the cat to see if she's dog savvy (stand ground, etc). That should help you determine if your cat will be a runner or not.

I agree it depends on the cat too. Both my cats have been raised with higher energy and higher prey drive dogs. They tend to understand that jumping up is better option then running. When dogs are awake, they should not run. Yet, Loki does much better with my bengal who is a more assertive and vocal cat.

I don't think 7 months is too old. The behaviorialist told me at our local shelter they do not do cat testing on puppies (those under a year). Yet, if it is a very high prey driven dog, I would not personally want to deal with that either. Hopefully the current owners can let you know.

i would be nervous to do it if there isnt a way to test the dogs reaction to cats. Certainly it could be done but i think the dogs personality really does play a big role in it because some have a higher prey drive than others. if you do decide to move forward on it i would be careful to plan how to properly introduce the two and make sure your cat has safe places to go if it feels threatened. even though my cat and husky get along great, i keep part of the house gated off from my pup so the cat has a place to get away from her if he wants.

We actually added our cat when Anna was almost a year old, but Anna has a very low prey drive. Our cat also does not fear Anna, she absolutely adores her and will meow until Anna pays her attention. It does depend on the dog and the cat. In the beginning, our cat stayed in my boyfriend's computer room for about a week and then we introduced Anna. We introduced them for another week or so, with Anna on a leash and Sahara where she was comfortable. Anna's attention could always be drawn away from Sahara with goodies. Sahara was scared at first as I expected but after a month the fear was over. Sahara was less than a year old when we got her and is still an extremely small cat and Anna does great. Anna also does really well with really small dogs. But that is just Anna's personality, we knew she had a low prey drive. Sahara and Anna do play all the time, but this isn't the case with all huskies or cats. There is still a risk though and we knew that. I would take Jackie's advice about seeing whether your cat like's dogs or tolerates them.