I am doing a lot of research on Siberian Huskies.  I am up for the challenge of getting one.  My only fear is that I have a 3 year old (declawed) cat that already isn't fond of dogs in general, but also hasn't been around them much either.  I would be getting a male puppy whom I could introduce to my cat from the start, but I am scared after doing a lot of research on the breed.  My cat is part of the family and I would be devastated if anything were to happen to her and she is an indoor outdoor cat as my puppy would be.  So if I could get some suggestions or any input that would help me make the final decision I would be beyond grateful!

I'd like to hear from more experienced people in the forum, but if your husky puppy is raised around small animals (cats, little dogs, etc), they come to recognize them as family. My in-laws have a 3lb Maltese and my husky puppy (now 37+lbs!) absolutely loves him. There will be an adjustment period while the two find their peace, but I wouldn't worry about him hurting her.

Some people have sibes that do well with cats (mostly those that were raised early with cats) but not all sibes can be like this.

Every dog is an individual and it can be difficult to determine what your pup will be like as it grows up. I would say make sure the potential breeder knows about your situation but even then some respctable breeders don't recommend it. Is your house able to be sectioned off if need be? You can try to raise them to be together but I have seen sibe owners that had dogs around their cat for years and then one day the cat was no longer there.

I'm not going to say it's not possible for a cat and sibe to live together, I've seen it be successful, but I also would never be able to tell you it will be ok. Every dog is different....

We have 2 Huskies, 2 cats, and a butthole of a Cocker Spaniel all living in relative harmony. It can be done, but you absolutely have to set and enforce boundaries when the Husky is young. We got both of our girls as puppies (10 and 12 weeks), and taught them "leave it" and "gentle" from the beginning. We enforced the rule that cats are not to be chased under any circumstances, and actually the Cocker is generally the worst offender on that one. The cats and the Huskies actually play together and have even started curling up and sleeping in very close proximity. As good as they generally are though, we do have cat only zones in the house that are blocked off from the dogs so the cats can have their sanctuaries. Good luck! It is definitely possible, but takes a bit of work on your part.

We have Diz and two cats that are both somewhere around 12-13, and Meredith is right, you just have to teach them to respect the cats at a young age. Dizzy leaves our cats alone for the most part, and if they hiss he puts his ears back, and walks away. It was interesting, when he met Meredith's cats, they didn't hiss at him, so he wasn't really sure what to do, he had never met a cat that didn't hiss. He really wanted to befriend them, but he's too wild. If he sees a cat outside though, he will chase it and it's no different than a squirrel.

One of our cats had never been around dogs before, but he's more of a fighter, not a runner. So if Diz ever did decide to chase him, I'd be way more worried about the damage Miles would do to Dizzy than the other way around. Miles is 17 lbs, and when, my hubby adopted him at about 4 months he was feral, so he doesn't take any crap. Martini is sweet and skittish, but before my hubby adopted her, she lived with dogs, so she won't run from him. She will hunker down and hiss, and swat at him if she needs to. She is also very curious about Dizzy and wants to be friends (and so does Dizzy), but he's too exuberant and I don't trust him to not accidently hurt her. I think when he mellows out they might be buddies if she makes it that long.

I just taught him from the minute he came home that even looking at the cats was not allowed. Looking is the first step in prey stalk, so if he would start to look or stare, I would correct it and then have him focus on me and do some attention training, or work on sit/down/etc. for a few minutes. When he was a little older (4 months) I let each cat scratch him on the nose a couple times and he leaves them alone for the most part. I've had to work with Miles too, to make sure he feels secure so he won't attack Dizzy. If Diz accidently gets too close, Miles will start to growl, so I verbally correct him and then offer some attention if he stops. If he doesn't I grab the water bottle and chase him away.

My biggest piece of advice is not to wait. Don't separate them thinking you can work on it when the puppy is older. The longer you wait, the harder its going to be. Let the puppy see the cats right away, and start teaching him/her that playing with them and messing with them is not an option.

*I would never leave them alone unattended though. I did it once for about 2 minutes to run down and grab a food delivery and when I came back up, Martini was in my closet hissing, and Diz was standing outside the closet wooing at her.

Also, for what it's worth, I do know many reputable breeders that have cats, so I don't think that I would agree with a breeder refusing to sell you a puppy because you have a cat, but you do need to be aware that it's on YOU. It's doable, but it is your job to train your puppy, and keep your cat safe. Don't leave them alone unattended, a situation that starts as play can get out of hand very quickly. Teach your puppy that the cat is totally off limits, no looking, no stalking. Huskies play very rough, and husky puppies are really bad about it, so even if your puppy is playing, he could injure the cat. Or if play gets too rough and the cat gets uncomfortable and tries to run, it could trigger the prey drive. Your puppy will chase, grab and shake.

Jen brings up a good point with breeders having cats. The breeder we're likely to use if we go the breeder route again is amazing, and she works to socialize puppies with her cats if she knows they're going to home with cats. Definitely something to ask your intended breeder about. We got Shadow through a rescue (always keep an eye out for puppies in rescues!) and her foster mom spent a lot of time socializing her with their cats before she came home to us.