I've read some things that say huskies and cats should just never be in a home together because of the husky's prey drive. I did a lot of research on it and spoke with a couple breeders (we were looking around to find a trusted breeder with a process that worked for us) and came to the conclusion we could safely introduce a husky puppy (8 wks) into our home with our two cats (1 yr and 6 mths). I was hoping for advice from other husky owners with cats about how to teach the husky to not chase the cat and to play nicely with the cat.

One of my cats did spend his first 9 months with a 1.5 year old Chesapeake, 7 year old lab, and 8 wk old lab. I'm not so worried about him because he's a scrappy cat who is good about being vocal when he's not happy and knows about dogs and the reality that dogs can't jump on the counter and he can. My other 6 month old kitten on the other hand has never met a dog and runs as soon as him and the puppy get close, inviting the puppy to chase him. I was hoping for advice on how to foster positive relationships between the cats and puppy and prevent any dangerous mishaps in the future.

I'll preface this with:  I have three Husky's and two cats - all peaceably (for the most part) coexisting.

I live in the desert southwest where 'rats' of several different varieties are a problem, so when a neighbor indicated that he had some kittens to find homes for, I brought two of them home.

My house (a long trailer) is divided by a baby gate that the kittens (now cats) can get through and even though my Alaskan Husky could jump it's he's never tried.  The kittens safe haven, obviously is beyond the gate.   When I first brought them home they stayed safely out of reach and then gradually got closer till they eventually wandered just beyond the gate.  My dogs reaction: "Oh, I've seen you before ..." I've never, knock on wood, had a cat bothered or a dog scratched - they just seem to coexist.

As I've indicated before, trying to rush an uncomfortable situation is quite apt to make it worse.  The baby gate gave the kittens an area they could play in, safe from the dogs but allowed the dogs to see and smell them.

It's almost odd, when we go walking on the desert, I almost always have one of the cats "in tow", he wanders around the dogs, through their legs and when they run off he happily settle for trying to trip me.

As far as chasing them in house, if a cat takes off at a run one of the dogs is apt to snap at him but it's obvious that there's no intent to do damage - they've never made contact, it's more of a "Run! Okay, run!!" On that note, I've seen dog chase cat; cat stops at the water bowl and they both slurp up water ...

Cats - adult cats - can almost always "educate" a puppy.  They have 20 reasons that suggest that said puppy leave it alone.  The kitten you have needs someplace safe that he can reach quickly, as you said, the kitten can get to the counter and a well behaved pup won't - that works!

It's not too unusual to look at my living room floor and to see three "dog style" rugs and two "cat style" rugs - arrayed across the floor.

Leash puppy during interactions and intros with the cats so if the one cat goes to run or pup tries to chase you can correct the bad. Don't let the pup fixate or stare at the cats. Redirect attention. Curiosity is one thing, forming an obsession is another that will lead to chasing or hurting. Basically, never leave them alone, have a place where the cats can escape that the pup can't get to even once it is grown, and redirect and correct behavior you don't like such as rough play, chasing, or barking at the cats. If the cats will swat at the pup to do their own correcting the pup will learn even faster.

Thank you both! It's nice to know others have both cats and huskies, a lot of what I saw online said absolutely never have them together and I just knew that there had to be those out there who loved both cats and huskies!

I currently have the puppy gated on the main level because it's all hard floor and I don't want him peeing upstairs on the carpet. This gives the cats a safe space to run to as well as hardly disturbing them as they prefer to sleep upstairs on a bed than downstairs on a couch. My kitten has been creeping down the stairs and watching the puppy from behind the baby gate. The puppy hasn't paid much attention to the cats other than right away when we brought him home and the older one swatted at him.

I'm glad to see that the cat swatting at him will help teach him to be better mannered quickly instead of making the dog want to "get" him even more, which was a concern. I do keep the cats' nails trimmed very short as they enjoy nothing more than scratching my furniture so they shouldn't be able to truly hurt the puppy, just let him know he's too close or too annoying.

Sounds to me like you've got yourself (and dogs and cats) set up for a winning combination.

We also have a husky and 2 cats. The cats are 7 and 9, and Gabby, our husky is 3.5. We had both cats when we got Gabby. The 9 year old cat is much more likely to stand her ground against Gabby and Gabby has learned this. She pretty much leaves that cat alone. On the other hand, the 7 year old cat is a bit more skittish and avoids Gabby. So when Gabby gets a chance, she will chase him. I've never seen her take after him in a prey drive type chase. It almost seems more of a play chase but we correct Gabby when she does this as to keep accidents from happening.

The Cats do have safe places to run and get up high away from Gabby. Cat trees and they also get free access to our screened in porch through a small doggy door that Gabby can't fit through.