Hi…I am looking to adopt a husky puppy. I have been waiting to adopt a 2nd dog and I do get calls from adoption agencies for huskies as a right fit for us. Everything checks out and the pup would fit in very well into our home. Only concern is we have a cat. He is 7yr old and a dominant one. One of my friends who has two huskies is advising me against getting a husky given the prey drive. I tried reading up online and I only get bloody/gory cat/husky stories. I have a 2yr old GSD. GSDs are also known to have prey drive but she does fine with the cat and the cat dominates her. She will chase squirrels and birds outside though. I always thought dogs recognize family/pack. But the stories online are making me a bit unsure. Is a husky/kitty always an unpredictable relationship? Any advice from members who have raised a husky with a cat? The adoption agency suggested two huskies so far…one is a calm 5 yr old and another is an 8wk puppy and both get along with cats per the agency. I am also looking for a male pup to avoid same sex aggression with my dog. Any advice on questions I could ask to clarify on the prey drive?

I've had four Huskies all of whom are cat friendly so it's not an absolute ... but I'd be very concerned.  If you're getting from a shelter / rescue they should be able to tell you.  All you can do is ask ... or maybe a visit home with the dog and the cat someplace safe but visible.

Since I know my dogs are okay with cats, it's a matter of letting the cat get comfortable.  I have a divider between the back part of the house and the living area, the cat has the run of the back part until they become confident enough to come out.  The cat can make it between the bars of the gate so they have an escape when they need / want it.

At the moment I have two Huskies and one young cat.  Said cat has no problem attacking a Husky as they walk by the recliner she's under.  Said Husky (at least on of them) will pick her up and tell her enough's enough!  Had to laugh at kitten deciding to attack my Alaskans ear, she (the cat) kept nibbling until the Husky rolled back over and "air snapped" her into next week!

When they get along it can be a lot of fun watching them, when they don't ... well, won't go there.

ETA: rereading your note, I'd be inclined to go with the puppy since your cat can dominate him where they might not with an older dog.

So this is not pure sibe experience but squirt is half sibe half indian dog and was fine with our cats until she was 3. She killed rambo, and then patches 2 weeks later. Spider is sibe/wolf and has loved every cat and kitten she has ever been around. They also dont recommend small dogs around huskies or wilfdogs but spider pairbonded with an 18 lb terrier.

Both my girls will go after smaller and bigger animals. Spider its more wildlife, squirt will go after anything with 4 legs.

I have a gsd that also has a really high prey drive. Before squirt killed the cats, the gsd killed and ate a feral kitten i was bottle raising and im not sure if that gave her the idea. Squirt has such a high prey drive that for a year she ran loose and didnt eat dog food. She preferred rabbits.

You will find here many people have successfully had huskies and cats. In my pack 2 of my 4 are not safe around cats. You will also find some other horror stories about cats. Just like your gsd its very dog dependent.

We couldn't find a rescue young enough or with a good cat history so we got a puppy from a breeder that could grow up with our 2 cats. Lach has a huge prey drive but I think he considers the cats part of his pack and at 5 y.o. we don't worry. They don't play or snuggle, but he and our male cat will kind of hang out. He will bark and chase them, they hiss and claw at him, but it's all just posturing.

He's eaten birds and squirrels and I wouldn't trust him around any other cats for a second.

Thank you. It sounds like it is better to start with a puppy just to be safe. Yours sounds a lot like my GSD. She chases squirrels or birds outside but my cat is considered family but I wouldn’t trust her with other cats.

Here's Lach bowing to his cat master Flip!

Update: hello all!! I kinda took a leap of faith and pulled this one from a shelter!! I was working with shelters for potential foster/adopt and one of the shelters contacted me asking me if I could take this guy asap since he isn’t doing well in the shelter. A skeptical me went to meet him with my family and my GSD and my heart melted. He is very sweet and is in an outdoor pen and kinda raggedy. We tested him again with cats even though the shelter already did that and he did great. So brought him home..been a week. He has all sorts of problems and is on meds. But very mellow and pleasing temperament. Very quiet for the most of the day and hangs out in my office. Loves head scratches and is a cuddler. He has seen our kitty briefly and kitty isn’t afraid of him. He is curious at first when kitty walks in but ignores him after(no chasing or barking…instead he looks at me). Shelter already temperament tested him but I’m keeping them separated for now with a slow introduction. He gets to see kitty every day though through a pet gate or in the same room with me watching them closely. He seems more interested in food than anything else. My GSD is more interested in the kitty than this guy. He is 3yrs and I’m assuming traits are probably well established at this stage but I’m still observing him. I was looking at husky puppies but he kinda came along and after some observation of his behavior in our foster care we are thinking of adopting him.

Sounds like a great fit! One that tests good with cats is a rare find. It usually takes a couple months at least for them to get comfortable enough in their new place to really show you their true selves. Often the first month they are just recuperating from whatever landed them in the shelter to start with and working on getting mended, then the energy returns and you are off to the races getting to really know them.

Puppies are cute but adult dogs you can just go right to living with them and doing fun things. I've always adopted older dogs and I like that I can go right to hiking, pending their medical clearance. Most already are house trained and past the crazy chewing stage too which is handy.

We are on week 3 now…he is kinda settling into a routine. Still calm for most part of the day. I have both the dogs in my office sometimes when I’m on calls and no issue. However I’m happy to see he is a bit more of his husky self now. He is demanding when he wants attention and I have to be firm with him. He can be stubborn with following commands(he knows them, and follows them to the tee when he does). Both the dogs are smart but in different ways. I read about it but amazed when I see it live. My GSD just obeys no matter what. While with him it is situational basis. If I give him a command to heel or steer when there is oncoming traffic…he does it so perfectly. But a simple ‘sit’ without a purpose…nope…I get a howl but if he sees I’m serious…he plops into a sit..albeit very grumpily. We are still on kitty trials. I planned a slow introduction but kitty just wants to walk in an introduce himself. Week 2…he noticed the cat and tried approaching the kitty with tail wagging but when he got too close he got a hiss/swat. Once he tried to hump the cat like he sometimes does to my dog..and got a stern correction from me. Since then…when the cat walks in…he just ignores him or shows his belly and I give him a positive encouragement for the good behavior. I probably will never leave them alone though. He perks up when outside at other critters or stray cats. Yday huskirino was on my lap sleeping and kitty walked right up to him and sat next to him sniffing his ears. This one looked at the kitty and then went back to sleeping. They sat that way for a good 10mins I think before kitty walked upstairs bored. Maybe that is progress.

I'm finding Husky / Kitty interaction much over-rated. My Husky and cat will, literally, roll around on the floor play fighting. Once in a while the kitten gets rolled too far and she screeches and Sky backs off, and then sometime Sky gets a faceful of claws. Fair enough.

Great news!! So we are in by more than a month and they are doing great. Zorro hangs out with the kitty in the same room. And not just “I’m watching you” kinda hangout but genuinely hanging out. The cat is relaxed and even sleeps on the same couch and Zorro just chills. I’m so relieved and didn’t expect the development so soon