Hey everyone! We're are new to this site. We are getting our new puppy Bella(thats her name as of now) on July 7th, shes a siberian husky of course and she is just gorgeous! We have been wanting a husky for a long time now and we have been doing a lot of research. Some things I was unaware too, but since I'm learning about it now, at least we can be prepared. Ok so for my question, I have heard that considering the "prey instinct" that huskies have, I have read a lot about how they will kill smaller animals i.e. cats and others but I heard that if raised from a puppy with cats that they will do better with small animals. Now, we are going to crate train our husky, and even though we do have a backyard, she WILL be going outside with us on a leash at all times. I have also read that they will learn to live with the cats in the house but if they encounter ones they are not used to, they want to kill those. We are mainly concerned about our 2 cats. Bella will be 9 weeks when we bring her home and our cats are 3 and almost 1. Does anyone else have cats with their huskies? IS IT possible to have them in the same house together and raise them together? I want to know if other people have had success raising their puppy with cats and things are ok. We plan on keeping her in the crate at night and whenever we are gone. Advice please, our 6 year old (and us) are soo excited about bringing her home! Any advice, suggestions, etc you can offer would be just wonderful!! Thank you!!

well you are starting by getting a puppy which is the safest way to help with the cats. i just know from what i read from others on this site that it has worked for them, but the husky and cat are NEVER left together with out supervision. i adopted older huskies and they will kill a cat if it gets to close, even at friends homes i will not trust them with the cats or small dogs around. now its not to say she will always work with your cats and there is always that chance she will just end up with a high pray drive but with good training it can work.we cant wait to see pictures when you bring her home. WELCOME!

now to let others with real info post

Check out the following thread, it's pretty similar in content to your question about huskies and cats:
Betty in Munich Cats/Huskies

I know there are other threads with postings on the subject of cats and huskies getting along but can't seem to find them right now.

Thanks for your information!! You two have already been helpful and thanks huskyluv for that link, reading that has helped me feel better, I think that as long as we socialize them well together, once the cats get over their "hissy" stage when Bella first comes home, lol they always do that, we will just try to introduce them and work with them all together. Let Bella see us with the cats and see that they are alright and let the cats see us with Bella so they know she is ok... We will continue to do more research about it to see if we can't find out some good ideas of things we can do to help them all mush well together... Let me know if you guys find anything else about this topic! Thanks!

I have 4 cats here. No issues at all but my cats are dog savvy. I just always used the rule of no mouth on the cat. Mishka was the most difficult but she wad 5 months old when she came home. Just be vigilant and always crate the dog when you leave.

I have two huskies and two cats and both dogs were raised from puppyhood with the cats. Dakota is excellant with them and can be completely trusted around them when I am not home, but that is just becuase he has absolutely no prey drive. Willow on the other hand does have a prey drive so she will never be trusted around them with out my supervision. She can be in the same room with the cats and they can drink from the same bowl and be fine, but the minute one of the cats run in her line of vision, the chase is on. As long as you supervise them, you should be fine. You will learn pretty quickly how strong of a prey drive Bella has by her reactions to the cats, squirrels, birds etc...

Aevyn and his two feline sisters Pandora and Kahlua have been fine with each other since day one. Our cats were both 1 and a bit when Aevyn came home at 10weeks, and honestly, there was a small bit of chasing, small bit of hissing and swatting - but now they're very tolerant of each other. They even curl up and sleep together sometimes. So I dont think you have anything to worry about, just, as everyone else said, keep an eye on it.