New Husky

[Knoxcide]

Hi,

I'm brand new to the forums, and would just like to say Hi. I am also a brand new owner of a beautiful 3 year old male Siberian husky, named Koda. 65 lbs. We adopted him out of a humane society. He knows a few commands, like sit, lay. But still has trouble coming, and with his name. I just have a few questions for you veteran husky owners.

I've owned a few dogs in the past(American Eskimo Dog, and German Shep/Boarder Collie), so I am somewhat familiar with dogs. However...

This is his first night with us, and we have a 3 year old male cat, that we have had for around 2 years. We brought in the husky, and he immediately got to high ground, and had a fit(hissing, growling, etc). He hasn't come down yet, and its been a couple hours, so we put him in the bedroom for now. I know it can be hard to get new pets to like each other, however, since I already know Siberian Huskies have high prey drives, I am a little worried. Koda doesn't seem that interested in the cat entirely. When the cat is up high, the dog isn't trying to get him or whine because he wants him. But...

I was walking him earlier, and we happen to have a few bunnies(not sure if they are pets) around the neighborhood, and one happened to jump out in front of us, and Koda REALLY wanted to get it. I had to hold him good to keep him from jetting. I calmed him, and told him "leave it". I understand his instinct for small animals, it just makes me uneasy about him and our kitty.

If anyone that has cats and Siberians give me a little insight into introducing these two great animals, and hopefully making them co exist? I was thinking of putting the cat in his crate, and keeping the husky on the leash and seeing how that goes.

Any thoughts/ideas, etc would be greatly appreciated! I am pretty confident I can make both of them tolerate each other.

When I can, I'll snap a pic of Koda so you guys can see him. :]

Thanks

[Staceybob]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

Aleu's lived in a house with 5 cats, a house with one kitten and a house with one cat XD So Aleu is very cat friendly, she just likes to play with them.

When we got Alex our little 8 week old kitten, we know she was used to being around adult cats but this would be kind of different. But with Alex being so tiny, we needed to make sure Aleu was distracted during the first few weeks till she got used to the idea of not jumping all over her. It took effective encouragement for our kitten to be around Aleu, but sure enough, we got bliss eventually.

We used a long line with Aleu, but I would also advise using a crate. Put the crate in a room that you know the cat will need to pass through. When your cat wants to come through, put your dog in the cage and give them a treat, a kong, something to keep them busy for a good couple of minutes. Gradually you can make them realise that the cat isn't that exciting and you can start taking the crate part out of the picture and the long line.

To prove it's possible, this is Aleu with our 9 weeks old kitten, Alex (she's passed away now as she had a growth problem, so at 5 months she was the size of a pepsi can).

Below is a video here:

http://www.facebook....?v=433399733087

And this is Aleu with Alex sleeping with her. Aleu was still on a long line at this point just to make sure they'd be 100% ok, but we soon got rid of that =]

Good luck!

Stacey xxx

[Arooroomom]

Generally a Husky who has never been around cats won't be good left with cats. Surely the place you adopted him from knew you had a cat..? You are right, Siberians have a high prey drive and it's very dangerous for the cat to be around your Husky especially if he hasn't been with a cat before. And even if he has, it's never a guarantee he'll be good with your cat. I have 4 cats and pretty much all of my Huskies have been young enough that I was able to teach them to not ever touch the cat before their prey drive really kicked in. Even so, I never leave the cats running around free with the dogs when i'm not home.

Odin was very nippy with the cats initially and I corrected every stare, quick movement, and nip he ever has done to the cats. It took about a solid month before I could let him into the "cat area" (with me, of course) and not be super on edge. He is not perfect still but it's a 110% improvement from the beginning. If you want to integrate the dog and the cat together be prepared to work at this. Have your Husky on a leash at all times when he's around the cat because it only takes a second. Never allow 1 part of his body to come in contact with the cat (pawing, licking, chewing ect. ect.) it's much easier if you make things completely black and white. Also, be sure to never leave the cat alone with the dog. Always crate your Husky or put the cat in another room when you can't watch them, it's way too dangerous.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

welcome to the pack - cant wait to see some pics - i cant really add anything to what they others have said - mine have never been around cats - so never will - good luck

[Taylor Piskorski]

Welcome to the forum, can't wait to see some pics of Koda it might take him some time to get used to your cat if he wasn't raised with cats, or he may not get on with your cat at all. It all depends, but all I can say is never leave him unsupervised with your cat, it could only end badly. Good luck with your training, and +1 to you for adopting a husky

[HuskyCouture]

Welcome Generally I would never trust a husky that I didn't own since puppyhood with my cat. Embry and my cat Ash have been together since we brought Embry home at 10 weeks and they get along great. Zoey we brought home when she was 18 weeks and she still plays rough with the kitty so she's not allowed near him unsupervised. Embry is great with Ash but will kill any other cat. Zoey could really care less as she is still young and just wants to play.

embry, 11 weeks and ash

embry, 4 months and ash

zoey, 5 months and ash

and all three of them

[SaraB]

^ Dang! I wish my cats were like that with my girls. They HATE dogs! lol. No cuddling or sharing water for them.

Be careful with cats and sibes. I always keep mine seperate unless I"m there to watch. It really helps if your dog is crate trained, cause you can keep them in a crate while you're not around.

[sutsibe]

...Koda doesn't seem that interested in the cat entirely. When the cat is up high, the dog isn't trying to get him or whine because he wants him. But...

I was walking him earlier, and we happen to have a few bunnies(not sure if they are pets) around the neighborhood, and one happened to jump out in front of us, and Koda REALLY wanted to get it. I had to hold him good to keep him from jetting. I calmed him, and told him "leave it". I understand his instinct for small animals, it just makes me uneasy about him and our kitty.

If anyone that has cats and Siberians give me a little insight into introducing these two great animals, and hopefully making them co exist? I was thinking of putting the cat in his crate, and keeping the husky on the leash and seeing how that goes.

Any thoughts/ideas, etc would be greatly appreciated! I am pretty confident I can make both of them tolerate each other.

When I can, I'll snap a pic of Koda so you guys can see him. :]

Thanks

Hi, and welcome! Since he hasn't shown any real interest in the cat like he did with the rabbit, my feeling is that he's probably been around cats before, and will likely be fine - do keep an eye on them until you're certain, however! With dogs I trust around the cats, I've always left all loose in the house together, and haven't ever had a problem (bunnies are an entirely different matter, however!). My Shad has been known to grab a cat, making a horrendous amount of noise, when the cat has offended (going for Shad's food, getting in the way), then releasing the cat entirely unharmed - much as he would a puppy. As time goes on, you'll be better able to read what he's thinking and doing better, and will be able to judge how safe they are together.

When I've introduced kittens in the past, I've set them up in a good-sized dog crate with food, water and litter, and allowed dogs and kittens to get used to each other safely that way. I'm also working on one of the dogs who lives outdoors (I have a kennel full, lol!) to get him to get along with the cats, and so he comes in at night and stays in a crate. I think he's pretty safe, however, as twice now, I've put him back in after letting him out and haven't noticed that Will, my year-old male cat, was in it - Tux just stood there looking at me like - "Ummm, Mom? Ummmmmm, hello! There's a CAT in my crate! Can you remove it, please?!"

[Sibdaddy10]

Hi and welcome. I am in the process still right now of getting Chitto used to our cat Gremlin. The best way that I have had a cat/dogs household is to give the cat his space and the dogs there space. Our cat can have free rein of our bedroom and bathroom, the dogs get free rein of the living room and kichen. When Gremlin wishes to come out he has complete access to but the dogs do not have access to our room unspervised. In this way I have been able to slowely introduce the two on equal grounds (i/e the hallway) and have not had any complications thus far. Now I will not let the dogs near the cat unsupervised and when the dogs are in our room they are kenneld but the times that they have been out with the cat go as followed. Chitto will see Gremlin walk over to Gremlin sniff him and Gremlin will get a little uptite. Chitto will then leave Gremlin alone and go about his business and Gremlin will normally go back into the room or will go into the livingroom away from the dogs. The problem we have at home is actually my wifes ratterrier Tiny. She belives that since Gremlin is the same size as here that she can play rough with him, her I can not let around the cat and so if Gremlin gets to come out she has to be somewhere else or to busy to notice him. But Chitto and Gremlin have never had a confrontation and its been more ignoring then anything with those two. Now if your cat doesnt like dogs then the work gets harder. Gremlin hates Tiny so that is when we started the whole give him his space and her her space idea. It has worked out great and like I said Gremlin now doesnt have an issue with Chitto, Tiny he still cant stand. Hope this helps out a little bit neway just remember all huskys and all cats are different and some might not work with this method.

[Knoxcide]

Thanks for all the replys. I'll be sure to implement some of the suggestions right away! Right now, in the process of getting him more stuff(crate, BRUSH.., etc).

So far our kitty, Bruce is doing a little bit better. Still up high, but the hissing/growling has almost faded. Only time will tell.(and a close eye).

Here's some pictures of Koda

Koda 1

Koda 2

[Mazz]

Welcome to the Pack. Great looking Husky. Kudos for taking him into your home. Good luck with the cat issue. Wish I could offer some help, but I'm not a cat person.

[Celestial Echo]

Just like everything else, it depends on the dog.

I took this picture of Echo with my cat Socks just a little while

ago. They are cuddling and it is super cute. Echo is getting

big, but she just wants to play with the kitties, and sometimes

she is a little too rough. They just let her know, and I call her

away from them when I see this happening. I have three cats,

and it took a while, but they all get along with Echo I did

nothing special to introduce them or coax them into liking each

other.

We crate Echo most of the time when we are not home. If we

are going out for a half an hour or less, we just crate her in her

room. We know our dog, and we feel like we have no reason

to worry about her with our cats. Our cats have also been

around dogs their whole lives, and Echo has been with us

since she was 9 weeks old, so I guess that probably helps.

Good luck with Koda and the kitty, and welcome to the pack!

P.S. This is Socks and Echo right now

[lyra]

The hissing/growling and raising a fit might actually be a good reaction from your cat, at least at first. We have a cat that generally doesn't defend himself with Lyra and never has. He just rolls over on his back and would let Lyra have her way with him if we didn't intervene. But Lyra leaves other cats alone - the ones that have more expected responses around a hyper dog - hissing, growling, and scratching has been a great deterrent for Lyra around other peoples' cats. She wouldn't even get within 5 feet of Aaron's family's cat that bopped her on the nose.

[GBUCK]

i have a siberian husky and recently got a new born kitten and my approach was to let nature work itself out with you of course watching them. my cat has clawed my husky on the nose and has made it very clear to not mess with her. they now play together and live in harmony.

[Roxy1]

You've gotten some good common sense advice, so I don't need to add to it,

But -Welcome - congrats on the new pup and good job rescuing him to a forever home-

He will def take some time to adjust -

[Knoxcide]

Turns out Koda not only is interested in our cat, but also wants to kill him. *sigh*.

As it seems he's REALLY prey driven. At his age I have high doubts that it can be "trained" out of him. The shelter informed me he wasn't interested in cats, however they obviously didn't test him, because from what I saw tonight.

I have a co-worker who has a huge fenced back yard, and a 2 year old german shepherd, he might adopt Koda from me. I can't really see myself getting rid of my cat just to have him, even thou he is such a people friendly, loveable, outgoing dog, its just not an option. I let my co-worker have him for a few days and see how he does. Apparently he already chased the neighborhood stray cat up the roof trying to get him. Can't blame him, its his instinct. But he is getting along with the german shepherd.

I'm bummed...

If I ever consider another one, It will be a pup for sure, so I know it was trained right.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

im sorry to hear it hasnt worked out atleast you can still see him tho

[Arooroomom]

Sorry hun, that's just how it goes sometimes. And like I said he could have been uninterested in cats with his previous home. Just because they get along with one cat doesn't mean they get along with others. I hope he has found a good home with your friend.

[Staceybob]

That's a shame, it takes time for the two tango sometimes

Stacey xxx

[Removed #2]

While the story is sad, be glad you found out sooner than too late. We adopted Andy from a rescue organization that got him from impound, where he ended up from being a "cat killer" so to speak. We never really learned the whole story. Doesn't matter to us, as we are not cat people...but to know Andy, we would have never believed he could be mean to any other animal...sometimes looks can be so deceiving.