My Dogs Killed A Cat

[Jay]

I can't even believe it. We were supposed to have a fun day sledding but it went horribly wrong. All three were pulling the sled and they spotted a cat. At my friends house in the country they have tons of outdoor cats. Well they took off for the cat and I couldn't stop them and Kodiak got one of them. We tried getting the cat out of his mouth and when we did Nikko got ahold of him. And then Yukon got to him as well. And when that was done Kodiak had another go I was horrified and you could tell the poor cat was dying. We were all tangled up and I couldn't do anything. I had some help and got the dogs leashed (at this point they had already backed out of their harnesses). They had to put the cat down. Just a warning to be careful!! I thought I took every precaution but it happened so fast. It just goes to show you how strong their prey drives are when even sweet Yukon is trying to kill the cat

[Tatipu]

That's crazy o_o.  I've never seen Jelly have a strong prey drive but then again I don't know what a dog looks like when they see a cat.  

 

Poor kitty :{.

[Jay]

I'm wondering if they should see a vet tho. They've had all their shots but the cat hasn't had any. I would think their shots should protect them against anything the cat might have had. Not that I think the cat had anything it seemed and acted healthy

[Removed #5]

and has the owner told you yet, that it was an absolutely irreplaceable pedigree Abyssinian Atchalwalker valued at $125,000 and if your insurance company didn't cough that up then he was going to come after you???

 

Okay, it's not funny but yep, when pack mentality takes over there isn't much you can do but stand back and hold your breath!  Sorry for your messed up day and sorry for the poor friend and their cat ... but as you said, you take all the reasonable precautions and then the unreasonable happens (okay, you didn't say that ... but it was close)  You tried and no friend can ask mosre than that.

 

Edit:  Jason you might want to have the vet give them a once over, you never know what kinds of germs you'll find in a cats claws and any variation of "catch scratch fever" is no fun.

[Jay]

Luckily it's my roommates family and his dad is the one that put the cat down. He understood it was a horrible accident. We were extremely lucky it wasn't a strangers cat because we would either be paying huge vet bills or they might have shot our dogs.

[Osinn11]

Sometimes things like this happen. It's unfortunate and sad but it's the truth. I would be curious to know from those that mush in rural areas what kind of training / commands they work on with thier team to avoid this type of thing. I'm sure on long runs the team is going to encountr some kind of critter.

[Jay]

Yeah we tried everything and nothing worked. It was pretty horrifying knowing there's nothing you can do

[Keeonah]

It's an unfortunate thing to have happened but there is nothing you can do. In another post you will see that it happened to us a little while ago. We only let the dogs out to do their business and the stupid cat ran into their kennel at the back of the run. We did try to stop it but we might just as well have tried to strike a match on a jelly. The prey drive in these dogs is extremely high and when they spot a prey they go and there is nothing you can do.  

 

Gary.

[goingsolo]

As much as we train and teach sometimes natural instincts take over. Horrible to watch ( saw a chow attack a cat once when a child) but it happens. Sorry your day turned out this way.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Horrible isn't it :-( don't know if you saw my thread with skyla , poor kitty but not your fault at all

[Jay]

Horrible isn't it :-( don't know if you saw my thread with skyla , poor kitty but not your fault at all

 

Edit...I remember reading that now.  At least she listened to you!  We tried everything to tell them to drop it but they were like wild animals...kept going back for the cat.  

[Mobezilla]

One of the reasons why my foot is always hovering over the brake when we go sledding. Luckily for me we have cats by my dumpster, a lot of training sessions with the Walky Dog later and my pups will listen to 'on by' even if its a cat.. but I can imagine how scary it would be. 

[Jay]

Even with the brake it didn't stop them. I was surprised by their power when they are after something they want

[Jay]

Now I'm also worried because for Christmas I'm going to my parents house and I was going to take Nikko to my parents that live 1 1/2 hrs away and Matt was going to take Kodiak and Yukon out to his parents. My parents have 2 cats and I'm afraid he's going to try and get them. I'll just tell my mom to lock them away. Then Kodiak is going to be back out there at the scene of the crime

[Dunc]

Stupid cat !!!!!!!!!!!! 

[love4Luna]

I'm so sorry that happened!! I have cats at home, and it always seems like I'm holding my breath. That prey drive can just throw all training out the window.

[MidnightPaws]

Maya and Kay almost caught a cat that ran out of the woods while we were scootering. I braked and ended up falling off and they were about a foot away from the cat before i was able to grab the scooter. They know "leave it" but that training pretty much goes out the window when they're running and get into prey mode. They have gotten better the more we go out though.

[Jay]

Yeah training definitely went out the window! I'm most surprised at Yukon. He was going after the cat too but Kodiak inflicted the most damage and also got scratched or bit on the ear. The cats out there are always outdoors and never seem to have a long lifespan but I've never witnessed anything like that so it was a bit horrifying. I had to hold Kodiak down because he was loose at that point and tried holding onto the others while we tried getting the cat free. It could have even worse as they have about 7-8 cats out there

[Chula]

Poor kitty. But I suppose that's the circle of life. No matter how domesticated they might be, there is still a natural instinct to go after small prey that wont go away. Chula almost took me down on the walky dog after a cat ran across our path. My neighbors have two stupid cats and im terrified they'll jump in the yard and Chula will munch them.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Chula

[MidnightPaws]

Yeah Sophie used to be great with our cats.....not anymore. She's not even good with the neighbors puppies and will snap at them when they get near the fence...she didn't used to have much of a prey drive. I can imagine how horrible it was, the girls got a hold of a ground hog in the backyard once and were pretty much playing tug with him. I even got a picture of it because i was taking pictures before the event....and i wasn't too sure how i was going to break that up, so i just got the hose. It's SO hard to get them under control once they get into that mode.

[mydiamond]

RIP kitty

 

not your fault though xxx

[frankmayfield]

I always worry when Hobbes (my cat) runs in front of my husky Maverick.  The look on his face is not friendly. 

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

Oh dear

Poor cat

[Elyse]

RIP kitty.

I know how you feel in regards to the high-prey drive. All huskies have it, no matter how sweet they may be. I was shaken up the first time mine killed something, although he's never killed a cat (has tried though!)

[Jay]

The whole situation was pretty tense and horrifying.  The pics that I posted of them sledding was literally 30-60 seconds before it happened.  Kodiak spotted the cats sitting by the cathouse outside, and went for them.  They all scrambled but Kodiak was quicker and got one of them in his mouth.  Since they were all on the line it was utter chaos!  I had to keep the other two from getting at the cat as well while trying to get Kodiak to drop the cat, which he would not do no matter what we tried.  Once he did let go, Nikko and Yukon got ahold of the cat.  Two of them got out of their harness and Kodiak got off his collar as well, so he was completely loose and I had to pin him down by the scruff of his neck just to keep him from going after the other cats.  

 

I won't get into the other details because it was pretty gruesome.   I wouldn't wish anyone to have to witness that.  I was so upset and disappointed in my dogs because they would not listen, but I understand, because it is in their nature.  Their prey drive kicked in and nothing else mattered. I am lucky it was an outdoor barn cat and not a neighbors pet.  Take it from me, anyone thinking that huskies and cats can get along to be VERY careful!  Although I am sure some can get along, you never know.  Yukon is the sweetest most innocent dog I know, but he was right there attacking the cat.