Dog "chewing" on cat

[Doglover1988]

My dog Lucy is always and I mean ALWAYS, Biting, nibbling, licking, and carrying my kitten around. My poor cat Olive always looks like a drowned rat. She is always sopping in Lucy slobber. The kitten is only about 12 weeks old so she is still small. Lucy will actually pick her up by her neck and carry her around. She has never hurt her or left a mark on her but i'm scared she will. Any advice?

[Doglover1988]

I would also like to mention I have 2 kittens they are sisters and both the same age and she only does this to one of them...I'm currently uploading a video of them which I will post shortly.

[Doglover1988]

Well here is the video. You can see at the end Lucy tries to pick her up by the neck, when I said her name she stopped. Saying her name only works for a few seconds though. Don't worry no kittens were harmed in the making of this video. and incase you were wondering that is my cockatiel baby screaming in the background.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Hmm, I'd be pretty cautious about how far you let Lucy go into letting her play like that.

Even though it's playful, I'd be concerned that she'd accidentally get too excited and hurt the kitten. I don't let any of the dogs play with the kittens when they're young. A simple swat with the paw from my guys could crush them. Anytime a new kitten/cat comes into the home, the dogs are taught immediately to leave it alone. No "ifs" about it.

However, that is my own personal opinion. The constant pushing on her with the nose (it doesn't look like a very gentle nudge), and grabbing her neck (which almost looks like her head gets in there too) is what would make me nervous.

My dogs ARE allowed to interact with my cats, but I don't want them playing with them while they're young. I don't worry too much when they're older and able to defend themselves if the dogs do something they don't like. A swat from the cats is enough to make these guys run. LOL

[Doglover1988]

That is why Lucy leaves my other kitten alone. Sophie puts her in her place. lol I wish Olive would stop just laying there lol she needs to stand up for herself. Thanks for the info I will try to get Lucy to leave her alone. She is pretty gentle but i'm scared to death she is going to bite down to hard one day...

[IceyBlueSibes]

I know you know your dogs better than I do. Like I said, it all looked playful, but just as you said... being scared that one day she gets too excited and bites too hard.

[Doglover1988]

I have been taking precautions. My cats have a large kennel with a litter box inside and they stay in there when they are not supervised.
Just look at this poor kitty after all that lol she looks like a drowned rat






arg Lucy snuck over for more neck chewing while I was taking pics

[IceyBlueSibes]

LOL Poor kitty "Mommy save me!"

[Flutterby]

What a cute baby kitty! I just got two kittens, myself. They're littermates, brothers, and just turned 8 weeks old a couple days ago. They're both lilac point, one is mitted. So cute. Still trying to come up with good names for them. I'm leaning toward Bo and Luke (the Dukes, of course!), but I want something really good!

Lanie
And The Zoo
Royal Star Estates
freewebs.com/royalstarestates

[Flutterby]

By the way - if it were me, I would not allow her to interact with the kitten at all right now, for fear that it could develop into something besides innocent slobbering. If Lucy thinks she can get away with all of this now, I'd be afraid of what would happen later on. All it takes is a second (I know from experience, unfortunately). Try teaching her that she is not allowed to touch the kitty in any way. She can watch, she can even play with her, so long as she doesn't physically touch her. And if that's just too much for her, don't allow her near the cat at all. Use a spray bottle of water if you need to for non-verbal correction, too.

Lanie
And The Zoo
Royal Star Estates
freewebs.com/royalstarestates

[MazieDog]

I'm going to have to disagree with you, Flutterby. If two different species of animals are to live under the same roof, they need to be socialized with each other at a young age. Just be sure at the younger age, you supervise the socializing and make sure it doesn't get out of hand - if it does, separate them, wait 15 minutes and then try again. That is what I did with Trucker, who was 2 weeks old when we rescued her, and Mazie, who was a couple weeks short of a year old when we got Trucker. When Trucker got a few weeks older, I allowed them to interact more and more and soon they became the best of buds. When Mazie got too rough, especially interaction with Trucker's neck, I separated them. Even though I knew she was soft mouthing, I didn't want to take that chance of Mazie freaking out at something and accidentally biting down. A lot of the times, I would lay with them on the bed while they played, which is how I got some of the pictures I've got.. hehe..

Hope this has the same effect with you as it did with me. Good luck.. oh, and that is one stunning looking kitty

[Cassiepeia]

I agree with Justin and Sarah, you need to have some strict rules as to what interaction is allowed and what isn't. I also would NEVER leave them together unsupervised.
But helping them learn to socialise together (because it looks like Olive needs a lesson in it too...just to learn how to deal with a dog) is very important.

Good luck with it, let us know how it turns out.

Cass.

[Doglover1988]

Thanks everyone! I have been verbally correcting Lucy when she gets too rough with the kitty and if she doesn't stop with a verbal correction I put her in another room until she calms down. It seems to work very well I think things will settle down when she gets older and bigger. Olive is much smaller than her sibling so I really worry about her more. Thanks for all the info. Oh and Flutterby congrats on your new additions! Isn't it great getting littermates? They are so much happier I think when they have a playmate.