[NitasMom]

We have three cats here and the biggest issue I am having with Nita is introducing them.

I know that she lived with a cat a few years ago and has been around my brothers friends cats.  I have been told she just wants to play with them, won't hurt them but she likes to play rough.  My problem is I am having a hard time reading her body language.  To me when she sees my cats it seems more like she wants to go after them but I can't tell if she wants to hurt them or just play.

Up till this she has been great.  I have even trained her to leave the cat food alone.  She will walk by it and not touch it.  We have gerbils and the first days she was transfixed by them and wanted to pounce on them through the glass but they are old news now.  We have our basement stairs gated off so the cats have somewhere to go that Nita can't.  We have bunnies down there and I can easily tell that if she could get to them she would eat them.  We went down on leash to have a cat training session.  The cats are curious but are all puffed up and will hiss if she gets to close.  I had her sitting with her back to them so the cats could smell her.  She even seemed to be ignoring them for a bit.  The cats feel comfortable around her(up to 3-4 feet close to her) but as soon as they get closer Nita will go at them which the cats don't appreciate.

I guess I am having a hard time deciding her intentions.  Does she want to play or really hurt them.  I am tempted to get a muzzle of sorts to so I can feel more comfortable letting her get closer.  Any suggestions?  Help!

I also have to ask my brother how she is around other dogs. We were outside last night for a potty break and Nita saw the neighborhood St. Bernard walk by and started barking at him/her.  She has a very intimidating bark, thats for sure.

 

[southerngirls]

the best advice i can give is to let her go near the cats and see the reaction. We have two cats that cant stand the girls, when they would go up to the cats the cats would hiss and swat. Reese got swatted on the nose 3 times and since then she knows not to go near those two cats, but she can play with the third cat. You have to let them get comfortable with each other or at least let them figure out where the boundries are...if not there wont be any kind of harmony in your life

 

[Rodimus]

I know what you mean.. Rodimus does that to our cat and even drags him by his tail.. but then Leo(the cat) keeps coming back for more.. but BOTH of them play rough, but  it does scare me now that Rodimus is getting bigger.  I "hope" it continues to be PLAY time.. but I have to keep an eye on them... But when we go to my mom's house she has 3 BIG cats that do not like Rodimus and he has been attacked by the "killer" cats over there and now he doesn't even mess with them anymore.. I guess he is scared of them... long story short-- they are prob. playing and the cat will let him know when he/she has had enough!!

 

[DUKE01]

We have no problems with Duke and our two cats.  I wish I could help but they just play together.  If I think the dogs are getting too rough with the cats I just say be nice and they calm down but most of the time the cats ask for it.  They will pester the dogs with they are sleeping or swat at our lab mix's tail.  I think you are just going to have to let Nita play with the cats and when it looks to rough just calm it down.  They will get used to each other after a while.

 

[Guest]

When we got Bo, we thought he wanted to hurt Nermal...we always told him NO and stuff when he went after her....Lo and behold...we decided to sit back and see what happened ( Nermal has claws and an attitude...she can take care of herself, lol)  and all Bo wanted was to play with her...he'd bat her...lick her..sniff her..but never once tried to bite her or hurt her.  Nermal on the other hand doesnt' like the attention and scratched his face pretty badly...and still does to this day..but Bo doesn't learn, lol.  I would say sit back and see what happens, maybe have Nita on a leash so you can pull her back if she reacts badly.

 

[NitasMom]

Well I have been downstairs all morning doing laundry and cleaning the family room and let Nita down with me.  She can't get over the darn bunnies and the cats aren't cooperating?  They won't come out to see her :roll: .  She did get close to Apollo and she just rammed him with her nose but never opened her mouth.  He took off and has been in hiding since.

 

[Guest]

yup...Bo LOVES ramming Nermal with his nose!

 

[heather-mumofdaisy]

yup...Bo LOVES ramming Nermal with his nose!

Daisy does that to our cats! We call it "bopping" them! They will always tell her when they've had enough though- the claws come out if necessary!

Heather

 

[Skylar]

OMG, when Jake and Sam play, you would think he is killing Jake but as soon as Jake gets up, he is right back for more...when we first introduced Sam indoors, we kept him on a lead, just to be sure the cats had an escape. My cats don't have front claws so I was initially concerned. But don't worry, if she was around cats before, she may just need some time to get adjusted to them and them her. And before long, you will be seeing something like this...

 

[GabysDaddy]

Our two cat's would love to cuddle with Gaby, but the only time they can get close to her is when I have her on the lead, then both cats come up to her and rub up against her, it's pretty cute :lol: , but off lead Gaby would just pounce on them, and box them into the floor with her front paws :lol: ...the cats are great with her, they have never swatted at Gaby at all, they are very gentle with her, I wish Gaby was as gentle with them as they are with her :lol:

 

[Guest]

my dogs would love to cuddle with nermal...if not for her sharp claws and mean attitude, lol