courtnek Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 I know that sometimes dogs (and wolves) view sick animals in their packs as "baggage"...and will kill them, or let them die.... usually a strong pack lead can prevent it. I thought I was one. as you all know, PushyC@t is 17 1/2 years old, and failing...hanging in, but failing....Free has taken to chasing him down and snapping on him, when he so much as walks in front of her...Push has always fought back, and nailed Free smack on the nose for it in the past but cant anymore... I am now afraid. Afraid that Free will kill him. she is SOOO good about everything else, this upsets me horribly.... I am seperating them when I'm gone, Push gets my whole room all to himself. is there a way to stop this? I know his time is near, I want his passing to be gentle. NILIF is still in practice, she seems to not care. I can yell, stomp and punish, all to no avail... :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefeathers! Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Courtnek, it's interesting to me that you would bring this up. Of our four remaining cats, one is a very small, "special needs" cat. Not elderly (nine years old), but has a heart defect and a lot of other problems. My dogs are good with cats, have been raised with them all their lives. However, they always seem to "target" this ONE cat. They chase her and harrass her and it bugs me. Even the other cats pick on this one little cat. I don't know what to tell you to do. Our cats have a designated safe area... a room that is solely for their use. It is gated off by a baby gate. The cats can clear the gate, but the dogs can't get in. When we aren't home, or are unable to supervise, the cats are always kept in their room with the door closed. With Pushy being so old, I don't know how well he'd be able to jump a gate, or if he could beat the dogs to it. The only thing I can think of is to just be super diligent in monitoring them. None of my dogs have ever hurt any of the cats, and when they go after this little puny one, they just harrass her, but I don't trust them implicitly. If one were to ever corner her up, I'm afraid a sort of pack mentality would take over and she'd be a goner. I'd just rather be safe than sorry even though they've never tried to hurt her. Anyway, I'm really only empathizing. I don't know how many viable suggestions I can offer other than to just really stay on your toes and make sure Pushy has a dog free safety zone to go to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canis erectus Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 I know you realize how overwhelming predatory drive can be when it kicks in. My thought is that any sort of behavioral training/enforcemnet will probably be inefectual for what may likely be only a short time that this will be a problem. You said Free's gone for the cat before, I bet she's beside herself now that she can attack without fear of retaliation from Pushy. I guess I'm saying that the best bet would just be to keep them seperated until after it's Pushy's time to go. Though that might just make the problem worse if Free gets more aggressive since her opportunities to assault poor pushy will be drastically reduced. You also wouldn't be able to work with Free on the problem if they don't have any contact, so it probably won't get better on it's own if they are seperated. I imagine that it'll probably be inconvenient for everyone while Pushy is confined to the room, but she deserves to have a minimal amount of stress and other problems during her final stretch here. Just my thoughts, obviously nothing you haven't already thought of, so I think that you're doing the best you can with what you've got. Hopefully someone else can offer a better solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted July 2, 2005 Author Share Posted July 2, 2005 thank you both. in the past, Free would "assault" Push ,cuz he would make then move, yes HE would make them move, off the rug, the couch, whererver HE wanted to be. She objected. for her objection, she would get bitten on the nose. SHE would back off. Push would have his place. is she getting even? thats what it seems like, I didnt think they were capable of it... am I a bad mom? should I have sided with her, and not Push? cats are not pack animals, I kinda let them write their own rules.... :cry: :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canis erectus Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 I don't think you did anything wrong at all. When you're dealing with different species you just have to make allowances for the smaller animal. Cats don't honor pack rules (actually they do, just not the same way that dogs do) and Free, being the social climber that she is, caught on to you reprimanding Pushy for asserting himself on the dogs she might have taken that as a cue that she was socially above Pushy. Given that scenario, if Pushy (not recognizing dog pack rules) had retaliated against Free for asserting herself on him, you might have ended up with a much bigger problem than you have now. I ahve to make all kinds of special allowances for Fred. It's made him into a little white tyrant, but it keeps him safe as long as the dogs don't see him as a lower part of their pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted July 2, 2005 Author Share Posted July 2, 2005 OK the plot thickens....I do have a babygate on my room,that Push can get under since over would be too hard, and the dogs cant go there...so he's got his haven, he just cant move superfast. now,for the twist to this whole plot. Free did it again this morning, cuz Push wanted to lay on the couch and she wont share with anyone but me or Kyle. She snapped at him (has never connected, but it still frightens me) and LAUREL, of all things, snapped all over her! I dont know if she was protecting Push, she prefers Ford of the two cats, or if she was just upset at how upset this was making ME.... Free got the shock of her life.....Laurel jumped up on the couch and got IN HER FACE, and snapped at her, without connecting, but a definite warning. the only time I have ever seen her do that was when Free steals her bone and she goes to get it back. thats only when I'm here cuz they dont get the bones when I'm not.....and if it doesnt stop immediately they both get corrected. this was all over before I even saw it coming....Free was so surprised she did NOTHING in self defense.... now today, peace appears to have descended...Push is laying on the couch, Ford is in the window, Free and Laurel are on the floor.... did I just step thru an alternate universe or something? :drinking: :drinking: :drinking: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseatthebusstop Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 I can't help I did not get this problem myself- when I had an old cat the dogs were very good with him- didn't object to him in their bed in those last weeks, earlier they would have done Again when Poppy was old everthing was the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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