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Do your cat and dog chase one another?

1.8K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  WildRunner  
#1 · (Edited)
When I am not around to supervise, I keep a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to keep the dog and cat separated. But, when I am home, they both have free run of the house. The cat has her own safe room, which used to have a gate on it, but now the dog knows to just stand in front of the doorway
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even if I am in the cat's room.

The 2 of them love to chase each other. Dog chases cat into cat's room, cat chases dog into my room, dog chases cat down stairs, cat chases dog upstairs. When the dog is ready to chase, she will playbow with her tail wagging, so I am not worried about it being a prey-driven chase.
They never have contact when they are playing chase. One of them will jump onto something (bed, couch, etc) and then the "game" is over.
I watch them very carefully when this is all going on and see no reason to worry about either getting hurt.
I was just wondering if anyone else has a cat that chases the dog...and vice versa.
 
#2 ·
Yup! My border collie and my youngest cat were actually raised together as puppy and kitten, so they're very playful towards each other. The cat will come up and attack the dog and the dog chases him down and attacks him back.

I'll have to go find pics of them when they were youngesters....It looked so vicious LOL. The cat would act just like a lion and jump right onto Tigger's back and bite down on the scruff of his neck. He still does it too.

I have no worries about keeping my dogs and cats together unsupervised. I have 3 of each.
 
#3 ·
You're lucky you can leave them unsupervised! The only reason I put the gate up when I leave is because the cat will sometimes back the dog into a corner and swipe at her (unrelated to the chasing game.)
Nothing that would make me jump up and worry that someone got hurt....it seems to me that the dog just takes it and that it does not hurt her (swiping without claws?)
I wonder is there such a thing as "playful swiping?" Or is it the cat being mean and trying to hurt the dog?


When they play chase, it seems like it is just a game to them both though.
 
#6 ·
Yeah he was only about 8 weeks in that picture. Don't remember how much he weighed but it wasn't more than 8 pounds lol. They sure had fun.

I have a German shepherd that actually adopted one of my cats. The dog was 9 months old, so still a puppy, but she's always had strong maternal instincts. She loves to mother things. When I found a 6 week old kitten, she mothered it and it became her baby. I have pictures of them somewhere where the shepherd is actually letting the cat nurse. Obviously she wasn't lactating, but it at least comforted the kitten since it was too young to leave mom still. The dog is 70+ pounds and absolutely no issues.
 
#7 ·
Raggy(my Rott) has played a little with my male cat,but the dog is the only one that does any chasing. Its more of a wrestling type of play,bop at each other and nip at each other,and sometimes pin the cat.

Chasing is a form of play,My cats will do it to each other,and dogs will do it to each other so a cat and dog doing it doesn't seem that bazaar.
 

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#8 ·
All my cats were raised from kittens around Gidget, so they still play all the time. The cats chase each other, chase her, chase me. Gidget chases everything that moves. I think the cats like Gidget the most out of my dogs, they're constantly with her. I can leave the dogs alone with the cats easily, they're all very good.

The "swiping" is a warning. But a warning isn't a bad thing – it's just necessary to tell the dog to back off.
 
#10 ·
Our Persian cat and Chihuahua are good friends. They often have zoomies together, dashing about the house in a frenzy. We have 4 other cats and they tolerate the dog but she will give them the "stink eye" if they get too close to her food. She'll let the Persian eat her food, which is a problem since the Persian has FUS and is on a special diet.

Here they are enjoying a quiet moment in the pet bed on my desk.
 

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#12 ·
At the moment unfortunately my dogs and cats don't really get along. The BC prey drive is just too high. I don't think they would ever intentionally hurt the cat, but still I like to keep an eye on them. But when I was younger we had a Siamese male and a little white fluffy Maltese type doggie and they played all the time. They would take turns outside chasing each other up and down the yard. The cat had his "den" a big old stump just outside the living room door. The dog could easily have jumped onto the stump which was no higher than an average bed, but he never did.
 
#14 ·
No. Well my cat occasionally chases my puppy if he feels she's got above her station! She treats him with caution, which is wise considering he is bigger than her and quite prepared to give her a swat. From day one its been evident that my cat was ruler of the roost- he showed absolutely no fear- and Leah respects that. He does steal her toys from time to time and its slightly amusing as all she does is yip at him but she's not brave enough to make a move! I always have to get them back for her.
I would never let her chase him- he was here first, he's diabetic and has been very unwell, plus you never know if it could turn nasty...
 
#15 ·
My cats have a "safe area", made with a baby gate. They basically have two rooms and the dog has three when were gone at work.

The dog likes to chase the cats but the cats don't like to play back with the dog and sometimes end up swatting her.

I worry that some day one of the cats isn't fast enough and Vee's prey drive kicks in and she grabs one. But unfortunately the only other solution would be to lock the cats up which isn't fair.
 
#16 · (Edited)
My cat and two of my dogs get along great. They play and sleep together all of the time. But I am aware that my cat can become overstimulated, so he has a cat tree in every room that is tall enough that he is out of reach of the dogs. That ends up being 6 cat trees total for one cat, but totally worth it because him being happy makes it easier to live with him, and I am not a cat person at all. My largest dog is pictured here with the cat. Their size difference is only about 5 lbs, in favor of the dog.

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I'm not sure if you are familiar with the show My Cat From ****, but one of the things that is almost always looked at is how cat friendly a room or house is. Giving a cat a whole room is great, but if that isn't feasible, consider how you can give your cat spaces that only it can be in while not being isolating. Cat shelves are a great option, especially when paired with a cat tree, or up to a window with a wide sill. A tree alone might feel trapping, but if the cat can move to different parts of the room via shelves or other raised platforms it will help build confidence. If carefully considered, you could potentially have pathways throughout the entire house for the cat to move on that wouldn't effect the overall look and feel of your personal design, but help the cat feel more comfortable.
 
#17 ·
The dogs leave Cleo and Blue alone. But Eliza likes to have her belly nuzzled, so she and Eva will sometimes cuddle. Korra's different. Eva helped raise her, and Korra prefers to stay with the dogs most days. She and Eva play together, and Eva still grooms her. Korra doesn't like to be separated from the dogs at all and will often try to get in one of their crates with them at night.
 
#18 ·
This is a habit we are trying to curb...with the youngest dog Teagan. The cats and Teagan will all sleep in his kennel peacefully, but if he sees the cats outdoors it's a whole different situation. He has improved with "leave it" although there's room to learn! One of the cats does stand up to him and Teagan realizes that maybe he should stop chasing/stocking for his own safety.
 
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