[jdburness]

Fellow Beagle lovers, I really need help. I'm sure this has been posted before, but I couldn't find anything to reference, so I'm posting again. I apologize in advance for the long post.

We adopted a four-year-old Beagle, Brandy, in December. She was an addition to one cat and one other Beagle who is about 10 years old. The beagles got along right from the start. I can't get the beagle and cat to accept each other.

The cat has been staying in the basement since we brought Brandy home. I go downstairs with Brandy and they have seen each other and sniffed. The cat just hisses and Brandy stares. After about five minutes, the dog will start barking and never stop.

I don't want a cellar cat and I know the cat wants to come out, because as soon as I put Brandy in her crate at night and open the basement door, the cat pops up.

I keep the basement door closed during the day because Brandy will go downstairs when I'm not looking and corner the cat and the barking will start. Brandy sniffs incessantly around the basement door during the day and has had a few accidents after encounters with the cat.

I'm running out of patience, and my husband isn't very happy because he really loved watching TV at night with the cat. My other beagle is so mellow that he's not too concerned about any of this.

Any ideas?? I know about giving the treats when the dog acts good with the cat (which never happens).

Thanks for any advice!! Janice

 

[Brien]

Like you Janice, we have beagle-cat issues in our house as well. Our cat is about 10 years old and Bodie about 6 months old. Since the beginning he has chased her, tormented her and basically been a pest. The cat has a catdoor out to our garage that Bodie can't fit through. So when he chases her she can usually escape.

We've tried lots of different things and nothing seems to work. But, we have seen an improvement when we just leave them alone. Sometime the cat will let Bodie sniff her. But at a certain point she has enough and starts hissing which gets him going I hope over time she'll get used to him and he will learn to give her her space.

The Dog Whisper did an episode on a similar issue. Although the situation and his technique didn't apply directly to us, it might be worth watching.

 

[randyc]

The GFs cat HATES the dogs. She stays upstairs now as the dogs only go upstairs to go to bed at night. I love it because, well, I hate that cat and don't want her down in the living room. It hisses at everyone, including my GF. The cat (aka HouseRat) is 12 or 13 years old and I figure not long for this world so we have not forced the issue. The dogs are just curious and do no harm other than running around like maniacs.

 

[Opus]

We have the same problems with Winston and our cat. Winston just wants to play, Tigger doesn't want anything to do with Winston.
However, even my cat loving husband has noticed that it's more the cats problem, because he will provoke Winston, even when Winston is busy with something elseand ignoring the cat. Up until Winston came along, our cat has been super mellow. He's maybe meowed 3 times in his whole life until now.

We have an area in the basement that is gated off for two reasons, 1) two teenagers reside down there and it was easier to keep the dog out than to get them to clean their rooms. and 2) it provided a safety zone for the cat.

We've tried talking to the cat about him picking on the dog...but he just won't listen.

 

[Mollys Mom]

When we adopted our greyhounds we had to be very careful with the cats. Our first grey and the kitties were fine but when we got Andy he was very keen on the kitties and had to be taught good kitty behavior. I always made sure the kitties had little escape places in case the dogs got to be too much. I think the barking really needs to be addressed so that the kitty won't be terrified. Maybe you could leash the dog and let Brandy see the kitty. If she barks, correct her. If she behaves tell her good girl and/or pack treats into her. Let her be rewarded for good kitty behavior. The more (safe) exposure they have, the better.

This might have some helpful info for you:
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_introducingdog

 

[PFR]

One of our girls bark at the cats. The good thing is one of our cats was raised with GSD and isn't afraid of the dog. Actually its funny to see a beagle hold there breath and close there eyes until the cat walks by. They have been swiped at and have felt the nail. The other cat we adopted 2 years ago and he is declawed. So because he doesn't swipe at the dogs he is the one the bark the most at. Actually I think they want to play with him, because they do the head down and butt up bark.

I would agree with the advice that Molly's Mom gives and reward for good behavior.

 

[jassy]

I had four adult cats when we got Maggie at 8 weeks old. My vet said to just let them work it out so we pretty much did in the beginning. Two cats immediately swiped her pretty hard and she leaves them alone. The other two cats ran so that was a little harder. One of the two has learned not to run so Maggie ignores it. One cat still tends to run. I did work with them a lot with Maggie on the leash, treating Maggie when she didn't run after the cat every time she tried to move.Maggie wants to play so badly she even brings her toys and drops them in front of the cats and barks at them. Its been close to 3 years and the cats mostly ignore her. The one that tends to run has learned to stop and rub on Maggie. Maggie doesn't know what to do about that.
In the beginning we would bring the cats that were more afraid out with Maggie on a long leash keeping pretty close control at first and later giving her more freedom but letting the cats get used to her without being chased. It does take a long time and we still aren't where I would like to be but there has been gradual improvement.

 

[jdburness]

Thanks, everyone -- at least I know I'm not alone! I'm really surprised by how long (if ever) some of these cats/dogs take to get along. That probably sounds incredibly naive, but my first beagle and the cat hit it off right from the start and I was hoping for the same.

I was thinking of getting a baby gate to separate the basement entryway from the rest of the house. At least that way I could keep the door open and I won't feel like the cat's so shut off from everything and then maybe will come out more and they can work out their differences. Can't we all just get along??