shandie.roberts Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hi. My fiancee and I recently adopted a young Husky. She will be one year old April 20th of this year. A student we knew did not have the time to dedicate to such an active dog between two jobs and going to school full time and I knew we had the love and time to dedicate to her. So we took her in. However, we do have two cats. The cats are taking well to her and don't seem to mind that she's around, but she wants to play something awful and they are not having it. We are worried that she's is going to be too aggressive with them and injure or kill one of them. From Husky owners who have previous experience with this, my question is, is there any way to make her understand that our cats aren't interested in playing in the same way she is and she needs to be a little bit more relaxed with them? I know huskies are very predatory, but I don't feel as though she thinks of them as a snack as much as friends. She is always happy to see them, but they are not as happy to see her when she is excited. Thank you so much for your help. Everyone, meet Nova. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterchillz Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hello and welcome to Husky Owners! Nova is definitely a gorgeous girl, thank you for having her with you. I might however deliver a bit of bad news. Huskies are indeed quite the predators. Their prey drive is very high and in most of the cases anything smaller than them (or even just as big) could become a possible prey. We've heard stories of huskies who were doing fine around other animals and then they suddenly change and go in for the kill. I don't want to be discouraging but although your girl appears friendly, I would keep a close eye on her. My personal best advice would be to keep them separated completely. My boy grew up with a cat and he loved playing with him but nowadays he'd happily chase every single cat we see. Speaking of play, huskies tend to play really rough. Like really rough for even other dogs or humans which would only contribute to (hopefully not!!) any possible incidents. I can't help with any particular training regarding smaller animals, but hopefully someone else on here will be able too. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandie.roberts Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 I kind of figured with her being almost a year old, she was past the point of growing accustomed to her feline companions. We definitely know they can never be left unattended together, we just didn't want to have to keep them separated forever, I'm beginning to think that this is our destiny. Haha. Thank you for your help and she is quite a friendly little lady. We are loving her to bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 First off, welcome to the forum! I am also in Indiana I would not recommend allowing them to be in the same room unsupervised. While there are people that do have huskies and cats, they do have a very high prey drive. I have heard of people whose husky was fine for years, and then all of a sudden their dog attacked. While I do not have cats, I did have a recent incident involving a cat. We were out mushing with them for the first time at a friend's house in the county when the biggest, Kodiak (the red one), saw a cat and ran after it, catching and seriously injuring it. After I was able to get the cat loose, the smallest one, Yukon (the white one) had his turn with it. We had to end the cat's suffering and it was horrifying to watch. It taught me that even my most laid back, sweet husky turned into a cat killer. Not to scare you, but I would just keep them separated when your not at home, and keep an eye on them while you are. Good luck and again, welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Welcome to the pack , she's a stunner , Even if they did end up getting along theres no guarantee that that'll always be the case they could be fine for years then one day the prey drive kicks in stronger than before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandie.roberts Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 Sounds like I need to make a nice little space for the cats in the spare bedroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wy Renegade Posted March 4, 2014 Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 With her being almost a year old, establishing those boundaries can be a bit more difficult, but it can still be done. It depends a lot more on the cat than it does the husky. You have to have cats that are willing to stand their ground in the face of an oncoming dog and let the dog know they are not interested in playing. If the cats run, it is pretty much going to end the same way everytime. One of the things that you can do is install an interior cat door so the cats have a safe haven they can go to to get away from the husky whenever they desire. I still wouldn't leave mine unsupervised, but we have cats and two Siberian huskies in the house without issue. The cats will even go into the crates with the Siberians when the crates are open (we never close them in together), and I've actually seen the cats laying with the huskies, so it can be done. Additionally, a quick search of the internet will show lots of images with Siberians and cats together, so lots of people are doing it. We trained our by having them on leash around the cats and if they tried to run at the cats we would stop them and tell them no. Eventually they learned to not charge the cats. They mingle pretty freely at this point without issue (18 months). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandie.roberts Posted March 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2014 That gives me a lot of hope. We do have one cat that likes to run, but the other is very firm with her. I've even seen him swat at her a couple times. I think that if we can integrate the two cats after one has already matured, we can integrate the dog. Sure, with more difficulty, but it can be done. I was losing hope after reading all these horror stories. The only issues with that is our home is a rental, so I am not sure yet if I can install a cat door, but it's worth asking my landlord about so all my fur babies can live in peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted March 5, 2014 Report Share Posted March 5, 2014 Every dog is different so that doesn't mean that your husky can't live with cats, but with a husky you just have to watch them closer because of their prey drive . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandie.roberts Posted March 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Update: We still have a long way to go, but Nova and my cats ate dinner together in peace without any barking, hissing or swatting. This is revolutionary for me, I feel like we are making great progress, slowly but surely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wy Renegade Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Very good to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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