Chow Chows and cats

[gebower]

Hi Everyone,
I don't have to divulge this but, you're Chow Chow people who understand the Chow.
I have Max, who is six now and Zeena, his half sister, a year younger. Couple years ago I found a full grown
cat in my back yard, MANGLED, head to rear. I looked at Zeena and she had a little scratch above her eye.
I knew who did it. Max is way more laid back. Zeena is a "hunting dog" and EXTREMELY protective of her
property, ESPECIALLY with other animals. I have a fence all the way around luckily. This cat was apparently too slow for Zeena and made the big mistake of entering her turf. For a Chow, she's very fast. I don't know whose cat
it was or a stray. There's a lot of strays around here. Cats beware. Stay out or else. Cat people will hate this message. But, I've seen cats "push it". Try to strut their stuff in front of my Chows because the cat knows my Chows can't get to them when they're outside the fence.
Just something to share with all of you. I do not hate cats in any way.
Gene.

[Sirchow]

I find this post upsetting and I'm not sure why you are sharing it but I do understand how these things happen. I am a cat lover and have two that cohabit with our chows quite happily. I was out yesterday with Isla on a piece of rough ground near our house and she went completely into prey drive mode on her extending lead and I was struggling to hold her. Eventually a large tabby cat broke cover and ran for its life. If I had not had her on her lead the cat might well not have made it and I might have lost my chow. They are devils when in prey drive mode and are blind and deaf to anything you might try to do so even if you had got there in time it is unlikely this cat could have been saved but still sad

[Tippsy'smom]

This post is quite upsetting to me too. I've always had cats with my dogs. Currently, we have 8 cats (one of which is a stray who adopted us). Dixie has raised 2 of our cats since they were little bitty kittens. Would my dogs chase a cat? More than likely. But they would never harm one. It's all in play. Tippsy wouldn't have even harmed a cat. She LET one eat right out of her bowl while she was eating.

My dogs (no matter what breed) have been taught to respect other animals, no matter what size they are. And in case you're wondering, yes, Dixie has a HIGH prey and herding drive.

[kitten1426]

I find it upsetting we have 6 cats all house cats..and 4 dogs 2 chows and Airedale and a collie...i wouldnt come on a site bragging about you dog [s] killing a cat..sorry i think it dis-tasteful...

[applebear]

I'm not sure of the point of posting this, as it seems something more for a cat forum to make them aware that it's unsafe to just let cats free roam. I think it's become a real problem how many just let their cats run loose and then most don't fix them, so you start to see a stray problem. I don't like it when people put it all on dog owners [especially when confined to own property] for their dog harming a cat, when they should be angry at themselves for not keeping the cat indoors in the first place. I realize some like indoor/outdoor cats, but it's still a risk now isn't it [not just by dogs either]? They really have no one to blame but themselves.

I don't think you instructed your dog to do this, I think it was natural what happened...unfortunate, but natural. You can't train prey drive out of a dog, any more than you can train a cat not to kill a bird or mouse...you can manage it yes, but not take it away. My dog Ro has a extremely high one, and we can walk by small animals with little incident [some whining usually, but it's improved greatly], but I would be a fool to think if I let go of that leash he wasn't going to chase and harm that animal if he catches it. It's just not practical thinking, and it is OUR responsiblity to take care of our pets, both cats and dogs alike.

[wokman]

Some things are best kept to ourselves. The incident happened sometime ago. You now know where the line is drawn. Let those who have never sinned cast the first stone.

[gebower]

I did not train my Chows to kill cats. I like cats. This happened without my knowledge until it was already too late, long after it was too late. Chows do well with cats IF they are raised with cats. Chows are BORN to protect their territory. It's in their genes. I know it's distrurbing but, it did happen. That was four years ago. Wish I never publish this one. Should have kept this one to myself as Wokman said. Live and learn.
Gene.

[ski]

I am so sorry for this cat. I am a chow lover and have a cat as well...all are strays. I would be devastated if I had been in your situation. We just separate our chows and cats so they can each enjoy their space so the cat is never in harms way. All these creatures deserve our protection.

[gebower]

Absolutely. I am a pledger to the ASPCA. What happened was out of my control. Just some Chows don't like cats, period, and some do.

[Me & Tess]

I really wasn't going to post on this thread, but. I think it is more appropriate to say that some dogs, non-breed specific do not like cats. Dogs, non-breed specific have prey drives, no matter what runs, they run after. Running away of the "prey" is usually the trigger. This post also brought back a sad memory. Years ago when our children were young, we lived in Los Angeles County California, we had a beautiful black Persian mix. Kitty was a "second hand" cat. His previous owner had died and we inherited Kitty. Kitty love being outside. He was loved by the neighborhood children & loved by us. One night we were all up late, I think we had been out to a friends. Kitty came in to eat and when he was done he went to the door and meowed to go outside. Mike and I had been admiring just how beautiful and healthy he had become; his fur was glossy & he had a full skirt. We let him outside. This was the last time we saw Kitty alive. He usually liked to sit on our porch. He rarely strayed away from our property, except to visit close neighborhood children. Early the next morning one of our neighbors came over to say "I think that's Kitty in the road." It was Kitty & he must have given all he could in the fight, his face was frozen in a snarl. We pieced together the evidence. Kitty had been on the porch, there was blood evidence. Feral dogs had come on the porch and attacked him. One our neighbors had heard the ruckus & did see the dogs. Of course this thread brought back memories & I have stories about Kitty that I could share in another discussion. I think Kitty was close to ten years old when he was violently taken out. I haven't thought about Kitty in many years, the subject sparked a sad memory.

When we lived in the city, Tess was tormented by cats on our neighbor's garage roof. Tess never bothered the cats & she wasn't much of a barker. Our neighbor on our southern boarder had a cat. Tess never went after it, just let it be when it came on our property.

[Michael's Maggie May]

My wife always liked cats and a vet tech friend called about a cat that was to be put down at vets office. She went to see him and brought home a beautiful black persian"Bandit". He was so beautiful he was put on the cover of Cat Life at Holoween with the wife holding him wearing a witches custume . We had him for a short while and I picked him up to admire him and he bit me in the face. That afternoon I went and purchased my first Chow Chow
and put Bandit in his place. The two of them tolerated each other for over 10 years but I was never bitten again. He was 15 when his back legs would'nt work any longer and guess who had to take him to the Humane society to be put down and guess who cried?

[chow4life]

Good story Michael's Maggie May. This is the kind of story i like to read. I think it depends on the chow with regards to cats. My last chow never ever would i had trusted her with a cat. It was proven that she would kill a cat if she got ahold of it. We kept them seperated. I had always hoped the chow could get along with the cat, but didn't happen. That was years ago. Both have since passed on. With Matilda who is now 2 years she recently was introduced to a stray cat that was left outside when my neighbors moved. Dead of winter this cat was struggling. No claws, food, or shelter. Anyways had to take this cat in and thankfully Matilda is wonderful with it. At first i kept them seperated to see how things would play out. After 24 hours gate came down and every one lives in harmony. Although, matilda likes to play boss and let me know when the cat is doing something she shouldn't. I can't tell you what a relief it was when i realized that the situation between cat and dog was going to work out.

[TyChowgirl]

Tiberius gets along with my cats just fine, but he was also raised with them. When I brought him home at about 3 months of age, he loved to chase them. Tulio, my 10 year old black cat I've had since a child stayed out of the young puppy's way, but didn't go into hiding. Every so often when he would run, Ty would give chase and Tulio would punch him in the face. I would also correct him. I also had a baby gate up that I taught Ty to respect that allowed the cats to the other side of the apartment in peace. Indigo, on the other hand who I had only had for about a year and was about 2 at the time(?) hid for a few weeks most of the time until she came out one day, Ty got curious enough for her to turn around and leave a nice gash on his nose. Eventually, he grew out of pursuit, and they co-existed peacefully. Now however, Indy, has become quite smitten with Ty and will weave under him and rub against his chest. Indy is now Ty's kitty, and Tu doesn't care. These are HIS cats. He would still chase a stray, he's got a pretty good prey drive with squirrells and birds. Would he kill a stray? I'm not sure. I think if it gave him a good swat he'd leave it, but you can never tell...when dogs go into prey mode anything could happen.

[ski]

When Loki first came to live with us, we had two cats. One cat had been feral and just adoptedl US...the other was a timid cat that came to us after owners moved. We knew immediately that Loki had a strong prey drive and we should proceed with caution. The feral cat,Rocky (quite a appropriate name for him) held his own with Loki. He showed no fear. The other cat,Drid,fled fromLoki which just made Loki want to chase him. Strange, but Loki got along great with Rocky. In fact they were great buddies and often laid side by side until Rocky passed Way. Loki, however, has never made friends with the other cat. I have tried and tried but just keep them apart.

[Boogie and Linda]

I know this post is about chows with high prey drive but I actually want to talk about the opposite. I have been amazed with all of my recent fosters how they either ignore my cat or want to be by him. My cat is not friendly to anyone or anything. He tolerates us because we can open the cans and change the litter but he hates us as well. My 2 resident chows will tolerate the cat but if he runs or tries to stir up trouble they will chase him and they hit him back if the cat swats at them.

My very first foster supposedly loved cats, he was a Chow Newfoundland mix. He was fine with the cat for the first few weeks. One day he came in the house and went tearing in after the cat. The cat ran in the closet and the dog knocked the door off the closet and went in. There was so much noise and I jumped in too trying to pull the dog out the whole time thinking this is how people get mauled. I finally pried the cat out of the dogs mouth, grabbed the dog and put him outside. Then I saw my hands had blood all over them. I ran in and got the cat. He was soaking wet full of slobber but I couldn't find any blood. After making sure he was ok, I went to look at the dog and his face was full of holes and bleeding. He healed just fine. Stupid dog.....

Anyway, since then, no matter what I am told, I treat all foster chows like they are not cat friendly. But a funny thing has happened. I haven't had another one try to get the cat. And the cat will try to antagonize them. Most don't pay him any mind but a few have actually preferred the cat to the other chows in my house. Some of these same chows were death row "vicious" chows too.

[Cam Atis]

That story is soo funny Boogie and linda. It made me forget the first post on this thread.

I am so glad my chow only gets rats. Cassie hasn't had any luck with the birds and the cat. Poor cat. Hera - dalmatian - always get a stray cat. I never saw her and wonders how she do it as her mother Cookie have never been able to outrun a cat in all her life. She did get rats all the time. Hera never did get any rats, only cats. Which make me feel sick everytime I see her with one. We rescued a kitten once, returned her to her owner. But I dont know what she wants in our homelot that she came back. Ughh. Enough.

[JasonandNat]

For us with ShenLung, if the cat hisses, then it's on like Donkey Kong! He was born into a kennel with cats, has had them around, but that hiss thing sets a switch off in his head. He has snatched a few off the top of an 8' foot fence, and chased a few down. FengHuang never cared one way or the other, but if they ran, they were prey. I don't see any difference with a cat coming into the yard or acting aggressive, swap in dog, raccoon, whatever in place of cat and the results are the same. I don't wander into the lion pit at the local zoo for good reason.

[stureid92]

my chow michu for no apparent reason hatesss cats she smells them before i can even get her distracted by something else and even that's hard work we've tried a few different things with her.
But if were in the vets she can sit right next to cats even face to face when there in there carry crate and doesn't even care, I suppose its just the high prey drive as its worse when the run in front of her, wouldn't like to see what would happen if she did get one tho.

[Juniper]

In Sept 2004, when I captured Sheena, I was sure she ate cats, squirrels and birds to survive the year and 3 months I had seen her loose in the streets. At age 11, she stopped chasing cats and squirrels but a dove and other small birds would get her jumping in a flash like a greyhoud. But as I rescued stray cats periodically that came to my door and kept them locked in the master bath until I located a rescue to take them, I believe Sheena had a paradigm shift about cats. She did tear up the bathroom moulding and door for a few years and then it just stopped.

Then, in December 2012, I took in a stray kitten of about 7 months that managed to open the master bathroom door and got out while I was at work. When I got home I was in a panic! But Sheena acted normally and the cat walked out of hiding very matter of factly into the dining room where Sheena was resting! This was much like the panic I went into when I fell asleep holding my pet boa constrictor that was only 3 feet long and Sheena just accepted the snake slithering along the carpet and floor in front of her and wouldn't tell me where it was hiding. My snake is now about 5.5 feet long now and gets along with Sheena but I don't think I will ever introduce it to the cat.

I think these animals/reptiles give the ins and outs to each other on how to manipulate me at times! Although Sheena will snitch on Pookie to get in my good graces when he goes places he shouldn't. Needless to say, I now have a chow-chow, snake, and still have the cat. Sheena at 13 approximately has lost interest in the past year on chasing anything but will do stare downs and bark at Pookie when he even thinks about going near her food before she's eaten. Alpha Sheena + Alpha Pookie makes for a doubly Alpha me. Snakeypoo...well he always is supreme Alpha and we are no match for him!