chows and cats

ski · Post by **ski** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:16 pm

Urgent...we have made a home for a stray chow...male and about three years of age. We have had him about a year. He is sweet, affectionate, housebroken and is a great companion to our 13 year old lab mix, also a rescue...here's the problem...he has a major problem with our calico cat. I know he would seriously hurt this cat, or worse, if he were to have access to her. We have another cat, a male tabby about 18 years old and he is fine with him, it's just the female cat that is a problem. It has created havic in our quiet household. The chow turns into an entirely different creature when he even sees the calico cat. We need to maintain separate households for them both. Is there any hope for this situation?

sit_by_the_beach · Post by **sit_by_the_beach** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:59 pm

Sorry, I don't have a solution for this problem. My previous chow, female, was fine with all eight cats I had at the time. My newly adopted chow, also female, app. four years old is doing fine with the two cats I have now. Mikki, just as my previous chow came from a home with cats--that cetainly helps.

I hope someone here will be able to give you advice,
Karin

Post by **jerryo** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:30 pm

Apparently from your post, he doesn't "have a problem with cats" as much as he has a problem with one particular cat. You may need to step back and try to see what is different between the two cats that may be setting him off. Is this a new cat?

ski · Post by **ski** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:48 pm

The cat that our chow has a problem with is not a new member of the "pack". Actually, when we first acquired the Chow, he had a problem with both of our cats but we were able to socialize him with the older cat with a great deal of patience...but, for some reason, he "flips out" when he sees the other cat. I am at my wits end. The poor little calico does absolutely nothing to get in the dog's way. This is the perfect dog in every other respect. I am very frightened by his aggression towards this cat and I am wondering if this aggression could manifest itself in another way. Because this dog was found homeless (and in a bad way) on the street, we have no background on him.

Moshi · Post by **Moshi** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:07 pm

Chows tend to instinctively hate cats (and raccoons, oppossums, and other animals that they might naturally battle with for territory). My Chow used to hate ALL cats, and would bolt after any cat it saw. Soon she started actually catching up to a few that stood their ground and she suddently became very curious and backed off. The look on her face was one of shock and confusion the first time she found a cat that didn't run and just hissed and pawed at her. For a while she would still go berzerk at the site of a new cat. Now she still chases cats, but not with any serious conviction and is happy just to have them leave her turf and won't pursue for long. Now she wags her tail when seeing a new cat rather than showing any real aggression as it seems she just loves the idea of a good chase.

My wife takes our Chow to her parents house every day where there are four cats. It used to be bedlam. Initially there was truly barking and agression, but it has tamed as the cats got used to the dog. One cat was never afraid of Moshi, and so she quickly became disinterested in that one because it wouldn't run. It actually would rub against the dog and look for attention. That embarassed her and she wanted nothing to do with that cat. Every now and then we catch them sleeping together, until Moshi sees us and then stands up and barks a few times and runs off. However, the other cats still run and so she still chases. Two of them will defend themselves, so Moshi again only chases half-heartedly, knowing she isn't going to actually want to catch up to them and their claws. The last one drives her wild, maybe like yours, because it has shown nothing but fear. I don't think Moshi would actually hurt the cat, but she loves (in a bad way) that cat.

If you haven't seen the Chow actually catch up to the cat and seen how they interact, you might find that the Chow will get disinterested once the novelty wears out. If however, you see truly aggressive/predatory behavior and are certain the dog will attack, you might have to find a new home for the dog where there are no cats.

sit_by_the_beach · Post by **sit_by_the_beach** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:30 am

My dog is a four year old chow, I adopted her in Oct/06., I don't buy any of those squeeky toys. I heard that a chow may think one of the cats are a toy.

Karin