Cat Chasing

[oldcrow]

I have a problem with Maggie and two of our cats. We rescued Maggie 8 weeks ago. She is a 2 year old Rottie with a very sweet personality. The first time she entered the house, our old and very large cat was sitting by the door. They sniffed each other and have been good friends ever since. However, our other two cats (both younger and quick), darted from the room and through their pet door down to the basement. Maggie chased them and that continues to be the pattern whenever they try to come upstairs. I have tried "sit and stay" which Maggie will do for a few moments but then loses her self-control. She even sticks her big head through the pet door and barks at them. As a side note, we also have a Lab that is good friends with one of the "downstairs cats" and the old, fat boy. The other downstairs cat doesn't like either dog. Fortunately, we have a nice, clean, dry, warm basement with some carpeting and fluffy cat beds but we still miss our "orange guys" who only come up when Maggie is asleep or behind closed doors. Sorry for the long post but I am hoping that I am providing enough info and maybe some "red flags" that the wiser and more experienced members of this forum can comment on. By the way, for those who remember, Maggie is also the one that "chases" airplanes at night

[LORHEL]

I know your dilemma. We rescued Makita, back in October. I have two cats who are glued to each others hips, they are best friends and do everything together... Makita I was told was fine around other animals, so I thought we would just have the minor adjustment period of everyone getting to know one another and be okay.

When I brought Makita home, she was recovering from a broken leg (hit by a car, previous owner long story)... so I had to keep her quiet and on cage rest for the next three weeks... I brought her in the door, and the minute she saw the cats she tried to chase them. I thought oh no, what if she wanted to hurt them.

I had to keep her separated from them for the first three weeks, they did try to come around and check her out, which really surprised me. We had a puppy last year, which I have found a big difference--a puppy with cats will learn the rules and adapt to them much better than an adult dog who may have never been around them before.

Once I could get Makita out and about, I would keep her on leash, and just spend short periods of time sitting in the front room, where the cats usually hang out. I made sure in the beginning that everyone was separated until I knew she wouldn't hurt them. I found out that she mostly wants to play with them, but they just don't get it. She play bows, and wiggles like crazy....she has never growled at my female, who has been terrible to her, as she is what I believe an ALPHA bit...
Although, they may never be best buddies, we do have harmony now, after 6 months, and she has learned that we will not accept her chasing them.

Makita is big on the word bye-bye, so I use that with the cats. When she does "scare them off" sometimes, wanting to chase them or get to close, I look at her and say, "see, kitties went bye-bye" trying to get her to understand why they won't come around when she acts that way. She really seems to want them to play...


You can make it work, just give everyone their own space, and it should work out. I would only be worried if there were serious growling going on and aggression towards them.

My cats did not come out for the first few months and I was very upset, because they would mostly hide behind our bed and hang out there...I felt so bad that they felt like they couldn't come out any more. But slowly they came around and it is getting better.

Hang in there and keep us posted.


:)