Has your dog ever hurt a cat?
By smartie1685
@smartie1685 (450)
United States
February 25, 2007 12:20am CST
My dog is a good dog, but a couple times when one of our cats has fallen into the yard he has hurt them pretty badly.He's not a vicious dog and he's just a mutt not a Pitt bull or anything. He thinks that he is just playing when he drags them around but he hurt them so that they couldn't move for a couple of days. The first time it happened I had to go in the yard and get the cat and chase him away with a shovel so he would leave me and the cat alone.
A couple of nights ago in the middle of the night he got a hold of one of our cats again. Since it was the middle of the night I knew there was no way I could go out and get the cat since I wouldn't be able to see very well. Unfortunately that meant that instead of just hurting the cat he ended up killing it. I really think that we should get rid of the dog before he does it again. I don't think that it matters whether he meant to or not.
What does everyone else think? What would you do if your dog did this?
1 person likes this
16 responses
@aSoldiersWife (58)
• United States
25 Feb 07
I would say if you really dont like the dog and it bothers you i would try and find it a good home. If it were me and i had a dog that did that and i didnt really want it around anyway i would have to get the dog another home.
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Thanks for the advice I appreciate it, now I just have to find a home for our dog.
@7nicole1 (1633)
• Canada
25 Feb 07
Well I dont think you should get rid of the dog because of its nature. Its like a cat killing a bird the chain of life. If thee dog would have attacked someone then I say yes get rid of it but you cant expect animals that never have gotten along to get along. My dog isnt vicious either but I know if she got ahold of a cat she would throw it around playing with it to. I know it sucks but if you have a dog then these are some problems you'll have to deal with. Anyways how could you get rid of a family pet they are just like kids.
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I understand what you are saying, but I have never had a dog do this before except for a couple times. I have had many dogs and every time that this kind of thing happened we got rid of the dog.
@Billabongbabe (348)
• United States
25 Feb 07
My dog has yet to kill a cat. He is too lazy. He's not even that old. In fact he is scared of my cat. Weird.
1 person likes this
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I had a dog that was like that, cats scared him. He was a sweetheart though, I wish I could find another dog like that.
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
25 Feb 07
One of my outside dogs has actually killed two of my cats. But I still love her, and I refuse to get rid of her. My cats now stay as far away from the back yard as possible...the back and front yards are separated by chain link fence. She is a sweet dog, but she guards the back yard because we keep our boat back there. Plus, I think the people that first had her trained her to go after cats, so I already knew the chance I was taking bringing her home. But I couldn't stand to see her taken to the pound and put to sleep. I think for most dogs, it's natural instinct to chase cats.
1 person likes this
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
25 Feb 07
Yeah I understand why you would want to keep your dog. But mines different because I don't even really like the dog. She's just a guard dog to me so I don't have a problems getting rid of her as long as I can find a good home.
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
25 Feb 07
I would kill the dog - well, I would not have the dog. Of course, if you kept your cats inside this wouldn't be an issue. Right now we have one of the roommate's daughter's dog. Twice he has put his mouth on a cat (once with the smallest, once with the biggest.) He also growls at me. We (the other roommate & I) have told her that the dog has to go. If these were other cats from the neighborhood going into your dogs yard I'd be upset, but since you are allowing your cats to roam beyond the safety of your house I think there might be a problem.
Have you considered getting him to a dog trainer?
1 person likes this
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Well there's no way I can keep my cats inside, they are mostly outside cats anyway. We don't have money to get a dog trainer or I would.
@kimberlymarie (203)
• United States
27 Feb 07
I guess I've been lucky, as my cat has done more harm to dogs then the other way around. I'm not sure what I'd do if one of the dogs injured my cat. One of my dogs is a sighthound and does chase the cat sometimes, but she'd never, ever hurt him.
Is your dog crate trained? Has your dog gone through training? Perhaps that might help. Is there a way to keep the dog from the cats, if the dog is unsupervised? I hope your cat(s) turn out okay! I hate to see a dog given up, but if you believe it's best, then it's best for all involved.
1 person likes this
@ScarletAlston (2693)
• United States
26 Feb 07
one of my dogs actually ate a cat that would jump on the fence and bother him..another cat would hiss at him and ended up getting the business end of his jaw too..the owner of both cats tried to sue me and said my dog should be put down..I wasn't trying to even let that happen..my dog was minding its own business (like yours)maybe you can just take your dog to some sort of trainer or school..some dogs are just playful and accidents happen..
1 person likes this
@smartie1685 (450)
• United States
26 Feb 07
A lot of people have dogs and cats in the same house. And my dog doesn't live inside the house anyways. He is in a fenced yard. And I don't think you mean idiom, maybe in your opinion they'd be contradictory but idiom doesn't even fit the situation.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
25 Feb 07
This is very sad. We are cat and dog owners too. Our cats are scared of the big dog, but not the little one. So they live inside the house, or out the front. The dogs live out the back, although the little dog is allowed inside somtimes.
Ever since we got the big dog, the cats have not set foot in our back yard.
I think perhaps you do need to get rid of your dog. If he is friendly to people, you could try giving him away, with a warning that he attacks cats, before you try other methods.
@smithabittu (84)
• India
26 Feb 07
I have a dog as my pet and I dont have cats. My dog hates cat. But a lot of street cats comes to our house when my mothers cuts fish and all. Whenever my dog ssee any cat in our compound he shouts a lot. Cats are dogs enemy. Actually we have trained him like that because we have a parrot too. cats come to eat our parrot. she screems when she see a cat and my dog will shout at it.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Never had a dog that would hurt/kill cats. All my dogs get along nicely with mine and neighbors' cats. I do have a dog that loves to chase them but would never actually catch them.
@RobbPell (123)
• United States
25 Feb 07
hey my dog is am minature schnauzer and we dont have any cats but a few times he runs out the door when he sees a neigbors cat and he chases them around until they run up a tree but one time he cornered one in front my house and he just looked at the cat cuz it was standing on it back legs with its paws in the air ready to strike and he finally got close enough and they had a little fight and the cat jumped over him and ran down the street it was a little funny cuz he is only a little bit bigger than the cats but he acts like hes a huge dog!
1 person likes this
@PhotographerK (25)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I have a dog and 3 cats and my dog has never hurt or attcked any of my cats. Actually sometimes my cats attck my dog, whic can be funny to watch.
@emendblu (94)
• United States
25 Feb 07
i had a yorkshire terrier that was constantly being harrased by my neighbors cat, i had to bring it the vet to get stitches from a scratch it had on its leg from it. It was always friendly, it even got along with my moms bunny, which leads me to believe that the cat was just a jerk. Finally i caught the cat sleeping on the hood of my car. I took off its collar, and brought it to the spca and told them it had attacked me which could be backed up by the scratches i got catching it.
