My dog is going after my cat and I don't know why. Help.

March 3, 2013 9:11 PM

Google is next to useless on this question. I've looked and looked, but I'm getting nothing that addresses this directly. Our rescue dog, after nearly a year of peaceful living has started to attack my cat, and I have no idea what's causing it.

So, here's some background. Mister, my cat, is about seven years old. I don't know for sure because I got him from my daughter who got him from a friend who rescued him from the street. He's had an exciting life. I've had him since 2010 and we've moved about four, maybe five times, since then. Could be six. Anyway, he's a pretty chill cat. He's also a big cat, he weighs in at 19 pounds now, and that's after losing weight.

We got Brandy -- a cattle dog mix -- from the Humane Society in May of last year, so not quite a year ago, but she's been pretty chill too and has shown no signs of aggression until recently. She's not aggressive to me at all. She's been friendly, smart, happy, fearful, submissive, bored, energetic... everything BUT aggressive.

I suppose I should mention Cocoa, who we rescued in October of last year. He's a Chihuahua/Corgi mix. He's also not aggressive. Now, Brandy and Cocoa have had their little dominance tussles, but that's to be expected, and I leave them to it. So far it's just been that, tussles.

So here's the problem. About two weeks ago, Mister went into Cocoa's kennel and started chewing on some kibble that was left in there. Brandy took exception to that and they started fighting. I mean hissing, yowling, scratching, snarling, growling... fighting. I broke it up before they could hurt each other and after that I made sure all food was put away after meals. I figured that would solve the problem even though Brandy hasn't shown food aggression before that.

Then, about four days ago, Mister was sitting in the living room and Brandy just lunged at him for (as far as I could see), no apparent reason. I mean lunged at him -- snarling, snapping -- the whole shebang. Again, I broke it up and let Brandy know that this was not acceptable behavior, (I told her NO! and made her lay down away from the cat and stay until I wasn't angry anymore, trust me, she knew she'd done something wrong...) but she went after Mister again tonight! She lunged clear across the room snapping, snarling, and growling. I really thought she'd do him harm. I again stopped her and let her know this wasn't acceptable. When she lunged at Mister, he actually in the doorway of another room and (as far as I could see) not doing anything to provoke Brandy at all.

The thing is, they live pretty much peacefully most of the day. They don't hiss or snarl at each other when they pass in the hall. They lay down near each other throughout the day. At night they sleep on the bed with me for a while then Brandy will sleep in her chair and Mister sleeps wherever it is Mister sleeps (I never have found his sleeping place). They drink out of the same bowl. Whenever I pet the dogs, the cat comes over to get pet too, and there's no fighting. And right now, they're in the same room, lying down, and sleeping with no signs they've just squared off. It just doesn't make sense.

Brandy has recently had a checkup with all kinds of blood work and has had a clean bill of health. I'm clueless. And I don't know how to stop this. It's stressing my already tight nerves (wedding at the end of the month). Any ideas what might be causing my dog to suddenly, after all this time, attack my cat? And, how can I stop it? She stops when I say "No!" but I'd rather she not start at all.

Mister is big enough to take care of himself, and he has places to run that Brandy can't get to, so I'm not concerned that she'll do him serious harm. However I don't want him hurting Brandy either. And I also don't want it to get to the point were I have to have the cat in one area of the house and the dog in the other. What kind of living is that?

posted by patheral to Pets & Animals (14 answers total)

I don’t let cats and dogs be together anymore. I know lot’s of people think it’s fine, I used to be one of those people.

I have a lot of animals. One day, out of the blue, one of my dogs turned and attacked one of my cats so viciously we rushed to the emergency vet and couldn’t have him put to sleep fast enough. Split skull, broken leg, yowling in misery, just awful. We were standing right there when it happened, the cat was just casually walking by minding his own business.

These two were about 12 years old. They had lived together nearly their entire lives and grown up together. Never a problem at all before. We were completely freaked out and trying to make sense of it we looked on the internet. We found countless stories of people saying exactly the same thing had happened to them.

It’s one of those things that’s fine until it isn’t.
posted by bongo_x at 9:28 PM on March 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Is Brandy around the age of 2-3? Issues like aggression toward other animals or even other dogs usually first manifest around that age, and are typically not technically considered a problem since they're so easily managed by separating the animals. It could be just a part of her breed. Are you able to keep them apart when unsupervised? If you've Googled it, you already know that it's not at all an unusual occurrence for people to come home to a bloody house with their dog gleefully having killed the cat.
posted by halogen at 9:51 PM on March 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: When we're not home, Mister has the back of the house to himself which is cut off from the dogs by a baby gate which they cannot get over but he can. He also has the mudroom (where his food and litter box are) to himself which is cut off by a baby gate with a cat door which Cocoa can get through, but Brandy cannot.

I guess it's time to get another cat litter box for the back area so he doesn't have to cross the living area to get to the litter box when we're not home.

I'm disabled so I'm home most of the day which means they're not unsupervised all that often.
posted by patheral at 10:18 PM on March 3, 2013

Response by poster: Oh, and both Brandy and Cocoa are around 2-3 years old according to the vet. Being rescue dogs, we can't be sure of their age, but that's what the vet estimates.
posted by patheral at 10:20 PM on March 3, 2013

This won't be the cause but could be an exacerbating factor: given that you are disabled, I wonder whether the dog is getting enough exercise. I have a cattle dog mix too, and she is exponentially more obnoxious when she's not getting periodic opportunities to blow off steam running around somewhere. We're fortunate to have an off-leash dog park nearby where she can run and run, but I'm less inclined to go when it's freezing or potentially muddy (i.e. this time of year), and the boredom and lack of exercise really shows in my dog's behavior.
posted by jon1270 at 3:30 AM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

My vet treated my cat's aggression toward her sister with meds. It worked and the aggression didn't resume when she went off them later. Maybe that will work in this case.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:00 AM on March 4, 2013

Best answer: Without having seen the interactions personally I can only offer a few possible suggestions. The cat has taken to helping it'self to the dogs food and personal space in it's crate, I know in dog terms, not respecting the hierarchy can lead to a lot of snapping and snarling at each other to try and keep their positions secure. You might want to make sure that the cat does not have access to the dogs food, toys and crates to help with that. Also who is the "head" of their little pack, while most dogs aren't as obsessed about ranking as some tv trainers might have you believe, they do like to know their pecking order is stable (I partly joke but think older/younger siblings not wolves).

Make sure you pat, feed and treat the highest ranking dog first and put the cat lower down the list, the car really won't care and it may help the dogs feel more secure in their positions so they don't have to enforce them so often. Remember animals often read things like body language signals that we don't notice, so your cat may have walked to close or stared too long and triggered this response due to cats and dogs having differing "languages". I suspect in your case as you have a middle ranked dog (between the cat and the top dog) it could even be redirected frustration at the top dog.

Another option is you have 2 herding breeds of dogs, dogs that are breed to heard by nipping and barking at things. If they have started trying to heard the cat and the cat has basically objected it can easily lead to things escalating to snapping and snarling.

Bored dogs make trouble for something to do. You have 2 working breed dogs and boredom and excess energy can make some breeds make trouble for something to do. You mention you are disabled, if the dogs are not getting long walks every day, I'd say at least a good hour for a blue heeler/cattle dog then you'll have to tire them out by working their brains. Lots of trick training (which can be done in short 5 minute bursts throughout the day) kongs, puzzle boxes and games.

I have 2 terrier dogs, and I have one dog that will get along fine and are best buddies unless I forget to keep to feed him or pat him or whatever him first, or he's bored, underworked and therefore crabby and then he will take it out on the other dog.

Also be careful not only can the dogs hurt the cats, but I had an 8 week old kitten freak out when chased by an old very friendly pitbull who want just wanted to play, and the kitten dabbed the dog once in fear in the eye and the dog lost it's eye.

Good luck with it all.
posted by wwax at 6:21 AM on March 4, 2013

Does Brandy bark in the process of attacking or just growl and snarl? Does she bark under normal circumstances? If she barks when attacking and not normally, you might try an anti-bark citronella collar for instant negative reinforcement, even before she makes it to where the cat is. YMMV, though. They generally either work or they don't.
posted by rocketpup at 6:24 AM on March 4, 2013

Is the cat in good health? Is the dog responding aggressively to the cat because it is ill, weak or approaching death? I know it sounds odd, but one of my dogs turned on my cat in the last month of her life.
posted by onhazier at 6:58 AM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Last time we took Mister to the vet, which was about a month or so ago for booster shots, he was declared healthy.

I try and walk Brandy three times a week, we have a few loops that are about 2-ish miles, which with my slow gait takes about an hour. I know, she needs to run, which is why I asked this question. I take them with me in the car when I go out shopping and walk them around the block of the shopping centers so they can experience new areas periodically. I do obedience training with them on days we don't walk, and we do have a dog park near here that I take them there as well about once or twice a week. They get Kong-like toys all of the time and they love them.

I will admit that with the wedding, weather, health issues and all, I haven't been as diligent in walking her as I should, so it's been more like twice a week. My fiance doesn't like walking at all so his circuit when he walks them is about a mile. I'll try and keep her more occupied and less bored for the sake of all our sanity and see if it helps.
posted by patheral at 8:13 AM on March 4, 2013

Response by poster: Oh, I forgot to mention, Brandy doesn't bark at all when she lunges after the Mister, she just growls and snarls.

And as far as I can figure in the "hierarchy" of things, the cat's been top dog for a while, then Brandy, then Cocoa. For example, neither Brandy nor Cocoa will walk past Mister if he's lying across a doorway (basking in the sunlight) and they want to go into the other room. I've watched Cocoa whine and bark at Mister while Mister blighty ignores him and Brandy come up an herd Cocoa away from the cat. I haven't noticed a huge shift in this hierarchy of things other than Brandy lunging for Mister these last few weeks... She still won't pass him if he's lying across in the doorway. For the most part though, Mister just ignores the dogs and they lead a relatively peaceful life... until recently that is.
posted by patheral at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2013

Best answer: There should be no dominance tussles whatsoever, among the dogs or otherwise. You are the pack leader, and everyone is underneath you. The cat is included in this hierarchy, though cats interact in a different way with dogs and humans and don't show submission in the same way. Without seeing your dog, it is most likely either releasing pent-up energy in the form of frustration (may or may not actually be aggression; it's very hard to tell) or trying to put the cat in her place. Or both.

Either way, the formula is the same: As much exercise as possible, running if at all possible. Do they play fetch? If you're able to throw a ball or use a throwing stick, that is a great energy outlet to add to a walk. If there are joggers in your neighborhood, you may be able to ask one of them to take your dogs with them. Exercise should be daily, or twice a day depending on your dogs' energy level, which without seeing the dogs is hard to guess. In my opinion any dog of medium level energy or above should get at least an hour of exercise a day, the animal's health allowing.

Definitely give the cat a place to go to be away from the dogs for as long as it needs to be. Cats are predator and prey animals and cattle dogs have extremely high prey drive. If the cat is feeling nervous like prey and is forced to be near the dogs while you're not around, there's a chance it could trigger something, situation depending.

Step in and stop all dominance tussles. Play-fighting is of course fine, and even dominance behavior can be used as play sometimes. Make sure you know the difference, and never allow any dominance attempts out of either of your dogs. The pack is all equal, all under your leadership. There is no lower hierarchy below you.

Finally, look for signs that either dog tends to focus on the cat. Staring without curious sniffing, freezing, tail up, etc. With herding dogs this is usually especially easy to notice, because they're bred to intimidate herding animals with their body language. Correct this behavior immediately before it escalates - prey drive starts with fixation. Break the fixation the instant you see it. Ideally the dogs should more or less ignore the cat.
posted by Urban Winter at 10:49 AM on March 4, 2013

One of a cattle dog's jobs is to be aggressive when there's a conflict (with a really large animal at that). With my guy, he would be fine most of the time, but when a conflict kicked in the only way to get him back down was to remove him from the situation.

I didn't see how old your dog is, but mine showed increasing aggression as he reached one and a half years - occasionally trying to bite family members when he felt crowded, where previously he would have been fine.

I would think about whether you're seeing one of your dog's characteristic traits emerge, rather than something caused by the immediate circumstances.

I would also check whether the dog is in pain, hungry, not getting two solid, tiring walks a day (minimum), or experiencing some anxiety-causing stress.

Finally, I'd keep the dog crated when unsupervised until you have a handle on this - not as punishment, but for both the safety of the cat, and the dog's comfort at having a safe place of their own. I'd also consider a muzzle for the dog when out, again not as punishment, but for everyone's peace of mind, which can in turn lower your dog's stress levels. The muzzles from Jafco are good - lightweight and easy to secure.

Good luck!
posted by zippy at 10:53 AM on March 4, 2013

Response by poster: Step in and stop all dominance tussles. Play-fighting is of course fine, and even dominance behavior can be used as play sometimes. Make sure you know the difference, and never allow any dominance attempts out of either of your dogs. The pack is all equal, all under your leadership. There is no lower hierarchy below you.

See, I spoke with an animal behaviorist when we adopted Cocoa and they started tussling, and she said to let them tussle as long as no one gets hurt. She said it's important to not break these up because it causes frustration if I do.

We have a huge fenced back yard for the dogs to run around in and they play out there many times a day. I try and play fetch with them as often as possible out there and inside. Two walks a day just isn't possible. I'm looking into getting a bike so I can take Brandy out for runs more often and tire her out.
posted by patheral at 1:17 PM on March 4, 2013