Cat rough houses with dog

Question

Our feisty 12 week old kitten (Coco) and very gentle 3 year old chihuahua (Fudge - a whopping 5 pounds) get a long great usually. They sleep together, groom each other and play all day.

Lately though, Coco has been getting very rough with Fudge. She pounces on him when he's sleeping, bites hard at his ears, tail and bits and scratches at his face. She's always the instigator and I don't want to keep them separated but I can't let her keep hurting him. Especially since she will keep growing and it can only get worse for Fudgie. Any advice?

Answer 1

My kittens does the same thing with our 5 pound pompchu and its (kinda funny to watch to) perfectly normal and health. don't worry about the dog getting hurt. even when the dog yelps or the cat meows they don't hold grudges or get mean so you don't have to worry about it getting worse as they get older. It's all healthy play.  And God bless you for taking on a new family member under the circumstances that little kitten was in. In the end money never really matters!!

Answer 2

I wish you could see our feisty year old rescued feral named "M&M" play with our rescued Chihuahua/Fox Terrier mix.

Minnette is the dog, and she was the runt of the litter and is about the size of a tea cup Chi.  The cat, whose growth was also stunted due to its poor health as a tiny kitten is actually about the same size as she is and the two wrestle and play together all the time.  I understand, I think, about how rough their play can become.  M&M (the cat) will grab Minnette's ear in his mouth and grab her collar and there are times when she yelps.  But she gets up and goes back for more.

The best thing to do is make sure your cats nails stay trimmed.  Its when the nails get really long and like fish hooks that the cat can accidentally hurt the dog when they are playing rough like that.

Otherwise, unless you really think that the dog doesn't appreciate the play time with your cat I'd just stand back and let them play.

They are developing a very special bond, and from what I've witnessed in our own home full of both cats and dogs which have all been raised around each other, they learn to respect each other and train each other without a lot of human intervention.

I wish you luck.  Try to let them work things out on their own a little.  The more you fuss at the dog you make the dog fearful of the cat.  Cats are pretty smart, and your dog isn't the size of a Rotty.  I think they will be fine with one another based on what you've told..  

Answer 3

This is how your kitten would be playing with her litter mates, they would have meowed loudly to warn she was too rough. You or Fudge will have to start letting her know she is too rough, with a yelp of your own so will Fudge.. GOOD LUCK  

Answer 4

spray her with water

Answer 5

Coco is playing with Fudge and that is what kittens do. Is Fudge

really complaining and is really getting hurt? If so the only way you can keep this from happening is a/ get a second kitten so Coco can expend her energy on the other kitten or b/ wear her out yourself with playing with her all the time. They grow out of this stage between 10 to 12 months. Usually dogs can take care of themselves and if it gets too much Fudge will slap CoCo down. Most adult animals instinctly know when they are dealing with baby animals and make allowances for them. They either let them play, move away or slap them down My youngest cat used to bug the heck out of the oldest cat when he was a kitten. (she would have been about 12 then) she would let him horse around for awhile and then when she got tired she would just lift her paw up on put in on the top of his head and push his head to the ground. He outweighed her by about 5 pounds but once she did that he would go away and leave her alone because he knew she had reached her level of tolerance with him.