Japanese Akita eats cats

sturll

I have a Japanese Akita and a problem.

Several years ago she killed a cat, didn't eat it just killed it. It came in my garden and i just assumed it was animal instincts taking over. (The owner attempted to sue me for vet costs but it failed)

Then about a year ago she killed another, someone had left my gate open (i have a huge garden where she roams free) and she went out and killed a cat. Then when i realised she was gone i called her back and she just came back. No problems at all, as if it was all in a days work.

Christmas eve i noticed she wasn't in the garden and she didnt respond to me calling her, i went looking for her but could not find her, when i got home she was waiting, covered in blood and smelling of cats urine.

Regarding her temprement she is so soft, she has never so much as sniffed at a human, i have 3 young children who ride on her back and she loves it. When they play in the garden she follows them from the front round to the back as if she is keeping an eye on them. She is aged 11.

My question is obviously its awful to think that some family came home Christmas eve and had a dead cat waiting for them (i tried to find out who it was to no avail) Apart from restraining her how can i stop this increasingly popular habit she has?

Any genuine help would be apprecaited.

UKTigerlily

sturll wrote: »

I have a Japanese Akita and a problem.

Several years ago she killed a cat, didn't eat it just killed it. It came in my garden and i just assumed it was animal instincts taking over. (The owner attempted to sue me for vet costs but it failed)

Then about a year ago she killed another, someone had left my gate open (i have a huge garden where she roams free) and she went out and killed a cat. Then when i realised she was gone i called her back and she just came back. No problems at all, as if it was all in a days work.

Christmas eve i noticed she wasn't in the garden and she didnt respond to me calling her, i went looking for her but could not find her, when i got home she was waiting, covered in blood and smelling of cats urine.

Regarding her temprement she is so soft, she has never so much as sniffed at a human, i have 3 young children who ride on her back and she loves it. When they play in the garden she follows them from the front round to the back as if she is keeping an eye on them. She is aged 11.

My question is obviously its awful to think that some family came home Christmas eve and had a dead cat waiting for them (i tried to find out who it was to no avail) Apart from restraining her how can i stop this increasingly popular habit she has?

Any genuine help would be apprecaited.

Thankyou for taking it seriously & wanting help & not just saying it's only a cat. I think TBH, you either need to stop cats coming into the garden (You can cat proof gardens so they can't get out, I guess you'd just do it so they can't climb in), or muzzle her while out OR have her on a long lunge line so she's supervised.

As this is the third time it does need to be taken extremely seriously (Which you're obviously doing). If you can't cat proof the garden then of course cats may still come in, so she's gonna maybe need to be muzzled (Make sure you don't go out & leave her muzzled, I just mean while supervised or while you're in the house) or on a long lead so she can run about with supervision.

I doubt you can train her to leave them, you could try, but if you're not there at the time to give the leave it command idk how easy that will be.

Swans1912

can I borrow your dog? Next doors cat keeps sitting on top of my brand new car!.....I'm joking before anyone says anything!
No but seriously, this must be so distressing for the owner of this cat aswell as yourself of course. Not sure what kind of advice to offer apart from talking to your vet about the problem. Maybe some of the other posters will have some ideas. Japanese Akitas are absolutely stunning dogs though.

sturll

Thanks, i was expecting the usual "3 cats put her down" attitude.

I appreciate the idea of a muzzle, the only problem being i have tried it (i should have said) and it got to the point where every time i had the muzzle on my hand she would cower and urinate.

As stupid as it sounds i have never really looked into 'cat proofing' the garden. I live in quit an old area and am not sure a new fence would pass planning stages but it is definitely somewhere to start. Is there any thing i could maybe put down or a device to keep cats away?

orlao

I think the only answer is to make sure she can't get out of your garden....EVER! Apart from her habit of killing cats, you're risking losing her under a car (plus the bill for 3rd party damage) and of course the fact that under the DDA she must be under control at all times by law.

If that means locking your gates or not allowing her free access to the garden if other people who can't be trusted to shut gates have to use your garden.

I know accidents happen and if a dog got my cat while it was in their garden, while I wouldn't be happy obviously, I wouldn't blame the dog. However if the dog was out unsupervised and got my cat, I have to be honest and admit that all hell would break loose! The other fear is that someone would try and save their cat and end up getting injured by your dog....doesn't bare thinking about does it?

MOST cats aren't stupid enough to go into a garden with a dog IYSWIM and I don't think there is anything that will reliably keep cats away....IMHO the best you can do is to ensure she can't get out and go after cats off your property

sturll

iKennett wrote: »

can I borrow your dog? Next doors cat keeps sitting on top of my brand new car!.....I'm joking before anyone says anything!
No but seriously, this must be so distressing for the owner of this cat aswell as yourself of course. Not sure what kind of advice to offer apart from talking to your vet about the problem. Maybe some of the other posters will have some ideas. Japanese Akitas are absolutely stunning dogs though.

Thanks, youd be surprised how many people have asked to borrow her for that reason

She is beautiful - we except for twice yearly where she just becomes a hairball! (tip - Dyson Animal!)

sturll

orlao wrote: »

I think the only answer is to make sure she can't get out of your garden....EVER! Apart from her habit of killing cats, you're risking losing her under a car (plus the bill for 3rd party damage) and of course the fact that under the DDA she must be under control at all times by law.

If that means locking your gates or not allowing her free access to the garden if other people who can't be trusted to shut gates have to use your garden.

I know accidents happen and if a dog got my cat while it was in their garden, while I wouldn't be happy obviously, I wouldn't blame the dog. However if the dog was out unsupervised and got my cat, I have to be honest and admit that all hell would break loose! The other fear is that someone would try and save their cat and end up getting injured by your dog....doesn't bare thinking about does it?

You echo my thoughts and concerns exactly.

I feel so bad imagining a child losing their pet, even the cat dying in such a brutal way.

UKTigerlily

sturll wrote: »

Thanks, i was expecting the usual "3 cats put her down" attitude.

I appreciate the idea of a muzzle, the only problem being i have tried it (i should have said) and it got to the point where every time i had the muzzle on my hand she would cower and urinate.

As stupid as it sounds i have never really looked into 'cat proofing' the garden. I live in quit an old area and am not sure a new fence would pass planning stages but it is definitely somewhere to start. Is there any thing i could maybe put down or a device to keep cats away?

You might not need to replace any fencing, one thing Owners of cats do is to add something to the top of the fence that instead of going straight up, leans in at an angle so the cat can't climb over, you could do it facing outwards, not sure if you'd need any neighbours permission mind you if it leaned over their garden abit?

You could probably slowly train her to get used to a muzzle, maybe don't even try to put it on at first but hold it while just stroking her or have it next to you on the chair & reward her for being good, then maybe let her sniff it & just small slow steps?

Lion poo is supposed to keep cats away but i'm not sure how effective it is, the idea is if they smell a lion has been there, they won't. You can buy bags of that online & I think some garden centres do it also. I'd start by only letting her out supervised, you can try a water pistol on any cats that you see, it's not cruel to them & may (or may not) deter them. You want to make the garden as unattractive for them as possible if you can't stop them entering.

If it was Chay my dog doing it, i'd try to cat proof the garden, if not i'd try muzzle training slowly & only let her out on a lunge line or long lead & supervised. Of course, you could pay for a trainer/behaviourist, but idk how sucessful it would be, especially as she's an older dog, not impossible but not sure how successful.

When you're out walking her & she's on a lead & sees a cat, maybe praise her tons for ignoring it? TBH once the cat in the garden sees the dog it's likely to run which would trigger any dogs prey drive & most will chase. I'd seriously stop entry for cats or restrain the dog by muzzle or lead, almost like I do (I have a communal & open garden).

Also, is she walked enough? I have a Cat & Dog & the more walks the Dog gets the less excitable she is!

sturll

UKTigerlily wrote: »

You might not need to replace any fencing, one thing Owners of cats do is to add something to the top of the fence that instead of going straight up, leans in at an angle so the cat can't climb over, you could do it facing outwards, not sure if you'd need any neighbours permission mind you if it leaned over their garden abit?

You could probably slowly train her to get used to a muzzle, maybe don't even try to put it on at first but hold it while just stroking her or have it next to you on the chair & reward her for being good, then maybe let her sniff it & just small slow steps?

Lion poo is supposed to keep cats away but i'm not sure how effective it is, the idea is if they smell a lion has been there, they won't. You can buy bags of that online & I think some garden centres do it also. I'd start by only letting her out supervised, you can try a water pistol on any cats that you see, it's not cruel to them & may (or may not) deter them. You want to make the garden as unattractive for them as possible if you can't stop them entering.

If it was Chay my dog doing it, i'd try to cat proof the garden, if not i'd try muzzle training slowly & only let her out on a lunge line or long lead & supervised. Of course, you could pay for a trainer/behaviourist, but idk how sucessful it would be, especially as she's an older dog, not impossible but not sure how successful.

When you're out walking her & she's on a lead & sees a cat, maybe praise her tons for ignoring it? TBH once the cat in the garden sees the dog it's likely to run which would trigger any dogs prey drive & most will chase. I'd seriously stop entry for cats or restrain the dog by muzzle or lead, almost like I do (I have a communal & open garden).

Also, is she walked enough? I have a Cat & Dog & the more walks the Dog gets the less excitable she is!

That is superb advice. Thank you very much.

I will endeavor to get some 'lion poo' and give that a try. I mean i seriously am at my witts end with her and need this sorting so as im sure you can understand ill try anything.
If that doesnt work ill look at the fence and then finally - i step i dont want to do is the muzzle. However i do recognise something needs doing and if that is the only option then so be it.

In terms of exercise she does get a good amount, i fell walk and often take her and she is always running around the garden in addition to her morning walk.

foreign_correspondent

I know a girl whose dog has done this too - and he is a cracking little dog in every other way, and absolutely bombproof with kids.

I think you could go down the behavioralist route, but to be honest the only safe thing to do is keep him away from cats - which could be harder said than done. Do you come across many cats on your walks and does he go offlead anywhere where he may spot a cat?

UKTigerlily

sturll wrote: »

That is superb advice. Thank you very much.

I will endeavor to get some 'lion poo' and give that a try. I mean i seriously am at my witts end with her and need this sorting so as im sure you can understand ill try anything.
If that doesnt work ill look at the fence and then finally - i step i dont want to do is the muzzle. However i do recognise something needs doing and if that is the only option then so be it.

In terms of exercise she does get a good amount, i fell walk and often take her and she is always running around the garden in addition to her morning walk.

As a Cat owner it's so nice to see you actually recognising the problem & working towards a solution. I'm lucky in that my cat doesn't go anywhere but I was so worried when I got my dog that she'd go for the cat! I'm sure you'll be able to sort it. There are high pitched noisy things also, but i'm not sure if dogs can hear those or again, how good they are.

Another idea that probably won't work is having a word with any cat owning neighbours? For example, mine is 11 in March & pretty much 90% indoors. She really only goes out once or twice a day, if you came to me & said your dog has a cattitude problem, I could say let her out when yours is in? Example if mine goes out at 11pm each night, I could let her out when I know your dog is in as she's not much of an outdoor cat.

I don't know but there might be training collars for dogs that can be remotely controlled, so say you see the dog run at a cat, you could activate it & it might stop her long enough for you to grab her? Not the electric shock ones I hate that idea but i'm wondering if there's others. Might be worth even one session with a behaviourist for their suggestions also.

http://www.crocus.co.uk/product/_/silent-roar-lion-manure/ClassID.2000004185/

One link so you get the idea, no idea how well it works! TBH if you came to me to warn me, i'd work with you so my cat wasn't in your garden. Have all attacks been while she's in her own garden? Just thinking if when on walks then she could do with a long horse lunge line (35ft roughly) to run on. Cats also hate citrus smells, so maybe spraying opr putting citrus round the fencing? lol I have visions of oranges all round the garden!