Feel terrible!

mammyof7

I have a 7 year old Great Dane. Athough we had a very shaky start, she now gets along fine with our 4 month old male kitten.

However today she has actually caught and mauled next doors cat :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:. After hearing her barking, I went outside to actually see her jump (fence is 6ft high) and drag the cat off the top of our fence in her jaw. I managed to release the cat from her which promptly jumped back onto the top of the fence, yet before I could drag her away she jumped up and caught it again!

After much screaming I managed to alert neighbour whom came and retrieved the poor cat. Well to cut a long story short although there was blood everywhere the moggy has came off relativley unscathed whilst both me (and the dog) have been scratched to bits.

Neighbour was extremely understanding however what do I do now? Obviously they can not be expected to keep their cats in 24/7, however the same can be said for my dog.

Just to add- the dog is still as friendly as ever with our cat.

*EDIT- I have to go out now but will read and reply to any posts tomorrow, Thanks

NewKittenHelp

Rehome your kitten as a matter of urgency!

con1888

I wouldn't say rehome tbh... we had a dog growing up and as much as she was fine with our two cats at home to the extent she even play fought with them - when outdoors she would chase other cats as they weren't 'her' cats.

I would maybe only let your dog out in the garden under supervision.

Fire_Fox

Have the dog wear a muzzle whenever around cats.

krlyr

NewKittenHelp wrote: »

Rehome your kitten as a matter of urgency!

Not necessarily - I hear it is pretty common for dogs to realise the difference between "their" cats and others (personally, not convinced mine would accept one of their own - other than as a snack! So no experience myself) so not always an issue, but definately something to be wary of.
However, I think you should try not to blame yourself. You didn't set the dog on their cat on purpose, presumably the cat was the one "trespassing" into your garden. Why is it unfair for them to have to keep their cat out of your garden at any time of the day? They don't necessarily have to keep it locked in the house but ultimately the cat is their responsibility. Maybe you could offer to go halves of some kind of cat-proof fencing between the two gardens but IMO you're the one who's dog is restrained to your own property and it has the right to be loose in your garden whenever you please.

It may help to do some training to try to improve the dog's self-control, redirect the prey drive, for your own peace of mind, but this can be quite a hard thing to tackle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eTp4jf2fPA&feature=plcp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4qjarQFohY&feature=plcp (based on chickens but same principles apply)

gettingready

NewKittenHelp wrote: »

Rehome your kitten as a matter of urgency!

Nonsense. Zara loves HER cats but will still try to chase STRANGE cats outside.

krlyr wrote: »

Not necessarily - I hear it is pretty common for dogs to realise the difference between "their" cats and others

Absolutely...

BECKIN1507

Totally agree with what most people are saying, my dogs accept my cats as part of the pack, other peoples cats is a different story. The cat will probably now be worried and shouldn't come back in your garden. I don't leave my cats and dogs together if I'm not in, mainly because my cats are slightly evil and love scratching the dogs, I couldn't blame the dog if she bit the cats back.

antw23uk

Wow what a terrible day you have had. How are you feeling now?

Well for me i would be thinking prevention is better than cure...

Higher fence so enable more control of your dog.

Cat proofing to help/ ensure neighbours cat doesnt get into garden *

Sorry but i tend to agree ... Once a cat agressive dog ... you are just waiting for the sh*t to hit the fan at home with your own cat**

*cat proofing your garden will mean your own cat cannot get out.

**This is from awful personal experience which none of us at the time could have predicted.

Finally LUCKY YOU ... if it had been my cat i would have taken your dogs head off and then apologised through gritted but satisfied teeth

scrabbles_2

Put something like this up around your fences for the safety of any 'outside' cats. You could ask the neighbour to share the cost, but in the interests of keeping good relations considering what has happened I would try and pay myself, if I could. I'll be honest - your neighbour has been better about things than I would have managed.

Monitor the situation carefully regards your kitten - ultimately only you will know if the kitten is safe around the dog or not. Personally I would not wait to find out.

NewKittenHelp

The cat was on the fence, wasn't it?

Krlyr that was for you, but you've disappeared lol!

NewKittenHelp

BECKIN1507 wrote: »

Totally agree with what most people are saying, my dogs accept my cats as part of the pack, other peoples cats is a different story. The cat will probably now be worried and shouldn't come back in your garden. I don't leave my cats and dogs together if I'm not in, mainly because my cats are slightly evil and love scratching the dogs, I couldn't blame the dog if she bit the cats back.

It didn't go into the garden - it was ripped off the fence!