Re: my cat loves my dog?

In Reply to: my cat loves my dog?
Posted by:  desirae
Posted on:  April 27, 2001 at 22:41:27

: ok, well i'm 17 and my dog's name is Harley. We have two other dogs (not jrs) as well as 4 cats. harley is the most recent addition to our family, we got him almost a year ago. anyway, the cats pretty much avoid him, but my cat (yes mine) loves the dogs. His name is Baby (5 years old). baby's usually grumpy. He doesn't like it when people pick him up a lot, he's a bit oveweight. He can get vicious and cause serious damage - to people. Anyway, this cat really likes Harley. Has ever since we brought Harley home at 3 months. He'll rub up against him and he likes to be around him. I know that Harley likes baby too, because he's always cleaning out his ears and licking him. So I've been visiting this site practically ever since i got harley, and i've read the stories and questions about cats and jrs. I know you guys hate it when people ask the SAME questions OVER and OVER without searching through the archives, but I think my question is just a bit different. Okay obviously my cat and dog love each other - for now. I know JRs are natural hunters and all, and i don't want to sound like everybody else that's in denial, but I just can't see Harley attacking the cats, well at least Baby. I wanted to know if ALL JRs will definitely attack, or if it does depend on the dog. I suppose I'm looking for reassurance but I also want your opinion on what you think will happen considering the relationship between my cat and dog. thank you for the patience after having read this question who knows how many times. :) desirae

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Hi, Desirae,

No person who loves their cat expects their Jack Russell to kill/maim/hurt it. People who end up with their jack attacking their cat ALWAYS think they're the exception or they don't know the dangers at all.

I know of a person who had a beautiful show Persian cat who slept with her Jack Russell, they preened each other, and appeared to get along together as though they were both cut from the same mold... they seemed totally unaware that one was a cat and one was a dog, and that the two species are prey and hunter outside of domestication. The owner of these two, blissful pets went out to mow her lawn after nine years of cat and dog getting along beautifully together. When she took a break to come in for a glass of lemonade, she found her cat literally in pieces in the living room. After NINE years. She knew the warnings but thought they were stupid. Her cat and terrier were the exception, she was SURE of it.

Some people manage to have their cats die of old age with a terrier around, but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry. Don't leave the two animals alone together if you aren't home to intervene if necessary. Don't relax and think your pets are the exception. You MIGHT be dead wrong.