My Dog Just Attacked A Cat !!!

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Geeky G hi there. my female american pitbull just attacked a cat ! she is 4 years old, since we brought her as a puppy we had a grown cat(he wasn't really ours but he spends a lot of time home and we love animals so we didn't mind ... ), he constatly attacked her until she developed this habit of agression against cats when he passed away it wasn't really a daily problem so we never paid attention that this might be a big deal which is falls on us. two weeks ago my mom found an injured pregnant cat so she brought her home, made her a place to give birth and after one week she recovered and gave birth to 6 cute kittens, we didn't allow the dogs in the house that period because we were afraid that they'll chase the cat away. until this day mom forgot the door open and the female pitbull just attacked the cat. i've never seen my dog so distracted and agressive. the cat had some fatal injuries the vet said that she won't make it, he wanted to let her go peacefully but i asked him not to ( i still hope she can make it ) and now i'm left with one week old kittens and probably a dead cat

i leashed my dog right away ( i'm used to do it when i want to punish her ) but i don't think she'll understand. how to punish my dog a friend of dads suggested a brutal punishment which is no dinner and leave her chained with the dead cat in front of her for a while ... i hope that the cat makes it though and what to do with the kittens ? should i nurse them until they are ready for adoption or find another cat that cat nurse them ? See less See more Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Mar 2, 2019 Please don’t try to punish your dog. She will not be able to link her behaviour with the punishment; that is assuming human reasoning and all it will do is make your dog feel insecure and probably more aggressive. You need to consult experts for both the dog and the kittens. Look up a local cat haven and dog behaviourist. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk #3 · Mar 2, 2019 i went for dog behaviourist but they won't take my dogs because they say pitbulls are banned by the state ... so that's a NO i try my best at home. #4 · Mar 2, 2019 Call a rescue or shelter or vet for advice on how to care for the kittens if you're going to try to keep them. At that age their eyes aren't open and they need to be nursed or bottle fed literally every hour. You have to keep the dog completely separate from the kittens or she will attack them too and kill them since they're helpless. As in no mistakes, lock them in a special extra warm room in the house and lock your dog in another room or outside. It's harder to get through two locked doors than one, and it's harder to forget to close two doors than one. Don't let this dog loose at all when there's any cat or kittens in the house. She will just keep attacking them until she's trained not to. Some behaviorists are better than others. See if you can find a trainer who's experienced with aggression. I hope the mother cat survives. #5 · Mar 2, 2019 Do not punish the dog; it is not her fault. You allowed her to learn cats are a threat by allowing her to be attacked as a puppy and your mom is the one who allowed the dog access. Do not punish the dog, it isn’t her fault and she won’t understand. As for the kittens please try to find a foster mom for them. One week old kittens are a huge amount of work and you would have to teach them how to be cats. Much better to find a nursing foster mom if possible. And if the vet says the cat won’t make it, why force her to suffer? Even if she survives she won’t be able to nurse the kittens. And what is this about leashing your dog to punish her???? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk #6 · Mar 2, 2019 It's not her fault. Some dogs just don't do well with cats. And really, you need to educate yourself (and your parents' friends) about how dogs' brain works. A punishment that happens after the fact is 100% ineffective because dogs can't make the connection unless a consequence happens immediately. Honestly, I would contact all the rescues in your area to see if there's anyone who can take the kittens before something really bad happens. I can't imagine leaving my dog outside for a week either. Is your house a single room house or something that you couldn't let the cats stay in one room and just close the door? #7 · Mar 3, 2019 thank you for your concern, maybe you got the wrong idea about "how to punish" i didn't mean to harm my dog and i will never do under any circumstances. the leashing thing i got from a behaviourist which is when a dog does a bad thing leash him for 30 minutes and then give him some commands that he knows and when he does it give him a treat and take him for a walk which means replacing the bad behaviour with a good one, bad behaviour -> leash, good behaviour -> walk and gets to spend the whole time playing with the people he loves . and i didn't "allow" my dog to get attacked by a cat when she was a puppy, it just happened when i wasn't there and i stopped it when i saw it. and about keeping my dogs outside, my dogs houses are already in the garden (which is pretty big) and they are allowed into the house and sometimes they sleep in, but mostly they prefer the garden so they can run and play and when my mom brought the cat home we made her many beds and she chose the one in the kitchen so we kept the dogs out so the cat can walk freely inside the house without being frightened ... the vet already convinced me to let the cat go when i saw her suffer... i just was afraid because when my dog was a puppy he got really sick and the vet told me he won't make it anyway we refused to let him go and he made it ( and now he is healthy ) this is another vet though but that made me really rethink sometimes when an animal's life is at stake ... i understand that this falls on us and i already said it ... i just wasn't thinking straight after seeing that horrible view and i was really mad. i contacted every pet shelter in a 100 km radius (which are only two) and they said they have too many kittens for few cats and they can't take more, they said they will call me back when they have room for them. in the mean time the vet showed me how to feed them and keep them warm and i'm doing it until one of the shelters calls. again sorry if you got mislead but in the heat of the moment i went in every direction i knew i could go. with all of that said, i'm trying as hard as i can to get your "critics" as a concern for the kittens well being, but i really hate it when people act like they know better or they love your pets more than you could love them when this can happen to anyone at anytime and i wish it never does. #8 · Mar 6, 2019 Kitten care I am so sorry this happened, it sounds very distressing for all of you. I will start on the kittens because their welfare is time sensitive. I did some neonate kitten training - and from memory - the milk needs to be specialised milk, prepared in clean conditions and kept in a special way, used by a certain period, and heated to a specific temperature. The kittens will need to be fed every hour or two, and after each feed, they need to have their behinds wiped with cotton wool wipes until the cotton wool pad comes clean because they cannot toilet themselves. Through the night, they need to be fed every 3 hours. They also need a heating pad and towels to keep warm. It is a big undertaking, and I suggest you contact your nearest shelter for support, or to hand them over for someone else to care for them if you cannot, and soon. Regarding the dog - you would need to see a dog psychologist. Punishing the dog by not feeding it, or withdrawing attention can make the problem worse. They can become more aggressive. I am not an expert, but I know this is not the right approach with the little I do know. #9 · Mar 7, 2019 Are you aware that there is no such thing as a pit bull? This is a term often given to English bulldogs, and it is one reason they are often banned. Here is an article on the topic: https://www.thesprucepets.com/what-is-a-pit-bull-1118284 An animal behaviorist does sound like a good idea, but it also sounds as if the one you consulted doesn't know much more than you do. If the kittens mother is on death's doorstep, you need to act fast. I'd take the advice of your vet and then decide what to do about the babies. As to your dog, there is clearly something wrong, and you need expert help. For all your sakes, I ope you get it. #10 · Mar 7, 2019 Goodness, sorry to hear about this all over tragic experience. I hope Mama cat is doing ok and healing. How are the kittens doing? Did you find anyone to help out with them? Hope so! I have never raised kittens(esp orphaned ones) myself but I have heard they are beyond time consuming and fragile. What about asking around with your neighbors or workmates or parents work mates or church folks or relatives, etc? Surely someone else will be able to help you and take these tiny kitties from this dangerous situation at your place. How are you and you dog doing? I am sure your dog did not mean to kill the cat on purpose as you know. Buy unfortunately nature is nature sometimes. It sucks. And it is scary. Please don't be mad at your dog. But--now you DO KNOW that it is completely unsafe to give your dog free access to the cats/kittens. You must separate very carefully if you are going to keep them. It will be hard and frustrating and time consuming to constantly separate. I am sorry that you had to witness all this. It is never easy to watch your beloved dog cause harm, but it does happen unfortunately. I have had to see this with some of my pets over the many years of having beloved pets--- and it is never easy. I have the battle scars to remind me! Best of luck to all of you. Please keep us updated. #11 · Mar 7, 2019 Also, does your neighborhood have an email list at all? My neighborhood has Nextdoor and a Yahoo email group. When I found an almost dead tiny baby squirrel on the path, I immediately posted for help on these lists. Within an hour, a super nice lady who has tons of experience in raising infant squirrels and kitties came and picked up the tiny hurt squirrel and nursed it to safety. I also posted there for help with a tiny owl we found on my driveway. Maybe someone there with experience can nurse the kitties for you? #12 · Mar 7, 2019 Try https://kitten.academy/ They take in kittens and find them homes. They may be able to help the kittens bond with another momcat. #13 · Mar 11, 2019 Aggression is the second most common feline behavior problem seen by animal behaviorists. Although cat aggression is sometimes taken less seriously than dog aggression—perhaps because cats are smaller and don't pursue people to bite them #14 · Mar 11, 2019 My friend catsits for her boss and the lady has four cats at a time usually. She's involved with rescues and has taken in and rehomed several cats due to aggression and fighting, needed vet care and medications. One of her cats is seriously aggressive now to people. He's attacked the woman's boyfriend so that he was hospitalized for several days due to the infection. The cat has also attacked my friend several times completely unprovoked. She also got an infection and now won't catsit there unless that one cat is boarded. There's a cat site I view regularly and cat aggression on people and each other and cats peeing in inappropriate places are the two most common problems posted about by far. #15 · Mar 11, 2019 Cats absolutely pursue people and dogs and other cats to attack, and clae and bite. Status Not open for further replies. You have insufficient privileges to reply here.

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