I brought lily home from the shelter in july '05 and my cat beaker has been with me for almost four years now. when i brought lily home i was told that she was fine with cats. well lily has a HUGE "bossy" streak. she must be the boss at all times! she even tries to boss me around....... when she does it to my other dog daisy she knows that there are certain boundries she must not cross because daisy is 4 times her size. but not so with beaker (cat). they are the same size. in the begining she was a little bossy with beaker but nothing serious but latley it's gotten out of control. it started the other week when beaker jumped into my lap to lay down and lily got pissed. she rushed over and attacked him. since then its been a big problem. if beaker tries to sit on my lap, he gets attacked. if he even unknowingly walks near one of lily's treats he gets attacked. and when lily isnt attacking him its like she's become obsessed with him. he cant even come into the house without her getting all up in his face and it's basically like she is saying to him "you dont make a move unless i tell you that you can". its gotten really bad. yesterday beaker had just gotten within a few feet of one of lily's toys and lily attaked him. when this happens (i try to moniter them and prevent it) i pick her up and yell "NO" and i try to turn her face to me so that she sees me looking her in they eyes(i never yell at her so she knows i am serious when i do). but that doesnt seem to be working. its like she could care less what i have to say about the situation - she is going to do what she wants when she wants. i refuse to hit, swat, or spank my dogs......its out of the question. i dont know what to do about this! has anyone had a similar problem? beaker has not been hurt at all tho, if anyone was wondering. oddly enough he just runs away....he could easily use his claws on lily (they are very sharp) but he doesnt.
My cat is very bossy around other animals. He doesn't like other animals near me. When I lived with my bestfriend and girlfriend, they had 2 cats, who weren't allowed in my room, in my bed or on my lap, because King BJ said so. Eventually it got so that BJ was fine with them as long as they respected his rules. BJ was a stray too.... do you think the "life on the streets" has anything to do with Lily's boundry issues? It seems like she NEEDS to have HER stuff, HER space? BJ needs his stuff, his space too... it just seems that I am a majority of his stuff and space at times (ie. my lap is his). I don't really have any advice for you, really... sorry! Just wanted you to know that other cats are like that too. It got better with time... once BJ didn't feel so threatened he eased up a bit, but it seems there has already been a far chunk of time for you and Lily and Beaker, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. That Beaker doens't fight back is good though! At least there is no blood shed! He must be sure of his place in your home and heart... and maybe Lily isn't so sure yet? Good Luck!
i dont know lily's history (she was found in the drop off pen) she could have been a stray, or a lost dog, or someone just got fed up with her peeing everywhere and chewing everything...lol. i love lily and i no matter what happens she has a forever home with me so we will have to find a way to work around this situation if we can. her breed by nature is very possesive of their "things". she is with me all the time tho.....follows me around the house.....she is my shadow and she couldnt possibly get more attention then she already does. but sometimes what will happen is i will put beakers cat food down for him (beaker is not allowed near lily's food....her rules) and when beaker goes to eat his OWN food lily will run over to him, stick her nose in his face and then start eating his food. its like having 3 children in the house and two of them are just at it all the time....i need super nanny for dogs.
Do not let your dog think that they are the alpha. Constantly reassert your dominance. Flip her on her back every day, and look her in the eyes. Do not let her be rude to you or struggle. Let go of her one she relaxes. When she does something you do not want her to do say "No" or make a very deep loud gutteral growl in your throat. "Naaa" but deep growly sound. You have to be consistent. You may have to use a gentle force. Take her firmly by the scruff of the next and give her a little shake and say no or do the growl. This is mimicing a mother dog scolding a rowdy puppy. Try watching the dog whisperer if you have the national geographic channel. It is great. Check out some of these clips from the show: http://cgi.nationalgeographic.com/channel/video/cgi-bin/NGPortal.pl?bitrate=400k Type in "Dog Whisperer" and watch these great clips. Goodluck
is she attacking the cat or trying to play with it? When i first brought my newest dog home from the shelter he seemed to try to attack the cat but i realizied he was just trying to play (actually he thinkd the cat is a candy dispenser its really gross but he eats cat poo) so when ever the cat meows or walks across the floor in front of him or jumps in my lap my dog feels that he needs to know the intent of the cat and knaws on its head and pushes on its belly and holds it by its tail... the cats never too happy with it but the dog isnt trying to hurt it... he just dosent know how else to play
definatley attacking. no doubt about it. they do play - on occasion. lily usually initiates it and sometimes beaker will go along, but other times she is definatley being very aggresive.
Abandoned animals always have issues. I have three cats that were abused and one that was a stray. My animals fight with each other, but they know I'm the boss so they listen to me. You have to assert yourself as the boss. Punish her when she's out of line. Make her stay in a room by herself, flick her on the nose and say no loudly, just say no or stop in a stern voice. You have to let her know her behavior is not acceptable. Just like a little kid, she'll test her boundaries, especially in a new home.
