Cats & Yorkies - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Miranda619 · 02-07-2014, 09:19 AM

We have a 4 yr old male cat and he really is sweet, affectionate, and very social. We thought that he might do okay with the our new puppy, Chewie. So far he tolerates Chewie. He has swatted at him numerous times but never uses claws. I've tried my hardest to give my cat just as much attention but it's kind of hard when you have a puppy running around and I'm trying to make sure he goes potty in the right spot.

We changed a lot of things around in the house to accommodate the puppy and cat. We added baby gates and moved the cats food because Chewie would eat the cats food, especially the wets. So now my cat hangs out on the other side of the baby gates where the puppy can't touch him. Every now and them he'll come out, they'll chase each other. When my cat "Otis" has had enough he swats the puppy and jumps the gate or jumps on something high.

I've noticed that my cat has been acting up but not so much during the day. He starts up at night when we're asleep. He jumps on dressers, sinks, anywhere where he isn't supposed to be. He knocks things over and makes a whole lot of noise and wakes us up every night since the puppy arrived. He never did this before, I pretty much trained him to stay off counter tops, sinks, etc. Well, at least he doesn't do it when I am around lol. He also seems to be a lot more needy at night. He has always liked to cuddle but it's to the point where he is climbing all over us and "kneading" me constantly. It's sweet but I can't seem to get a good nights sleep between him and a puppy that needs potty breaks in the middle of the night.

Is anyone else in the same situation? Cat and dog house? How do you handle it? Is my cat jealous or mad at us? I try and love him up and give him lots of treats. We also started letting him go outside. This is something we never did until the puppy. Is it a mistake to let him go outside since he has been an indoor cat all his life? I feel like I am giving him some free time to get away from the puppy because it appears that he is completely annoyed by Chewie lol. Chewie seems to adore the cat, he gets so excited when he sees him, or maybe I have it all wrong?

Magnus · 02-07-2014, 10:44 AM

I don't have a cat but I've watch that show "My cat from hell". It seems like most of his method is to give the cats their escape route or safe place? Sounds like your cat is a "tree dweller". How about putting up some platforms around the house so he can just go up and observe if he wants to get away from Chewie but want to stay in the same room?

Miranda619 · 02-07-2014, 12:10 PM

He has a cat tower in the living room and one in the guest bedroom. Both by windows. Of course he doesn't use them. He prefers to be on the window ledge which is out of reach for the dog. We also allow him to sit on a book shelf in the living room, he seems to like that. When my puppy is in the crate he will sit by him which is actually kind of cute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnus

I don't have a cat but I've watch that show "My cat from hell". It seems like most of his method is to give the cats their escape route or safe place? Sounds like your cat is a "tree dweller". How about putting up some platforms around the house so he can just go up and observe if he wants to get away from Chewie but want to stay in the same room?

Hrossen11 · 02-07-2014, 01:51 PM

I have 4 cats and 4 dogs, my cats just ignore my dogs. The dogs like to chase the cats though. My cats always try to sit in high places like dresser, and love to drink water from the sink. Cats are independent and my do as the please. Mine are indoor/ outdoor and as long as they have their claws and not coyotes are busy streets nearby the should be fine going outside. If you don't like your cats in certain places, you can squirt them with water. That is what I do when my cats are misbehaving.

pstinard · 02-07-2014, 02:35 PM

It sounds like your cat feels neglected and is competing for attention. We had somewhat similar problems with our cat Foxy and our Yorkie, Bella. We keep Bella crated on our nightstand at night so the cat is free is roam and sleep in the bed with us. The days belong to Bella, and the nights belongs to Foxy. Bella chases Foxy away from us during the day, but Foxy has safe places to go--rooms with baby gates that only she can jump. Foxy's food and litter box are in one such room. Foxy sometimes performs ninja raids on Bella's food, but we usually catch her and run her off. They don't hate each other, but Bella definitely dominates Foxy, even though she weighs only about half as much.

Miranda619 · 02-07-2014, 03:13 PM

[QUOTE=pstinard;4387719 The days belong to Bella, and the nights belongs to Foxy. [/QUOTE]

That's pretty much how it is around here. Otis gets the bed at night and Chewie is in the crate right by our bed but we have him where he can see us. Thanks for the response!

CouversMom · 02-07-2014, 09:00 PM

We have two cats and a foster cat right now with our two yorkies. It's important that you give the cat places to escape the puppy and time when the puppy is away in his kennel. Give your kitty lots of time in the evenings when the puppy is sleeping... It sounds like he sleeps with you, so make that his time. Remember that cats are night time animals.

Miranda619 · 02-08-2014, 12:52 PM

Thanks for all the responses! Otis was better last night. Either that, or it was the bottle of red that helped me sleep through it.

gracielove · 02-08-2014, 01:39 PM

I have cats and at the time I when I first got Gracie I had taken in a feral mother cat and her kittens. Well, Gracie thought that was wonderful. A herd of cats for her to take charge of! Well, the mother cat didn't take kindly to Gracie taking over her kittens so she put her under the rocker recliner a few times. I think she would have killed if if she had a chance since Gracie was still so small.

Your best bet now is to try to get your pup not to chase the cat. Obviously that is easier said than done but if you want your cat to stop his assaults on your home at night you need a truce between the two of them.

Try distracting the little guy when he sees the cat. Get him to play with you and tell him "NO!" if he is insistent on the chase. Since your cat is very people social it needs to have some alone time with you. You have your hands full trying to sort this out. As he gets older it will get better. Your cat kind of wants to play but your pup just doesn't know the boundaries yet.

As for going outside....if you live in town or near a somewhat busy road I would keep him inside. Too many cats meet their end in a road or by being chased by some stray dog. Besides, once they start going out curiosity gets the best of them and it is hard to get them to stay in. Fleas are another good reason not to let him out.

I have a couple of cats that were feral and are now mostly tame that are indoor/outdoor but we live quite a distance from the main road. They love hunting in the woods and fields and there is no way to stop a cat that gets a taste of that. I have to take a flea comb to them before I can let them in during the summer and fall months.

R-Teddy · 02-08-2014, 11:20 PM

We have two cats and 3 dogs, our new yorkie pup is 7 weeks old. the cats arent bothered by him at all. the only change I see in them is one cat seem particularity interested in the new puppy and seem s to want to play with her, but doesnt seem to know how to go about doing that. I am actually surprised at how tolerant she has been to the pup. its like she KNOWS its a baby and so is nice even when she doesnt want to be. She isnt like that with our 14 month old dog. she will swat with her nails and all at him all the time if he bothers her.

As for going outside. I personally never would let my cats outside. We use to when I was a kid, but I dont now. almost all of my cats from back then ended up hit by cars or seriously sick or injured. Just remember going outside exposes your kitty to a whole new ballfield of dangers an illnesses. I can tell you that here at least, all the vets an shelters all say please keep your kitty as an indoor kitty. In fact the kitty we just recently adopted/ rescued the shelter would not allow us to adopt her unless we signed a contract saying we would never purposely allow the cat to go outside.

good luck.

jasminescottage · 02-09-2014, 06:00 AM

We have two older cats (16 yrs male and 17 yrs female respectively) and our 12 week old Gracie yorkie baby who has been with us 4 weeks now.

She wants to play and interact with the kitties but they want no part of her basically.
Female kitty just acts indifferent. Male is the one who acts aggravated with her presence. However male continues to come closer and closer as if investigating/warming up to the situation.

I'm hoping they all become big buddies. Who knows. They are all so very sweet!
(read: "Can't we just all get along.")

Miranda619 · 02-13-2014, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gracielove

I have cats and at the time I when I first got Gracie I had taken in a feral mother cat and her kittens. Well, Gracie thought that was wonderful. A herd of cats for her to take charge of! Well, the mother cat didn't take kindly to Gracie taking over her kittens so she put her under the rocker recliner a few times. I think she would have killed if if she had a chance since Gracie was still so small.

Your best bet now is to try to get your pup not to chase the cat. Obviously that is easier said than done but if you want your cat to stop his assaults on your home at night you need a truce between the two of them.

Try distracting the little guy when he sees the cat. Get him to play with you and tell him "NO!" if he is insistent on the chase. Since your cat is very people social it needs to have some alone time with you. You have your hands full trying to sort this out. As he gets older it will get better. Your cat kind of wants to play but your pup just doesn't know the boundaries yet.

As for going outside....if you live in town or near a somewhat busy road I would keep him inside. Too many cats meet their end in a road or by being chased by some stray dog. Besides, once they start going out curiosity gets the best of them and it is hard to get them to stay in. Fleas are another good reason not to let him out.

I have a couple of cats that were feral and are now mostly tame that are indoor/outdoor but we live quite a distance from the main road. They love hunting in the woods and fields and there is no way to stop a cat that gets a taste of that. I have to take a flea comb to them before I can let them in during the summer and fall months.

Thank you for the solid advice. I was always a little nervous letting him out. He would always stay near by and come when I called him. I started to wonder "what if" he goes across the street and gets hit by a car. We also have coyotes in the area. I decided to keep him inside. It's not worth it. Now my cat and I have "our time". I'm at home all day and devote most of my time to the puppy. When my husband gets home and after we have dinner I pretty much hand Chewie off to him so I can spend a little time with the cat. It actually seems to be working. My cat isn't acting up at night anymore. It's getting better.

Miranda619 · 02-13-2014, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R-Teddy

As for going outside. I personally never would let my cats outside. We use to when I was a kid, but I dont now. almost all of my cats from back then ended up hit by cars or seriously sick or injured. Just remember going outside exposes your kitty to a whole new ballfield of dangers an illnesses. I can tell you that here at least, all the vets an shelters all say please keep your kitty as an indoor kitty. In fact the kitty we just recently adopted/ rescued the shelter would not allow us to adopt her unless we signed a contract saying we would never purposely allow the cat to go outside.

good luck.

Thanks! We decided to keep him inside. I'd never forgive myself if something were to happen to Otis.

pink66 · 02-13-2014, 03:10 PM

We have 3 cats and 3 dogs. Our Yorkie, Puff, is the only one that will actually play with the cats. She loves to bug them until they chase her, then they take turns chasing each other all over the house. All 3 of the cats were strays that just ended up in our lives, but I'm so glad they did!

Verbena · 02-13-2014, 04:57 PM

I have 4 cats and Galen the Biewer. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are 13 years old brothers and Willow and Saber are a year old. Galen wants to play with them. They are not as willing lol

I would not let your kitty out. He will start to act out more. You need to make private time just for him. He is used to having you by himself. Cats are nocturnal. Mine run around at night. I finally had to kick them out of bed cause Saber is a 15 lb cat. . . Ever have a 15 lb cat run over you in the middle of the night lol. Give Otis some time. He will come around.

02-07-2014, 09:19 AM	#1
Miranda619 Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Carlsbad, Ca Posts: 56	Cats & Yorkies We have a 4 yr old male cat and he really is sweet, affectionate, and very social. We thought that he might do okay with the our new puppy, Chewie. So far he tolerates Chewie. He has swatted at him numerous times but never uses claws. I've tried my hardest to give my cat just as much attention but it's kind of hard when you have a puppy running around and I'm trying to make sure he goes potty in the right spot. We changed a lot of things around in the house to accommodate the puppy and cat. We added baby gates and moved the cats food because Chewie would eat the cats food, especially the wets. So now my cat hangs out on the other side of the baby gates where the puppy can't touch him. Every now and them he'll come out, they'll chase each other. When my cat "Otis" has had enough he swats the puppy and jumps the gate or jumps on something high. I've noticed that my cat has been acting up but not so much during the day. He starts up at night when we're asleep. He jumps on dressers, sinks, anywhere where he isn't supposed to be. He knocks things over and makes a whole lot of noise and wakes us up every night since the puppy arrived. He never did this before, I pretty much trained him to stay off counter tops, sinks, etc. Well, at least he doesn't do it when I am around lol. He also seems to be a lot more needy at night. He has always liked to cuddle but it's to the point where he is climbing all over us and "kneading" me constantly. It's sweet but I can't seem to get a good nights sleep between him and a puppy that needs potty breaks in the middle of the night. Is anyone else in the same situation? Cat and dog house? How do you handle it? Is my cat jealous or mad at us? I try and love him up and give him lots of treats. We also started letting him go outside. This is something we never did until the puppy. Is it a mistake to let him go outside since he has been an indoor cat all his life? I feel like I am giving him some free time to get away from the puppy because it appears that he is completely annoyed by Chewie lol. Chewie seems to adore the cat, he gets so excited when he sees him, or maybe I have it all wrong?

02-07-2014, 09:00 PM	#7
CouversMom and Khloe Mae's too! Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Eastern Washington Posts: 14,732	We have two cats and a foster cat right now with our two yorkies. It's important that you give the cat places to escape the puppy and time when the puppy is away in his kennel. Give your kitty lots of time in the evenings when the puppy is sleeping... It sounds like he sleeps with you, so make that his time. Remember that cats are night time animals. __________________ Michelle- mommy to Couver and Khloe Mae! http://yorkiehavenrescue.com/

02-08-2014, 11:20 PM	#10
R-Teddy No Longer a Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Fayetteville, NC, USA Posts: 587	We have two cats and 3 dogs, our new yorkie pup is 7 weeks old. the cats arent bothered by him at all. the only change I see in them is one cat seem particularity interested in the new puppy and seem s to want to play with her, but doesnt seem to know how to go about doing that. I am actually surprised at how tolerant she has been to the pup. its like she KNOWS its a baby and so is nice even when she doesnt want to be. She isnt like that with our 14 month old dog. she will swat with her nails and all at him all the time if he bothers her. As for going outside. I personally never would let my cats outside. We use to when I was a kid, but I dont now. almost all of my cats from back then ended up hit by cars or seriously sick or injured. Just remember going outside exposes your kitty to a whole new ballfield of dangers an illnesses. I can tell you that here at least, all the vets an shelters all say please keep your kitty as an indoor kitty. In fact the kitty we just recently adopted/ rescued the shelter would not allow us to adopt her unless we signed a contract saying we would never purposely allow the cat to go outside. good luck. Last edited by R-Teddy; 02-08-2014 at 11:25 PM.

02-13-2014, 03:10 PM	#14
pink66 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Aberdeen, MD Posts: 550	We have 3 cats and 3 dogs. Our Yorkie, Puff, is the only one that will actually play with the cats. She loves to bug them until they chase her, then they take turns chasing each other all over the house. All 3 of the cats were strays that just ended up in our lives, but I'm so glad they did! __________________ Shannon & Puff "All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed; for after all he was only human. He wasn't a dog." Charles M. Schultz

02-13-2014, 04:57 PM	#15
Verbena Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: with my flying monkeys Posts: 15,620 Blog Entries: 7	I have 4 cats and Galen the Biewer. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are 13 years old brothers and Willow and Saber are a year old. Galen wants to play with them. They are not as willing lol I would not let your kitty out. He will start to act out more. You need to make private time just for him. He is used to having you by himself. Cats are nocturnal. Mine run around at night. I finally had to kick them out of bed cause Saber is a 15 lb cat. . . Ever have a 15 lb cat run over you in the middle of the night lol. Give Otis some time. He will come around. __________________ Teri . . . Galen Jameson Frazier Seraphina Luna Rosencrantz, Saber Tooth Tiger, Pussy Willow Pandora Guildenstern

02-07-2014, 10:44 AM	#2
Magnus Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Northern VA Posts: 3,192	I don't have a cat but I've watch that show "My cat from hell". It seems like most of his method is to give the cats their escape route or safe place? Sounds like your cat is a "tree dweller". How about putting up some platforms around the house so he can just go up and observe if he wants to get away from Chewie but want to stay in the same room?

02-07-2014, 01:51 PM	#4
Hrossen11 YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Central california Posts: 799	I have 4 cats and 4 dogs, my cats just ignore my dogs. The dogs like to chase the cats though. My cats always try to sit in high places like dresser, and love to drink water from the sink. Cats are independent and my do as the please. Mine are indoor/ outdoor and as long as they have their claws and not coyotes are busy streets nearby the should be fine going outside. If you don't like your cats in certain places, you can squirt them with water. That is what I do when my cats are misbehaving.

02-07-2014, 02:35 PM	#5
pstinard YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Urbana, IL USA Posts: 3,648	It sounds like your cat feels neglected and is competing for attention. We had somewhat similar problems with our cat Foxy and our Yorkie, Bella. We keep Bella crated on our nightstand at night so the cat is free is roam and sleep in the bed with us. The days belong to Bella, and the nights belongs to Foxy. Bella chases Foxy away from us during the day, but Foxy has safe places to go--rooms with baby gates that only she can jump. Foxy's food and litter box are in one such room. Foxy sometimes performs ninja raids on Bella's food, but we usually catch her and run her off. They don't hate each other, but Bella definitely dominates Foxy, even though she weighs only about half as much.

02-07-2014, 03:13 PM	#6
Miranda619 Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Carlsbad, Ca Posts: 56	[QUOTE=pstinard;4387719 The days belong to Bella, and the nights belongs to Foxy. [/QUOTE] That's pretty much how it is around here. Otis gets the bed at night and Chewie is in the crate right by our bed but we have him where he can see us. Thanks for the response!

02-08-2014, 12:52 PM	#8
Miranda619 Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Carlsbad, Ca Posts: 56	Thanks for all the responses! Otis was better last night. Either that, or it was the bottle of red that helped me sleep through it.

02-08-2014, 01:39 PM	#9
gracielove YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NY Posts: 6,582	I have cats and at the time I when I first got Gracie I had taken in a feral mother cat and her kittens. Well, Gracie thought that was wonderful. A herd of cats for her to take charge of! Well, the mother cat didn't take kindly to Gracie taking over her kittens so she put her under the rocker recliner a few times. I think she would have killed if if she had a chance since Gracie was still so small. Your best bet now is to try to get your pup not to chase the cat. Obviously that is easier said than done but if you want your cat to stop his assaults on your home at night you need a truce between the two of them. Try distracting the little guy when he sees the cat. Get him to play with you and tell him "NO!" if he is insistent on the chase. Since your cat is very people social it needs to have some alone time with you. You have your hands full trying to sort this out. As he gets older it will get better. Your cat kind of wants to play but your pup just doesn't know the boundaries yet. As for going outside....if you live in town or near a somewhat busy road I would keep him inside. Too many cats meet their end in a road or by being chased by some stray dog. Besides, once they start going out curiosity gets the best of them and it is hard to get them to stay in. Fleas are another good reason not to let him out. I have a couple of cats that were feral and are now mostly tame that are indoor/outdoor but we live quite a distance from the main road. They love hunting in the woods and fields and there is no way to stop a cat that gets a taste of that. I have to take a flea comb to them before I can let them in during the summer and fall months.

02-09-2014, 06:00 AM	#11
jasminescottage Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: georgia Posts: 73	We have two older cats (16 yrs male and 17 yrs female respectively) and our 12 week old Gracie yorkie baby who has been with us 4 weeks now. She wants to play and interact with the kitties but they want no part of her basically. Female kitty just acts indifferent. Male is the one who acts aggravated with her presence. However male continues to come closer and closer as if investigating/warming up to the situation. I'm hoping they all become big buddies. Who knows. They are all so very sweet! (read: "Can't we just all get along.")