Basenji and Cats Question

[tanza]

@WBL:

I know that several people have B's and cats. What I'm wondering is if a pup grows up with an adult cat in the house will it have problems with the cat later as it matures? I have put off getting a B this yr, so it'll be next yr when I get one. I'm not worried about how my cat will be with the pup, I guess I should just describe her.

Her name is Buttercup (but we call her Pigmy), she is about 14 inches at the shoulder and about 13lbs. She's not over weight, just a BIG cat. She is very loving and act like a mother hen to my boxer.

She's dog friendly to most dog breeds and has been around many breeds that were puppies for times of about 3 weeks at the most. She has never met an Basenji, and the only dog that I can think of that is roughly the same size as a B that she's been around is a Shiba Inu. She had no problem with the Shiba and Shibas talk alot too. I know for a fact that she does NOT like border collies or german shepards (no matter the age), those are the only types of dogs where I've seen her, I guess act aggresive, it's the only way I can think to describe it and that is with the whole breed not just certain dogs.

Pigmy does play with my boxer, and has never used her claws towards a dog, border collies and german shepards. She has accepted any boxer she mets, and we've foster a few that were VERY hyper and overly energitic. She really does love dogs, and dislikes other cats. She in fact acts like a dog quite often. When her and Reggie play if he starts to get to rough she some times bops him with a paw on the nose (again no claws), gives a hiss or just hops in her tree.

So after my long description (sorry) do you think there will be any issues with adding a Basenji pup?

When I got my first two B's we had a cat… who like yours didn't use his claws... I wish he would have... and I think that he would not have been chased and "plucked" as much had he fought back when my male was a pup... also, more than one B = pack and packs chase and catch if the prey is running...

So, we had a separate place for the cat and escape routes....

[Vanessa]

I have a 4 year old cat and a 9 mth old basenji. I introduced the pup to the cat and they are fine with each other. Instinctively basenjis love to chase and cats love to run. Once my cat takes off there is Chance right up on his tale trying to catch him. They wrestle and play with one another. If I separate one from the other they become upset and will do whatever it takes to be together again. They sleep with each other and share everything.
I trust my basenji with my cat because I raised him to understand that it isn't ok to hurt my cat.
It is strange. Chance loves to play with my cat and he will pin him on the ground but it is in a playful way. I watch very close. The cat will even instigate a match. He will wait until Chance is asleep and then pounce on him! They get along great. I do however have a place for my cat to go to get away from the dog if need be. And if the play looks too rough, I use a baby gate to seperate. Thats the funny part. Once I seperate them the cat is on one side sticking his paw through trying to hit the dog and the dog pacing back and forth trying to figure out how to get to the other side

[youngandtired]

Sahara, my Basenji is l &1/2yrs. old and she loves to pounce on my 18yr. old cat. She will leave her alone at times but the majority of the time she is chasing, pinning her to the ground, heck one day I saw Sahara drag her by the collar in the yard. Boy, I was so mad with my B for that, I got her good with the waterhose. You know that Bs hate to be wet, but she just does it another day. Sahara never bothered her until she was older, like 1yr. old and then it was chase and chase some more. She will not leave my cat alone when she is outside. I have underground fencing in my yard and my cat stays in my neighbors yard most of the time to avoid my B. My neighbor likes my cat and said it was ok by him. IMO it is not good to have a cat if you are looking at getting a Basenji, most will bother cats. It is rare that a B will leave a cat alone, they are small prey to them.

[phoenix3]

WBL i think it really depends on the Basenji My first basenji was great with cats i had 2 But Phoenix my current basenji i wouldnt trust him for 10 seconds with a cat he would kill it. Not trying to but by playing to rough also i have 2 other dogs witch are both scared of the cats but put my basenji and my other male together and they both will get in on it like follow the leader. In my option i wouldn't mix the 2 good luck!

[lvoss]

Alot depends on the cat and the basenji. Until we got Rally, I think Nicky thought he may be a cat. Once the cats got over the shock of having a dog in the house, they got along pretty well. Nicky would only chase them if they ran and at first if he "caught" them he would roll them over and lick and pluck the fur on their bellies but that didn't last very long with us and the cats telling him that was inappropriate. He would play with Sparky who liked to come into a room make eye contact with Nicky, take off running and see if he could get Nicky to crash into a cabinet or wall. In a way it was Sparky who taught Nicky not to jump on counters since it was when he was playing with him that he ended up jumping into the sink which was filled with water. Spot is not interested in playing but likes to curl up next to Nicky and had Nicky so well trained that he could take roast turkey right out of Nicky's mouth.

Now Rally is a whole other story. It took her much longer to get the hint from the cats that they do not want to play with her. Now that she is an adult, she doesn't really want to play with them but she has had some issues with Spot when she has been pregnant. She would not let him in the bedroom for the last two weeks of her pregnancy. Her daughter, Rio, learned pretty quickly about what was okay with the cats and what was not. Sophie is a little more like mom in the not taking the hint department but she really likes the cats, just doesn't know why they don't love her. Of course, this is not just with the cats, she doesn't know why Nicky does love her jumping on his head either.

Our youngest cat Nu never learned how to be calm around the dogs and is only out and about when the dogs are asleep upstairs.

[YodelDogs]

Every Basenji I have had was raised up with cats. If a cat runs, the Basenjis will chase. If a cat just stands there, the Basenjis will either be bored with it and find something else to do or they will "wrestle" with it. If the dogs get too rough, I "rescue" the cat. I do have a baby gate blocking the hallway so the cats can get away from the dogs and have some peace. (The cats' area includes litterbox, food, and water so they do not have to come into the main area of the house where the dogs are unless they choose to.) While my senior Basenjis are perfectly trustworthy around the cats, the younger ones get "too fired up" sometimes and I would never leave them alone with cats.

My advice to anyone who wants to have both cats and Basenjis is to make sure you have areas that the cat can go to for peace. It is unfair to expect a cat to be roughed up all of the time and annoyed by a Basenji.

[WBL]

Thank you everyone for your advice and inputs, I greatly appreciate it.

Pigmy is not a runner and WILL stand her ground. Like I said she won't use her claws (unless it's is very much required), but she can/will/and has dealt pretty solid smacks.

My advice to anyone who wants to have both cats and Basenjis is to make sure you have areas that the cat can go to for peace. It is unfair to expect a cat to be roughed up all of the time and annoyed by a Basenji.

She has two cat trees that are both over 4ft high. She eats on a little table that is just for her. And even though the current one is only knee high, I do have another one that I can use instead that is a high bistro type table, I don't really use it for anything now, lol.

IMO it is not good to have a cat if you are looking at getting a Basenji, most will bother cats. It is rare that a B will leave a cat alone, they are small prey to them.

I can understand that a lot of B's see cats as nothing more than trail bait, but like I said before she's not a small cat. here's a pic of her and my boxer, she is laying across his front legs.

[nomrbddgs]

If my one barn cat pulls her claws out on Shadow he will simply turn around, put his butt towards her, and backup up into her so she can't claw his face-Smart Dog!

[myie]

Any suggestions to make my cat, Pepper, relax with the boys around. He's an all black fur ball and the pups think that his tail is a toy when I pick him up. He's about 11 years old and growls like a motor boat huddled in a corner when the pups are in, and he spits. I've never seen a cat hissing so much that he begins spitting before. The pups jump away from him at every crescendo in his hiss, but the silly cat just won't relax. They both rushed him at about 4 months and 2 got barely clawed and now respect that big ferocious puffball cat of 6 pounds, but the puffball is freaked by them.

[tanza]

@myie:

Any suggestions to make my cat, Pepper, relax with the boys around. He's an all black fur ball and the pups think that his tail is a toy when I pick him up. He's about 11 years old and growls like a motor boat huddled in a corner when the pups are in, and he spits. I've never seen a cat hissing so much that he begins spitting before. The pups jump away from him at every crescendo in his hiss, but the silly cat just won't relax. They both rushed him at about 4 months and 2 got barely clawed and now respect that big ferocious puffball cat of 6 pounds, but the puffball is freaked by them.

Remember with two you have the "pack" attitude…. and it might take quite a while for your cat to learn that he can relax around them...

[WBL]

@tanza:

Remember with two you have the "pack" attitude…. and it might take quite a while for your cat to learn that he can relax around them...

I agree with that, and puppies are FULL of energy, so because you're cat is older he may not like all the excitment. I'd suggest training the cats to leave the cat alone.

Also does he have a cat tree? A place where he can get up out of thier way but still see them? And of course baby gates. since he is older you can raise them enough for the cat to get under but not the B's.

[myie]

We normally put the cat inside our room when the pups are in. A baby gate doesn't work downstairs cuz the pups jump up on the couch and through the stair rails. I've gotten so used to all their energy; I forgot that they will probably calm down a little when they get older or am I just being hopeful?

We had to take the cat to the vet a few times when Pepper was younger because the neighbors dog would tear him up. I know this is part of the reason he's so wary of them, think he'll ever get over the trama of all that. Silly cat only got hurt repeatedly 'cuz he would go and try and chase the neighbors chickens, where the dog was.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advice. I know so much more about my puppies than I did before.

[JazzysMom]

@myie:

. I've gotten so used to all their energy; I forgot that they will probably calm down a little when they get older or am I just being hopeful?
.

Yes, you are just being hopeful. LOL

Actually, Jazz has always been abnormally mellow for a Basenji, but at
2 yrs old, she STILL will wake from a dead sleep and CHARGE toward the gate at the bottom of the stairs and pace, pace, pace if she even thinks she may have heard one of the cats. The few times she's gotten to them have been nightmares for everyone involved.

{I've posted before that our two cats {3 yrs and 14 yrs} live upstairs, and the three dogs live downstairs. Fortunately, it's a decent sized house – about 2800 sq feet -- and each "group" gets half.}

[myie]

That sounds much like our place just not nearly as spacious. Well, they appear to have been calmer but they're probably just messing with my mind.