Basenjis and cats – Prey or Friends?

[AZShade]

When I was a kid, we had a Collie, Major, and when he was old, my mom got a Siamese kitten. Poor Major was so nice to that kitten. Major would lie down and the kitten would curl up inside Major's legs, which was cute, but then he would start grooming Major's paws, and Major would give us a "long-suffering look", get up and move away to lie down somewhere else. Then it would happen all over again. The kitten would continue until we picked him up and diverted his attention.

My Elkhounds didn't play with the cats, but they loved to watch the cats play inside grocery sacks, etc. My Schipperke, Shadow, would break up cat arguments, at least those with his favorite cat, Cupcakes (also black like my Schip). Shadow would give a body block to the other cat that was arguing with Cupcakes – never did it to Cupcakes.

Squirt followed me home when I was walking Shadow. One of my cats was lying in the front yard, and Squirt walked by her without even giving her a glance -- passed the cat test. Tater was cat-tested by my male cat, Blackjack, when he came as a foster dog. Blackjack walked towards Tater until Tater stepped backwards two steps. Then Blackjack stepped forward again, and Tater backed up again. Blackjack then turned around and walked off, as if to say "You passed the test, you can stay."

I've scheduled an appointment with the behaviorist/trainer, and am adding a new technique to the desensitization sessions - giving yummies when Honey "looks at" a cat. Cats = receiving yummies. Honey liked today's session.

I appreciate hearing all the stories and tips, especially the "happy ending" stories! Thanks!

[elena86]

Two nights ago, Senji woke me up at about midnight and acted like he needed to go out. So I opened the sliding door leading to the fenced-in patio area. He didn't like how hard and crunchy the snow was and couldn't get "comfortable" to do his business. My street is usually quiet, so I decided to let him out the front door, since the sidewalk was shoveled clean of snow. BIG mistake!!! Someone's cat was out roaming the streets, and Senji made a mad dash up the street to chase it. The cat ran back the other direction and eventually ended up crawling down into the storm sewer. I can't believe how fast Senji was running! I called him back to the house, and he actually came!!! He was huffing and puffing, but I can tell he was mighty proud of himself for scaring the cat away. :rolleyes:

[MomOfMya]

These two get along quite well. Mya has the dominant position over the cat, Oliver, and will prance around every once in awhile with a mouthful of cat hair but they remain still buddies. Gates really seem to work in my house when Mya gets to be too much. We also have a cat tree which seems to help as well.

[Quercus]

CUTE pic!!!!!

[MomOfMya]

Thanks! Doesn't she look harmless??? LOL!

[sharronhurlbut]

This is a great photo.
Thanks for sharing.

[WBL]

Awe how cute!! They look like good friends.

[JazzysMom]

Adorable photo!

NOT NOT NOT Not to send bad vibes or anything, and NOT to paint a pessimistic picture because I know that many of you have cats and B's that live in peace, but Jazzy started out this way with our cats, esp the younger one {it's only about 6 mos older than Jazz}. Then one day, for no apparent reason, Jazzy took out after her at full speed and never went back to the peaceful existence. That cat is prey…pure and simple. I'll never know what triggered the change, but it surprised us -- and sure as heck scared the cat spitless!

I'm just saying, keep a watchful eye as the puppy ages; that's all.

[kng]

My last dog was a basenji mix and he loved cats. He made cats friends where ever he went. I had as many as 5 cats with him and never a problem. Though, he would chase off other cats who picked on his cats. After he died, I brought my present dog into a home with 2 cats. She was adult dog when I bought her in. I had more issues with one of my cats being pretty mean to her the first week. After that the cats settle down. She always gotten along pretty well with them. She made a few attempts to chase them when I first got her, but just gave her some correction and she stopped. The cats did have to adjust to her since she was not as low key and layed back as my other dog was. They got used to each and got along really well. I never had to separate them after the first week. I think basenjis and cats can live in peace but it is a good idea to set some rules. Just be patient. Anytime a new animal or person for that manner comes into a family, there are always some adjustment for everyone.

[MomOfMya]

@JazzysMom:

Adorable photo!

NOT NOT NOT Not to send bad vibes or anything, and NOT to paint a pessimistic picture because I know that many of you have cats and B's that live in peace, but Jazzy started out this way with our cats, esp the younger one {it's only about 6 mos older than Jazz}. Then one day, for no apparent reason, Jazzy took out after her at full speed and never went back to the peaceful existence. That cat is prey…pure and simple. I'll never know what triggered the change, but it surprised us -- and sure as heck scared the cat spitless!

I'm just saying, keep a watchful eye as the puppy ages; that's all.

Oh, that's kind of scary. Thanks for the heads-up!

[JazzysMom]

@kng:

I think basenjis and cats can live in peace but it is a good idea to set some rules. Just be patient. Anytime a new animal or person for that manner comes into a family, there are always some adjustment for everyone.

I think it largely depends on the individual dog and cat. I will say that I do believe MOST dogs and cats can live in peace with one another, some more at ease than others, but there are those for whom it may well never be an option.

Patience, yes. But also realistic when the corrections don't work and the rules aren't followed.

[AZShade]

For future reference, I want to update readers on Honey's progress with the cats. The behaviorist has not yet worked with Honey, but she did give me tips on using rewards while Honey was in the presence of the cats to help counter-condition her behavior. Honey's weakness is chicken and she will do anything that I have asked her to do so far for bites of shaved chicken.

I worked with Honey in the back patio with the cats loose and Honey on a leash. She quickly calmed down while in the presence of the cats, and after numerous sessions became easy to manage even without the chicken to distract her. She still showed a lot of interest in the cats, but allowed them close enough to her that they started relaxing in her presence also. (Three of them had lived with my other cat-friendly dogs who passed away last year, and two young males had never been around a dog until Honey moved in this year.) One male, Silver, started coming up towards Honey in a very assertive manner, and Honey reacted by avoiding his stare and stepping back from his approach. She shows more interest in the other cats who show less assertive behavior towards her.

Last week, for the first time, I opened the pet gate and let Silver step into the part of the house where Honey was UN-leashed. Silver walked slowly, but assertively around Honey and sniffed her. He walked around the living room and then rolled over on his back and stared at Honey – Honey followed him around as he walked but did avoid looking at him when he came close to her -- until Silver started drinking out of Honey's water dish. Honey looked at him with concern then, and I stepped in to claim the dish and keep Honey from advancing. When Silver was done, he walked around some more and Honey went back to just following at a distance. I put Silver back on the other side of the gate after a few minutes, and things were fine.

Since then, I let Pepper, a female who lived with my other dogs, thru the gate and she and Honey did well for a few minutes also. This morning, I let Silver thru the gate and got my camera to document Honey's progress. Silver is looking aggressive in this photo, but he never growled or swatted at Honey, he just gave her "the look", and Honey behaved by giving him space.

There is still much work to do before I could let them all together, and I know that Honey will chase a running cat, but I am more confident that her intentions are only to "play", and that her behavior can be modified to interact with the cats in a manner that is safe for all.

[sarahlorrain]

I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Lady and our little kitty Fuzzy. I apologize for the quality of the photos, I had to take them with my cell phone. I outline the cat to show where he is laying.

[Shaye's Mom]

@JazzysMom:

I think it depends entirely on the personality of the dogs and cats involved.

I also believe it depends on the personalities of the cats and dogs. I have two older cats - a male tuxedo and a female calico. My B wants to play with them, and runs up to them constantly. The male cat tolerates her until she goes around behind him, then the growls and bats the crap out of Shaye's head, claws IN, not harming her, but telling her to get out of his way. Sometimes this exchange goes on for 3-4 minutes until finally Shaye backs off. The other cat, however, the calico, hated Shaye on sight, and when she tries to play with her, the ears go down, the fur comes up, the hissing and growling is constant, and she goes after Shaye claws OUT, intending to do her harm. Shaye has been caught once on the back of her ear, which bled, and a few other times we've heard her yelp, so the cat got her, but not enough to cause any damage - slowly, Shaye is learning to stay away from that cat. Down the road, I can see the male cat and the dog actually being friends - but the female cat will never. Of course she doesn't like anything anyway.

[AZShade]

Time for another (probably final) update: I've learned that my pound puppy is probably a lab/aussie mix instead of a Basenji mix. The pound informed me a year later that she had been in the system another time before I adopted her, but for some reason they gave her another id number and another guess at her heritage. Then they realized she was a dog that had been there before as a lab/aussie mix. I may get a dna test someday just because I'm curious, but it really doesn't matter.

Another update: My brother, who rescued cats and wasn't always quick enough in the spay/neuter department, died in August 2008 and left me with over 50 cats – just as the economy tanked and the rescue groups became even more swamped with foreclosure pets. After a few adoptions, a few deaths, and a large transfer to the one rescue group that would accept some, I brought a dozen cats to my home to live with Honey and my five cats. A dozen more cats who had never lived with a dog, and many of which were afraid of me. I laughed and I cried. (I also started a blog: http://eastsidevalleycats.blogspot.com/ )

My blog entry for May 19th of last year states: "…When I was home for the weekend, I would leave the pet gate open for hours and things went well, but I didn't want to leave all day for work with it open until I had a good deal of experience seeing their interactions. Well, Honey now acts much like my other dogs always did around the cats -- sneaks bites of yummy noms from their bowls and runs to check on them when she hears yowling/squalling/hissing, and so I unscrewed the fasteners, took the gate down and put it away in a bedroom. I now have one less thing to trip over, and the cats and dog officially live together... except for the closed, locked door that helps retain some of my sanity at night when they willingly traipse into the bedrooms to enjoy their bowls filled with canned food, and I run out and shut the door before they can escape, er.. follow me to the rest of the house."

So there is a happy ending to the story of Honey and 17 cats - but is she part Basenji, and does it relate to this forum???

[Patty]

You have done very well and I'm glad there is a happy ending. When I saw the picture of Honey I din't think she had Basenji in her. Some rescue kennels see a white blaze and need nothing more. It doesn't really matter does it? She is still your lovely Honey!

[AZShade]

@Patty:

When I saw the picture of Honey I din't think she had Basenji in her. Some rescue kennels see a white blaze and need nothing more. It doesn't really matter does it? She is still your lovely Honey!

That is absolutely true - she's my Honey!

[lindenb2]

Hi everyone,

This thread seems pretty relevant to a problem that's been worrying me lately. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To make a long story short, I'm graduating from school in two months and will most likely be moving in with my boyfriend for what will probably be a very long time since we plan to be married someday. He owns two basenjis, an 11-year-old female and a 4-year-old male. (I won't name names since they're not mine.) I have two adult cats. Neither of us know what to do about the cats when I move in. Ideally, I would like to slowly introduce the dogs and the cats to each other, but my boyfriend is very skeptical about the basenjis' response.

The 'senjis have lived in this house for four or five years, so it is definitely their territory. The female basenji is the better behaved of the two. This might be hard for some of you to believe, but she's sweet and calm and fairly obedient. The male is all basenji. He's a counter-surfer, a fence-jumper, a food-stealer–you name it. My boyfriend seems to think that both dogs have a strong prey drive. They'll dart after anything that moves. The female has killed several squirrels and rabbits in her lifetime. The male is very interested in other animals, but (at least according to the boyfriend) probably wouldn't know what to do if he caught one. The female came from a breeder and was probably not exposed to cats, and the male is a rescue and may or may not have been exposed to them.

As for my cats, Finnegan is outgoing, affectionate, and playful. Callaghan is shy and timid. Both are shelter cats. Finnegan has all of his claws, but poor Callaghan is a four-paw declaw. I'm willing to take the time to introduce the four slowly, but would be devastated if anything happened to my cats. I'd have a hard time forgiving the basenjis if either of the cats were killed. My boyfriend feels the same way. He's afraid that no matter how "cool" the basenjis seem with the cats when we're around, the situation could change for the worse if we left the cats and hounds alone. The male basenji can probably get over baby gates since he's climbed over the three-foot high fence in the backyard countless times, so I'm no sure how many escape routes there would be for the cats, especially since my boyfriend closes the bedroom door during the day and doesn't really use the basement for anything other than laundry.

The worst case scenario is that I relinquish the cats to my mom, who loves when I bring them over, but I've lived with cats for most of my life and would be very sad (and possibly resentful toward the 'senjis) if I had to give them away. I made a commitment to these cats when I adopted them from the shelter and I don't believe in giving away pets just because it's inconvenient. You could say that I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, in short.

For those of you who were able to successfully introduce basenjis to cats and vice versa, how were you sure that the cats wouldn't be hurt when you left the animals all alone together? What are some tips and tricks for getting the basenjis and cats used to each other? Does a cat's temperament make a difference in how basenjis get along with it? Will the basenjis' regard for me make a difference in how they treat my cats? (When I first met the male basenji, I was warned that he wasn't very keen on women, but he is obsessed with me! He's a tail-wagging, yodeling fool when I walk in the door, and respects my discipline as much as he respects my boyfriend's discipline. The female likes me, too, but she's generally a lover with everyone.) Have any of you been in a similar situation?

[lindenb2]

Addendum: The male basenji was crate-trained once upon a time but has had the run of the house for most of the three years he has lived there. The female basenji is not crate-trained. Both dogs are fairly food aggressive, and the male HATES to be moved out of position if he's on the couch or in bed. If any of this info makes any difference . . .

[corkysmom]

We brought our Basenji/Dachshund mix home to three cats. Two are older adult cats who have never really appreciated my desire to have a dog around. They tolerate Corky as long as she doesn't chase them. If Corky forgets, they very quickly remind her that chasing won't be tolerated. Our kitten has always loved anyone/everyone who will play with her, and seems to enjoy wrestling with the dog. I occasionally have to break them up if the dog gets too rough, but the cat will initiate the wrestling/chasing matches as often as the dog. I still work with Corky to help her to remain calm around the cats, but that's not always easy with the kitten jumping on her and gnawing on her ear.