Help with cats and dogs!!!

[jaynie38]

Hi just a bit of advice needed. My 2 cats have taken to hiding behind our privet, then when someone walks past with a dog, they jump out, and the dog goes mad, theres fur flying everywhere, the owner is usually panicking, and I feel so stupid. I cant think what I can do to stop them doing this, and the worse thing is, we were hoping to get a dog next year, and wondered if they would be like this with a dog of our own????? They are not vicious cats in the house, its just this dog attacking thing!!!! Help :help: :help:

[Strix]

could you perhaps try spraying the hedge with something that cats don't like, such as that orange stuff to stop them clawing furniture?

[jaynie38]

thanks i will try that

[Moonbird]

Omg this has actualy happened to me and i have 3 dogs brave moggy! he didn't care though and the dogs were actualy scared the evil cat in question had to be removed by some children .

I think this may be one for Medusa to answer it's obviously some kind of territorial behavior.... i would feel sorry for the dog if you get one 2 angry cats is a lot to handle

[medusa]

One of my cats has recently decided that it's his job to defend our home against evil invading spaniels that walk down the street (and he decided this at 13 years of age), and really I think that your options are limited as they're doing this while your back's turned.

 

In your place I'd do everything I could to make the hedge an unfriendly place for cats (repellents etc), and put up a sign politely asking dog owners to walk on the other side of the road until you get past this problem.

 

Then, I'd go on the offensive with the cats- arm yourself with a 'supersoaker' and sit somewhere that you can get a good shot at them through an open window when they do this. The purpose of this is not to harm your cats but to shock them during bad behaviour (even though it will get them a little wet, the loud hissing will be the thing that makes them pay attention).

 

If you really can't bear that idea, then something that makes a really loud shock noise could work too (like a tin with a tight lid and a few pieces of gravel in it, shaken really hard)- but might scare the dogs as well, so please bear that in mind.

 

You will need to combine this with treats and love for good behaviour (not just in the hedge but in all aspects of their day, so they know that it's only one moment that you aren't happy with them).

 

You could also try using a Feliway plug in so that they feel more comfortable in their home environment (it's an analogue for cat pheremones so it makes them feel like they're in a fully marked territory, and therefore they calm down and stop scent marking and the like- available from vets) or try washing the outer portion of the hedge/wall with biological washing powder solution to remove the dogs' scent marks, which could be another thing that's triggering the problem.

 

Unfortunately, this might be your cats' hobby, and you might have problems training them out of it if they enjoy doing it (thankfully my neighbours now know about my lad and walk their dog on the other side of the street, so my problem is more or less sorted), but have a go- I wish you good luck.