My Husky Killed My Cat

[momtotwo]

We just got a one year old husky two weeks ago, and she grabbed my older cat yesterday. I think she just grabbed her as she would a toy, but After surgery today, my cat died. I've never had a dog who acted aggressively toward my cats. We love the husky already, but with another cat at home, I don't know what to do. It's almost impossible to keep them separated because my cat is very social and misses hanging out with us in the living area. Has this ever happened to anyone else, and what did you do? Thanks.

 

[hereyago]

I am so sorry!!!!!!!!!!!! I would be a hot mess of emotion. I have a cat and a german shepard. And luckily they love each other.

Hopefully someone can give you advice. Did you get husky from a shelter? If so did they say husky got along with cats? which doesn't mean it would get along with every cat.

 

[DMRick]

I'm sorry about your cat. Im sure your heart is broken and now you have to make what might be a tough decision. Our insurance company won't cover us if we have one of what they consider agressive dogs.

Here is the list our insurance company gave us (I assume these have cost them the most in payouts. We can get a rider but it's pretty expensive). Our local campground will also not allow any of these dogs in their campground:
Pit bulls
Rottweilers
German Shepherds
Huskies
Alaskan Malamutes
Doberman Pinschers
Chow Chows
Great Danes
St. Bernards
Akitas

 

[Oreo Cookie]

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. That is horrible, and my heart goes out to you and your family.

I have a cat and a yellow lab and they are best friends.

Siberian Huskies are different. They shouldn't be around small animals (cats, rabbits, etc) because they have an instinct to harm or kill. My SIL has three Siberians and they go after anything small, it's just part of the breed. It's wrong of the breeder or adoption group not to tell you of the Husky tendance to harm small animals. I would call them asap and see if you could bring the dog back, and get a breed that is better suited for a family with cats.

 

[MushyMushy]

I think to be fair to your cat, one of them has to be re-homed. As much as I love dogs, it would be the dog to go. I'd make sure to get help in the issue to make sure the dog doesn't go to a home with cats, small dogs or children.

 

[Manhattan Princess]

We just got a one year old husky two weeks ago, and she grabbed my older cat yesterday. I think she just grabbed her as she would a toy, but After surgery today, my cat died. I've never had a dog who acted aggressively toward my cats. We love the husky already, but with another cat at home, I don't know what to do. It's almost impossible to keep them separated because my cat is very social and misses hanging out with us in the living area. Has this ever happened to anyone else, and what did you do? Thanks.

I seriously don't mean to be mean about this, and I really feel for you, but didn't you consider this before getting a new dog? You basically put your cat in harm's way, and that is heartbreaking to me. This could have been avoided, and that is unforgivable in my book.

 

[horseshowmom]

I seriously don't mean to be mean about this, and I really feel for you, but didn't you consider this before getting a new dog? You basically put your cat in harm's way, and that is heartbreaking to me. This could have been avoided, and that is unforgivable in my book.

With all due respect, I understand your point, but as someone who has 4 dogs and about 10 cats (due to other people's abandonment of their animals), I have often brought new dogs or cats into the mix. I don't think the OP should be faulted for bringing a new animal into her home and failing to foresee the future.

OP, I'm sorry for your loss. You probably don't have a choice other than finding a new placement for your Husky (or your cat, but I'm assuming your cat has seniority). I'm so sorry this happened.

 

[hereyago]

I seriously don't mean to be mean about this, and I really feel for you, but didn't you consider this before getting a new dog? You basically put your cat in harm's way, and that is heartbreaking to me. This could have been avoided, and that is unforgivable in my book.

Ok, would you be saying the same thing if she had 2 other dogs and the husky killed one of them? Not all dogs get along, just like not every dog/cat mix will get along.

The husky may have been around other cats and the cat may have been around other dogs, but yet, doesn't mean they would automatically get along.

When I got my kitten, my GS was 1 year old-we actually got the kitten on the pups birthday. MY gs before coming to me was around cats. the kitten had been around other dogs, but it took about 2 weeks for them to get used to each other. I kept them seperated, they could see, smell each other through door and screen. Gs has never grabbed kitten as if he were a toy.

But once again, not every combo is right, whether it's 2 dogs, 2 cats, or a mix. And you write about how unforgivable? really?

 

[Polyluvr]

OP~ I'm sorry that happened to you;

 

[Manhattan Princess]

With all due respect, I understand your point, but as someone who has 4 dogs and about 10 cats (due to other people's abandonment of their animals), I have often brought new dogs or cats into the mix. I don't think the OP should be faulted for bringing a new animal into her home and failing to foresee the future.

OP, I'm sorry for your loss. You probably don't have a choice other than finding a new placement for your Husky (or your cat, but I'm assuming your cat has seniority). I'm so sorry this happened.

With a little research, the OP could have learned MANY methods for acclimating new animals. And would also know that there are certain dogs that don't deal as well with cats. So, yes, I completely fault her for failing to "foresee the future". The information is out there, and a responsible owner does their due diligence -- that would take all of five minutes of research. While, as I said, I feel badly for her, the responsibility lays solely with her.

 

[bdcp]

I've owned a Husky. Very gentle for the most part, but they like to play hard. They have lots of energy to burn off. It probably wasn't aggression.

Our oldest DS was born when our Husky was 2 and he never, ever showed any aggression towards him. I have friends who also owned Huskys and they were all very gentle, but playful. The worst my Husky ever did was play a mouse to death and bring it to me. He used to play with my parents dog who was half his size and with my gf's smaller Husky, no issues. And, he wasn't raised around my parents dog, but visited occasionally.

What I can say about Husky's is they are not the brightest animals in the world, but they are beautiful.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

With all due respect, I understand your point, but as someone who has 4 dogs and about 10 cats (due to other people's abandonment of their animals), I have often brought new dogs or cats into the mix. I don't think the OP should be faulted for bringing a new animal into her home and failing to foresee the future.

OP, I'm sorry for your loss. You probably don't have a choice other than finding a new placement for your Husky (or your cat, but I'm assuming your cat has seniority). I'm so sorry this happened.

This so much.

I will add that if you have a house that you can in some way divide in half, that may work. You can buy a baby gate that goes up to about 5 feet that will successfully separate the halves of your house.

We have a traditional ranch with an L shaped hallway. We have a baby gate up in the hallway set so that the dogs are close to us when we are in the computer room, but are on the opposite side of the baby gate from us and the cats. The dogs get the living room, den, dining room, kitchen and back yard. The cats get the bedrooms and the computer room.

The GSD likes to think of herself as boss of the other animals and both snuffles and washes the cats whenever they come into contact with each other. The cats do NOT care for this at all, for some strange reason. The Border Collie is not trustworthy around kittens (she sees them as DINNER) but is terrified of the adult cats and their claws. Soooo. The twain do not meet.

We've successfully kept the peace between cats and dogs for years. The dogs know they are not allowed over the baby gate. The cats know that unless they want to be snuffled and bathed not to go into the dog side of the house. (This does NOT keep one of our cats from doing this on occasion. . .we invariably find him, with fur askew, either biding his time on a table top on the dog side or back in the cat side, bathing furiously.)

It can be done, but it takes a LOT of work.

 

[momtotwo]

Thanks to most of you for your kind words. I wasn't planning on getting this dog. It was abandoned by my daughter's ex boyfriend. She was the one who bought it for him in the first place, and she wanted to give it a good home. I didn't know that she was aggressive to cats in any way. Would anyone really put their beloved pets in harm's way? I also own a rescue dog from Puerto Rico, and the cat that was killed I took after it had been to two other homes before mine.

 

[bellebud]

I'm so sorry about what happened

I remember when I was little, we had a husky who was a doll w/ our other dog and us kids, but he periodically ran away into the woods, and would come back a few days later and eat a small animal on our driveway (rabbits... even turtles). It's in the breed.

I have a goldendoodle, and the breeder mentioned to me she was having a hard time getting some of her gd's to not try to catch (and kill) birds. It's in some dogs instincts.

I would honestly get rid of the husky... maybe to a husky rescue place? they take good care of the animals and place them.

 

[bumbershoot]

Need to invest in some compassion and empathy lessons.

When you bring a sled dog into your home, you NEED to be realistic about what they are like.

I grew up with Alaskan Malamutes, somewhat similar in temperament towards small should-be-wild creatures, and if we'd let ourselves be blinded to the reality, it would have been silly.

Our cats were outdoors-only (they came to us semi-feral, and stuck around, even though my mom's asthma didn't allow for the cats to come inside) and the dogs were indoor/outdoor.

The CATS knew the danger, they could sense it. They stayed far far away from the dogs. Until the surviving dog got old. He was arthritic and slow, he was blind (got glaucoma and the vet took out his eyes of all disgusting things to think about), and he spent a lot of his time just hanging out in his fave spots, smelling the world.

"My" cat got stupid, and started playing with fire. She would walk closer and closer to him because she felt that she could (this dog once caught a bird in flight). And one day he had enough, and leapt after her. We were outside watching when it happened...she was lucky that she was able to leap to the fence and took it in two bounds. On the first bound, he actually got a tooth on her rear end.

She never EVER did this again.


Sled dogs cannot and should not be trusted around small animals like this. There will be rare times when they can be around each other, but they can't be trusted 100%.


If I could, I'd take the Husky for you, but we live in a condo and there's a weight limit on dogs.

 

[taximomfor4]

I'm so sorry about your cat. I have seen a husky kill at cat before, BTW, my SIL got rid of the husky. Turned it in to the shelter she got it from, and they put it back up for adoption to a no-cats family.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I'm so sorry. Lots of people have both dogs and cats with no issue, there was no way for you to know that would happen. Like others have suggested, I would try to rehome the husky by contacting a husky rescue organization. In the meantime I would try to keep the animals separated just to be careful.

 

[horseshowmom]

No flames here, but unlike some, not all of us live in a perfect world. Some of us are left taking up the slack for irresponsible individuals. The OP was doing the best she could. For the record, I once had a Husky (also adopted after being abandoned), and he never bothered one of our cats.

Thanks to most of you for your kind words. I wasn't planning on getting this dog. It was abandoned by my daughter's ex boyfriend. She was the one who bought it for him in the first place, and she wanted to give it a good home. I didn't know that she was aggressive to cats in any way. Would anyone really put their beloved pets in harm's way? I also own a rescue dog from Puerto Rico, and the cat that was killed I took after it had been to two other homes before mine.

OP, sometimes things don't go as planned. If you do decide to find another home for the dog, you might try a Husky rescue, but they have so many that it can be hard to find someone to take them. There is a possibility that you can find a home through your local humane society. Back in the summer, a young female was abandoned and wound up at my house (like they all seem to do ). We have so many and just could not afford to add another large dog. I contacted the animal shelter, and they told me that they would have no trouble placing her. I sponsored the adoption fee, and they had someone to adopt her within days (they may need you to foster the dog for a little while until they find a suitable placement - as you've discovered, Husky's can sometimes need special placements).

 

[bdcp]

I think some people are being really mean. I am by no means a fanatical animal lover and we don't have pets now, but to be so harsh about something that was obviously not intended is just uncalled for. I agree that empathy is needed here and don't you think she feels bad enough as it is? Geez people, get a grip.

 

[horseshowmom]

And, as I said, the Siberian husky we had never bothered even one of our cats. That said, I do realize the husky could be a problem, but what was the OP supposed to do? She was presented with an abandoned animal that needed to be cared for and felt a responsibility for the dog because her daughter bought the dog to start with. The dog was there for 2 weeks without a problem. The OP did the best she could and is very upset about the outcome. I see no reason to treat the OP so harshly (and I'm about the biggest animal lover you will find - which my poor, long suffering husband will attest to). JMHO