info request: cats + dachshunds?

So, I think I've resigned myself to the likelihood that Oscar will be upset by
other cats. Frankly, she's happy now and I don't want to push my luck.

But then, I've always been more of a dog person anyway ... and Oscar has
cohabited with two dogs before, neither of which caused her the kind of upset
that another cat did ...

But then, while I love large dogs, I really don't have the time/inclination to
take a dog on long hikes every day. I exercise a lot, but it tends to be
stuff where a dog can't join me.

We do have a yard, and not a tiny one as suburb yards go, but I'm
reluctant to fence it right now.

Most small dogs completely turn me off. But my parents had dachshunds when I
was a baby, and while they're small, it always seemed to me that they *act*
like big dogs. They're assertive; they bark, but they don't necessarily
"yap"; they don't require their own personal hair stylist.

I read all of the Dave Y. stories that Flippy has archived, so I see that at
least two D-dogs got along with cats, although honestly, I'd rather there be a
less adversarial situation in my house. Then again, Dave probably didnt'
write gut-busters about the animals co-existing peacefully and quietly, if
that ever happened.

I read that they can be difficult to housetrain ... maybe an adult would be
better, although there's currently an adorable baby at the shelter. Of
course, he'll be snapped up in no time, no worries there.

So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just about
dogs and cats? I am thinking I would make the basement offlimits, which is
where the litter is, to avoid the whole litter-eating thing. Not sure what I
would do about food; I'm sure wet cat food would be highly appealing to a dog,
and Oscar takes a long time to eat. I can't pick her food up before I go to
work. Any other thoughts?

I haven't discussed this with Eric yet, and obviously I won't do anything he
doesn't agree to, but it would be nice to get some info.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message

ies there.

So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just about
dogs and cats? I am thinking I would make the basement offlimits, which is
where the litter is, to avoid the whole litter-eating thing. Not sure what I
would do about food; I'm sure wet cat food would be highly appealing to a dog,
and Oscar takes a long time to eat. I can't pick her food up before I go to
work. Any other thoughts?////

I have both, and the dog is well and truly at the bottom of the pile.

My main concern was that my timid feral, Pandora wouldn't adapt to
living with the dog, but she learned to just wallop Bonnie (the dog) and
ignores her.

To get around the dog eat catfood senario, I feed the cats on my
upstairs landing and keep a child gate at the bottom of the stairs with
a rung taken out so the cats can get through but the dog can't. This was
invaluable in providing space for the cats to escape the dog when I was
giving intros, and it meant that Bonnie can't get upstairs to scraf
food.

HTH
Helen M


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

On 2005-02-04, Monique Y. Mudama penned:
I haven't discussed this with Eric yet, and obviously I won't do anything he
doesn't agree to, but it would be nice to get some info.

Well, Eric says no, absolutely not, so nevermind all of this =/

He says we don't spend enough time at home, we would absolutely need a fence,
and that if we're to get a dog, he wants it to be a big dog, anyway.

Unfortunately, quitting work so that I have time for a dog is not an option =/

At least we both agree that if/when we do get a dog, it will not be from a
breeder. And he's not completely opposed to getting an adult dog.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

On 2005-02-04, Helen Miles penned:

I have both, and the dog is well and truly at the bottom of the pile.

My main concern was that my timid feral, Pandora wouldn't adapt to living
with the dog, but she learned to just wallop Bonnie (the dog) and ignores
her.

To get around the dog eat catfood senario, I feed the cats on my upstairs
landing and keep a child gate at the bottom of the stairs with a rung taken
out so the cats can get through but the dog can't. This was invaluable in
providing space for the cats to escape the dog when I was giving intros, and
it meant that Bonnie can't get upstairs to scraf food.

Thanks for the info. I'd really rather not have a situation where one of the
animals beats on the other. When we lived with my brother, his german
shepherd mix puppy Bear would definitely want to play with Oscar. When she
got tired of him snuffling her, she'd bap him with her paw, but she never used
her claws. It's like she knew he was a baby and that he didn't mean any harm;
he was just being a rambunctious kid.

I'm definitely thinking the basement will be off-limits to dogs. But
actually, it's only a half-basement, with the other half being a
3.5-foot retaining wall. It occurs to me I could set Oscar's litter box up
there and not need to make the whole basement off-limits. The basement also
has beams that Oscar loves, because no one can get to her when she's on them.

Hrmmm.

Well, I guess I have plenty of time to think this over.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

I've had a dachshund and cats for 12
years. No problem. My dachshund loves
cats. She would sleep with them, protect
them from each other. What a wonderful
group of friends they became. Also my
Weiner would chase cats outside, always
wanting to play with them. Good choice
for a cat. They are not intimidated by
such a small dog.


"Monique Y. Mudama"
wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-04, Monique Y. Mudama
penned:
I haven't discussed this with Eric
yet, and obviously I won't do anything
he
doesn't agree to, but it would be
nice to get some info.

Well, Eric says no, absolutely not, so
nevermind all of this =/

He says we don't spend enough time at
home, we would absolutely need a fence,
and that if we're to get a dog, he
wants it to be a big dog, anyway.

Unfortunately, quitting work so that I
have time for a dog is not an option =/

At least we both agree that if/when we
do get a dog, it will not be from a
breeder. And he's not completely
opposed to getting an adult dog.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the
(female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home
now! *cheer!*

On 2005-02-04, cagney penned:
I've had a dachshund and cats for 12 years. No problem. My dachshund loves
cats. She would sleep with them, protect them from each other. What a
wonderful group of friends they became. Also my Weiner would chase cats
outside, always wanting to play with them. Good choice for a cat. They are
not intimidated by such a small dog.

Thanks for the info!

Honestly, Oscar has never been intimidated by a dog (even my brother's puppy,
who probably weighed 60lb when we were there). It's other cats she fears!

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
.... So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just
about
dogs and cats? ... --
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had a longhaired dachshund we brought home from the shelter to keep our
other dog, Bonnie, company. Isabel was one of the sweetest dogs we ever
had. A few years after that my husband rescued a cat that was about five
months old. Mac, the cat, hid behind the bed for a night and then
discovered that he was tougher than the dogs.
There never was any problems at all.
As the years passed, we got a kitten, Josh, and then had two cats and two
dogs. Bonnie, who was in her teens at the time, died. Later, Isabel
developed a back problem and did not recover and died at the vets as I was
on my way to visit her.
That left us with two cats and no dogs. So we got Heidi, a
dachshund/terrier mix, who was about the size of a kitten. She would tease
the cats, and they would chase her. Or they would tease her, and she would
chase them. If she got too wild, Josh (who was 22 pounds) would hold her
down with his paw on her belly and her head in his mouth. When she stopped
squirming, he let her go.
One of my favorite memories is when some friends came over for a barbecue
and brought their cocker spaniel who had never been to our house before. As
we were eating all the cats and dogs were sprawled out under the table as if
they'd been friends for life.
Annie

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:


So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just about
dogs and cats?

I've never had a dog, but your mention of dachshunds reminds
me of a woman I worked with, years ago - or rather, the
situation between her dachshund (male) and Siamese cat
(unaltered female). The cat was a thoroughbred, so the
woman had considered breeding it. However, it came in heat
sooner than expected, and a female Siamese in heat can be
heard all over the neighborhood. The dachsy knew what her
problem was, too - and did his best to help her out! (The
cat did pay a visit to a breeder's kennel and became
pregnant, but until the kittens were born, my co-worker came
in for a lot of teasing about whether her cat was expecting
kittens or puppies!)

My labs would always wait till you said eat it then dont just look at it
the cat would often check the dogs food out first while the dog, Ralph or
Sam, both RB would just stand and wait, maybe they were just making
sure if anyone got poisened it would be the cat not them. Jean.P.


Monique Y. Mudama wrote in message
...
So, I think I've resigned myself to the likelihood that Oscar will be
upset by
other cats. Frankly, she's happy now and I don't want to push my luck.

But then, I've always been more of a dog person anyway ... and Oscar has
cohabited with two dogs before, neither of which caused her the kind of
upset
that another cat did ...

But then, while I love large dogs, I really don't have the
time/inclination to
take a dog on long hikes every day. I exercise a lot, but it tends to be
stuff where a dog can't join me.

We do have a yard, and not a tiny one as suburb yards go, but I'm
reluctant to fence it right now.

Most small dogs completely turn me off. But my parents had dachshunds
when I
was a baby, and while they're small, it always seemed to me that they
*act*
like big dogs. They're assertive; they bark, but they don't necessarily
"yap"; they don't require their own personal hair stylist.

I read all of the Dave Y. stories that Flippy has archived, so I see that
at
least two D-dogs got along with cats, although honestly, I'd rather there
be a
less adversarial situation in my house. Then again, Dave probably didnt'
write gut-busters about the animals co-existing peacefully and quietly, if
that ever happened.

I read that they can be difficult to housetrain ... maybe an adult would
be
better, although there's currently an adorable baby at the shelter. Of
course, he'll be snapped up in no time, no worries there.

So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just
about
dogs and cats? I am thinking I would make the basement offlimits, which
is
where the litter is, to avoid the whole litter-eating thing. Not sure
what I
would do about food; I'm sure wet cat food would be highly appealing to a
dog,
and Oscar takes a long time to eat. I can't pick her food up before I go
to
work. Any other thoughts?

I haven't discussed this with Eric yet, and obviously I won't do anything
he
doesn't agree to, but it would be nice to get some info.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*

"Annie Wxill" wrote in message
...

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
... So. Anyone have any experiences with dachshunds + cats, or even just
about
dogs and cats? ... --
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My experience was brief and largely secondhand. Some of us (rpca people)
met a few years ago at David Yehudah's house. At that time he had three
dachshunds and three cats. They all seemed to get along fine.

Joy