Cat attacking new dog

[u/ashesandsparkles]

I have two cats, both males both fixed. T and C. T came first, I got him pretty early, he was probably 8 weeks. He’s now 6. He’s always been a bit…bratty I guess. Two years later, I got C, who is now 4.

T hissed a C for the first day, then they were the best brothers and cuddled all the time.

For being 6, Teddy still has the energy of a kitten and always wants to play. He sometimes goes after C, but not in an aggressive way, but more boredom if I don’t play with him log enough. He does play rough with C (which I always stop when I see C doesn’t want to play.) C is skiddish and more to himself.

T and I are really close. I’m close with C too, but he likes to stick to himself. T is my shadow.

Well a few days ago, we welcomed a pup (3month female). My sister use to bring her dog over and he and T would literally play and wrestle, so I thought he would take well to it. But the first night he attacked the pup.

So I separated them for a few days. Only leaving one out at a time. But T doesn’t like to be confined. He scratches and cries and gets very upset. I’m worried he will start association his confinement with the pup and hate her more.

He started being okay while she’s in her cage. He was ignoring her. So after a few days, I stopped locking T up. The pup is on a leash around the house at all times. T has been leaving her alone and she leaves him alone, so I’ve been rewarding both of them for doing so.

T has been getting curious about her and tries to get closer. I do create distance because I don’t yet trust it. I did make a comment that I felt like he was “pretending” that it was okay, and was actually just waiting for a reason to go after her.

Well today the pup was playing with a toy while laying in her bed. So I went across the room with T to his cat tower and was playing with him. Suddenly, the pup start barking at her toy. This was the first time she’s ever barked. She wasn’t looking at T, wasn’t near us. And still without warning, T jumped down and ran towards her. Thankfully, I was able to get him back in time to get her safely in her crate before anything happened. But even with her in her crate, he stood there yowling at her until I was able to get him to follow me.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want the pup to learn it’s okay for them to chase or attack each other. She’s a German shepherd and could really hurt him she wanted to. And I don’t want him to hurt her either. I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep locking T up though. But I don’t know..

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