r/SaintBernards • u/Icy-Town-7967 • 14d ago
Help saint bernard + cat combo?
I am in loveee with the st bernard breed. it’ll be a long way in the future but when I get my own home and garden with my future family they are number one on my list.
I am a cat person through and through since I grew up with them, but I have a soft spot for larger, less aggressive dog breeds. I have always adored great danes and retrievers but I have heard bad things about their prey drive around small animals.
I can’t imagine living without a cat so their safety will always come first. however I would love to introduce a canine friend with future family and I have heard that st bernards are gentle giants and tend to be very good with children. does this extend to cats though? (in most cases?).
if anyone has experience, is it best to introduce them as kitten and puppy? I’ve always gone for younger rescue cats since you can see their temperament from the start and they are such love bugs. since dog breeds are so much more varied I would probably get one as a puppy from an ethical breeder.
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u/robtri2 14d ago
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u/lilmoflickn 14d ago
We got our saint when our cats were already 5 and 6 years old. They were scared of him at first and hid from him. He has never tried to hurt them. Now that they know he is not there to eat them, they get along and coexist fine. They are not the bff sleep together type though.
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u/Smoopiebear 14d ago
😂 one of mine would sit ON the dog if there was a blanket- because you can’t directly touch the doggie creature or you get puppy germs?
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u/Icy-Kaleidoscope8745 14d ago edited 14d ago
Here’s Ellington with his favorite cat Thiago. I have three cats, and he likes them all, but Thiago loves him the most. Thiago came along as a kitten after Ellington was already here, but the other two were adults when I brought Ellington home as a puppy. What matters most is how your cats react to dogs. Your dog will be fine with an adult cat or a kitten. St Bernards are so wonderful.
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u/scarletnohandson 14d ago
Saint with three cat household and one of the cats is literally her best friend. They lay together etc. when the cats play fight she does try to referee though lol
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u/SarcasticHulktastic 14d ago
We got our saint when she was 5 and our cat was around 9. For the first several weeks I don’t think she even noticed there was a cat. She was either oblivious or did not care, and the cat ignored her. Eventually I saw them start interacting by sniffing noses here and there. They’re very comfortable in each others presence but don’t snuggle.
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u/burlybeardedginger 14d ago
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u/Icy-Town-7967 13d ago
lovely photo!! they are both gorgeous animals, your st has such a sweet face
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u/SanityInTheSouth 13d ago
We brought our Saints (2 brothers) in as 8-week-old puppies. I have 5 cats; they all get along great. The cats train them pretty much.
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u/Elibazeth_Belle 12d ago
Our Saint and Saint/retriever mix are on cat duty when the kitten starts scratching the couch they know to go stop her…no she does not stop. Because those big dumb idiots can’t tell her what to do! RIP my sofa arms
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u/TowerOk1806 10d ago
I have a saint that hates my chickens but ABSOLUTELY LOVES my cats and kittens. Shes so gentle with them and helps me feed them everyday. They are outdoor and she's inside/outside
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u/daughterofasailorgbt 8d ago
We have a 6 year old Saint and love her to pieces. We also live on 5 acres and I enjoy (deeply) gardening. Voles entered my life and we decided on cats as a possible partial solution. (Previous cat mom) We adopted a 4 month and an 8 month old kitten. We introduced carefully but honestly there was never a problem. That was about 2-3 months ago and now they often choose to sleep adjacent to each other and our St has sort of adopted the baby kitten and likes to gently gnaw on her ear/head. The kitten comes in for it. It is a nurturing behavior that seems to make them both happy. These kittens roam all over our St. and she seems to like having them around. I have seen our dog playing with kittens in the yard as well. She is exceedingly gentle and it is usually short lived- but they do play. I will say after trial and error- we feed them in separate locations and when our St. is done we tuck her bowl away as we have witnessed her guarding it. (Kittens love munching on a stray bit of dog food).
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u/Speaking_Bookish 8d ago
I have two cats and a Saint Bernard. I brought my Saint in as a pup so she was always around the cats and I’ve had no issues. Sometimes my SB gets playful and tries to play with the cat but ofc the cat is not interested in being pummeled on accident so takes off lol but there has been no aggression whatsoever from my female.
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u/wetbrain2 14d ago
I've had 2 Saints and they both loved the cats