Basenjis and cats

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy knows LEAVE IT, and listens very well for anything EXCEPT the cats.
You can leave a plate of meat on the coffee table, tell her "leave it" and she will leave it. The cats, however, are a different story. A year and a half of hard work, and she just has too strong a prey drive, I guess. She won't leave them alone. It's worse with the cat that runs, to be sure, but NOTHING we've tried has worked. It's like she goes into a "zone" and nothing registers when she's chasing.
We have a baby gate up in one area of our house, blocks a hallway and the kids bedrooms, so the cats have their own free zone.

[youngandtired]

Jessi, thanks so much for your suggestions. I will try the water bottle, I have gone after Sahara with the water hose when she is after my cats in the yard. It is frustrating to me, but funny at the same time, Sahara will fly to the dog door and go in the house, turn around and put her head out of the door to see when the coast is clear. I love this dog, but she does take patience. I will let you know what happens. Thanks again!:)

[YodelDogs]

I use baby gates. The hallway has a tall baby gate and the guest bathroom is set up as a cat only zone. They have their litter box, food, scratching post, and a perch there and the dogs can't get to them. I also often use a gate between the living room and kitchen so the cats can go into the kitchen and perch on the washer and dryer in that corner to get away from the dogs if they desire. The cats always have the option to stay in the main area of the house where the dogs usually are or in either extremity to avoid the dogs. The gates may not be "pretty" but they are very functional.

[JazzysMom]

Yes, that's what we do, too.

The gate blocks a hallway, large bathroom {where the food and litter boxes are}, and two large kids' bedrooms. The cats actually have quite a bit of space that is totally dog-free. And between the five kids a lot of time is spent in their rooms , so there is no lack of company
They do come out from time to time and take their chances. And at night once they know Jazz is kenneled, then the whole place is theirs for about 8 hours.

[youngandtired]

Well, it happened, Sahara went after my cat with attitude, (Pepper)and she got it right in the eye. I took her to the vet the next day, she was keeping it closed, and I had to get an antibotic eye drops and something to dilate her eye. The vet told me that a cat can cause a dog to lose their eye by a scratch that goes into the cornea. She said you should keep the tips of the cat's claws short, so they can not pierce the eye. It would be easier if Sahara would learn her lesson and stop messing with the cats. Basenjis are very strong willed and stubborn, just like my 23 yr. old son and his Dad, guess that is why Sahara fits into our family so well. In the mean time, I am going :eek: haha! I took her back to the vet today and she said that the eye has healed but she has a scar, so now I have to put drops in her eye 3 times a day for 2wks. to take care of that. It's like I have another child, but all the vets and helpers love my dog, and there are only 2 Basenjis in my town, so she is always noticed, and people want to know about her, it's neat:)

[Vanessa]

I read on some website…(wish I could remember the name) that B's should never be trusted with cats. Even if they were socialized with them they could turn at any given moment because they like to hunt.
Has anyone ever heard about this? It has me concerned. I know that B's naurally like to chase but if give the opportunity...can they kill??

[sharronhurlbut]

Basenjis have very strong prey drive.
Cats can sometimes be considered part of the pack, or prey.
You never know until its often a major issue.
If your thinking of intoducing a basenji into your home with cats, be sure the kittys are safe.
Don't assume the cat friendly basenji will be ok with YOUR cat.
Given the chance, a basenji can very well kill a pet cat.
So, please, do be very smart and careful.
Some folks are very successful with this bonding.
But it takes a lot of time and safe areas for the cat.
Good luck.

[jessi76]

any dog has a natural prey drive, some stronger than others. My dog respects our cats, because he's been raised with them since 8 wks old, and trained to treat them w/ respect. My cats are also "dog savvy" - they won't run to provoke the chase, instead they will stay still, hide, or fight. I trust my dog with my cats completely, however, if a strange cat wanders into his path… it's game on.

[Vanessa]

How do you keep a pup from wanting to chase cats. When I had my pup, he would always want to chase the cat. The cat loved the attention and they would roll around on the floor chewing on eachother until one would either get scratched or bitten. No matter how I tried to seperate the two it just kept happening. Its as though they started off playing but it got a little aggressive in the end. How do you get a puppy to stop this. Here in a few months I will be going through this again with another basenji but would like to nip this in the bud before I have an expensive vet bill.

[lvoss]

In 8 years of living with basenjis and cats, I have never been able to stop my basenjis from chasing the cats if they run. That said, my dogs are not intent on catching my cats as much as they just enjoy the chase. Spot walks around my house and is left alone by the dogs for the most part except every time Rio comes in from a walk she feels the need to greet him as if she hasn't seen him in years nearly knocking him over with her enthusiastic sniffing. It is only if they run that the dogs take it as an invitation to play. I do provide my cats with safe areas that they can go where they do not have to worry about the dogs and frolic in proper cat style.

[ChaseandZahrasmom]

We don't have a cat (my husband is allergic and the cat we had went to live with my sister) but I had to add a funny comment about the baby gates and them not being pretty.

Our neighbors come by and dog sit for us on occassion and they left us a note one of the first times that commented on how our house resembled doggie Alcatraz with the gates and excerise pens all over the place! Zahra can get over any baby gate in our house and we had to double up at the bottom of the stairs with the doggie pen. Finally we just gave up because she got over that too and we bought another baby gate for the top of the stairs.

I don't know how you guys keep your B's out of the other rooms of your house with cats, I applaude you because Zahra is convinced that the baby gates are just stairs!

[Sunny]

A baby gate does me no good one good push its down in the floor… we installed the smallest pet doors in the bedroom doors and the front door of house so the cats have escapes from Sanie.. she can get her head thru them but her shoulders wont go thru... some times her and the cats sleep together but then she gets in her "B" mode and the cats know to scatter...I sometimes feel so bad for my cats... the lab we had befor Sandie (god rest his loving soul) never chased or tormented them...

[jessi76]

I have 1 gate that screws into the wall (will not fall down), and one that is a solid plank of plywood (also screwed into the wall w/ a hinge). I trained my dog to respect the boundary. sure, he can climb it or jump it in a second, but he doesn't because he's been trained not to. gates in conjunction with training can work well. flimsy gates with no training, I would imagine, are useless.

Sunny, now is a good time to teach Sandie, LEAVE IT.

[Quercus]

You can get gates that won't fall down. Get the ones for kids…they are pretty sturdy...and you can stack two together (one on top of another) to make it a little more basenji proof. It is difficult to find one that the cats can navigate, that the dogs can't though.

[Terry]

We have wrought iron gates to close off the top of the stairs and the family room (tiled) from the carpeted area of the living room. Because the bars are far enough apart for puppies or smaller determined Basenjis to get through, we attached clear plastic plexi-glass to one side. The wrought iron matches the wrought iron on our stair railing, so it's not too unstylish and we can see what they're doing if we're not in the same room for any length of time. We went with the wrought iron because it's one of the few things we don't think they can chew up!

Terry

[Sunny]

OHhhhhhhhh … wrought iron great idea and can be decortive also... I like the little pet doors for escape routes for the cats ...i think the gates are a hassle... i bout broke my toe one time going over one when my kids were babies...
I have been working with Sandie on "LEAVE IT"... just she is so adamant sometimes... On our walk i use it alot... she usually listens to me then but in the house it's war sometimes...I AM THE BOSS (i think)

[bellabasenji]

I am so glad to see I am not the only one dealing with this issue. We got Bella when she was four months old and the chase has been on ever since. She turned one year old on December 27th and I am still dealing with this. Eight months of cat chasing and I think I am going looney here. :eek: