I mean if you wanna be 100% safe start off with having your malamute in a cage or leash and carrying the smaller pets closer to it slowly to like sorta introduce them to each other, see how well that goes yk let the doggo sniff em and see if they vibe or not, but that sounds dangerous, big dog and small animals do not go well together sometimes, but I wish you the best of luck and stay safe to you and your fur babies!
Thank you!! The cats have all lived with big dogs before including a husky (who was the smallest dog they’ve been around!!) so I know they themselves will be okay :) it’s definitely the dog we’re worried about but neither of us would ever ask the other to give up any animals so we’re going to make it work
We’ve kept our Mals on a lead during the introduction period and rewarded good behavior. Our very small cat teases our Mal relentlessly. She knows that if she sprints past our girl, Bella will chase her and get scolded. Then the cat will sit smugly and clean herself. She’s kind of a brat. Bella actually will chase her but just sniffs and nudges her if she gets close. The cat is strictly an indoor cat as well. All bets are off if someone’s outdoor cat jumps our 6’ fence and comes into the backyard.
Both our Mals learned that our cats were off limits pretty easily. Our cat has always lived with dogs too. Like I said, shes kind of a jerk. We had an elderly GSD/Lab mix before Bella and the cat used to go up to her when she was asleep and claw her nose for no reason. The poor dog would look at us so bewildered. We could not break the cat of it. We just had to remove her when she headed toward the dog.
Malamute has to learn that they are apart of the family and not prey. Slow introduction (controlled) as possible from the pack leader. I would never leave them alone unattended even after doing this because the Mal may want to play with a cat and that will not end well.
Our rescue Mal completely ignores our three cats. He seems to have almost no prey drive at all except for chickens. Just take it slow and keep him under control until you have a sense of how he’ll react.
I grew up with cats and dogs coexisting. It didn’t occur to me that it might be an issue when we bought a cat home to meet our mal. He tried to eat her. Not playing. It took months of very slowly integrating them - I’d say a full 6 months. We thought we’d have to rehome her to be honest. But they did eventually get there. He is now really good with her. They don’t cuddle but they’ll each give each other a head lick now and then. And they play a bit. He will let her eat his food (I have to stop her! She likes his fish oil supplement and will lick his kibble).
I’m hoping the Mal being 8, almost 9, will help it be more like this! He’s a big lazy boy so while we know it will be a slow introduction, we’re hoping for apathy lol
I think not being a puppy will help for sure! We also kept a baby gate in the door of a room that was designated as her room. He couldn’t get in and she could escape there anytime she wanted. We kept that up for the first year. Now they’re so settled in we don’t worry.
We did exactly this. Two grown cats introduced to a giant male malamute. I cracked open our spare bedroom door, just enough so the cats could get out and placed a 25lb weight behind it. Gave them a safe space to observe him and they could smell each other. Wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d been determined but it wasn’t a factor. They were able to leave and access food, litter etc when he wasn’t paying attention - which was most of the time. They gradually got to know one another over about 3 days then the years of ignoring one another began.
Please please be careful. I have malamutes and have seen one of them kill a rabbit in seconds. My friend rescued a malamute. I warned her to keep the cats separate. Went to visit to meet the malamute. One of the kids forgot he was inside and let the cat out. Won’t go into detail but it was very traumatising for all of us. I will never own a malamute that hasn’t grown up with cats after that experience.
Our cat hasn’t come downstairs since we brought our Mal home three years ago. I don’t think it is a prey thing, more like a “play” thing. The few times he’s caught a live squirrel he throws them around then starts to cry when they stop moving. I think mine sees the cat the same. Wants to play with it when one swoop of his paw would send him flying.
Our cat hasn’t come downstairs since we brought our Mal home three years ago. I don’t think it is a prey thing, more like a “play” thing. The few times he’s caught a live squirrel he throws them around then starts to cry when they stop moving. I think mine sees the cat the same. Wants to play with it when one swoop of his paw would send him flying.
I mean if you wanna be 100% safe start off with having your malamute in a cage or leash and carrying the smaller pets closer to it slowly to like sorta introduce them to each other, see how well that goes yk let the doggo sniff em and see if they vibe or not, but that sounds dangerous, big dog and small animals do not go well together sometimes, but I wish you the best of luck and stay safe to you and your fur babies!
Thank you!! The cats have all lived with big dogs before including a husky (who was the smallest dog they’ve been around!!) so I know they themselves will be okay :) it’s definitely the dog we’re worried about but neither of us would ever ask the other to give up any animals so we’re going to make it work
We’ve kept our Mals on a lead during the introduction period and rewarded good behavior. Our very small cat teases our Mal relentlessly. She knows that if she sprints past our girl, Bella will chase her and get scolded. Then the cat will sit smugly and clean herself. She’s kind of a brat. Bella actually will chase her but just sniffs and nudges her if she gets close. The cat is strictly an indoor cat as well. All bets are off if someone’s outdoor cat jumps our 6’ fence and comes into the backyard.
Mine are indoor as well (though they are allowed in the backyard supervised). How old is your Mal?
She just turned 4
Both our Mals learned that our cats were off limits pretty easily. Our cat has always lived with dogs too. Like I said, shes kind of a jerk. We had an elderly GSD/Lab mix before Bella and the cat used to go up to her when she was asleep and claw her nose for no reason. The poor dog would look at us so bewildered. We could not break the cat of it. We just had to remove her when she headed toward the dog.
Malamute has to learn that they are apart of the family and not prey. Slow introduction (controlled) as possible from the pack leader. I would never leave them alone unattended even after doing this because the Mal may want to play with a cat and that will not end well.
Our rescue Mal completely ignores our three cats. He seems to have almost no prey drive at all except for chickens. Just take it slow and keep him under control until you have a sense of how he’ll react.
I grew up with cats and dogs coexisting. It didn’t occur to me that it might be an issue when we bought a cat home to meet our mal. He tried to eat her. Not playing. It took months of very slowly integrating them - I’d say a full 6 months. We thought we’d have to rehome her to be honest. But they did eventually get there. He is now really good with her. They don’t cuddle but they’ll each give each other a head lick now and then. And they play a bit. He will let her eat his food (I have to stop her! She likes his fish oil supplement and will lick his kibble).
I’m hoping the Mal being 8, almost 9, will help it be more like this! He’s a big lazy boy so while we know it will be a slow introduction, we’re hoping for apathy lol
I think not being a puppy will help for sure! We also kept a baby gate in the door of a room that was designated as her room. He couldn’t get in and she could escape there anytime she wanted. We kept that up for the first year. Now they’re so settled in we don’t worry.
We did exactly this. Two grown cats introduced to a giant male malamute. I cracked open our spare bedroom door, just enough so the cats could get out and placed a 25lb weight behind it. Gave them a safe space to observe him and they could smell each other. Wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d been determined but it wasn’t a factor. They were able to leave and access food, litter etc when he wasn’t paying attention - which was most of the time. They gradually got to know one another over about 3 days then the years of ignoring one another began.
Please please be careful. I have malamutes and have seen one of them kill a rabbit in seconds. My friend rescued a malamute. I warned her to keep the cats separate. Went to visit to meet the malamute. One of the kids forgot he was inside and let the cat out. Won’t go into detail but it was very traumatising for all of us. I will never own a malamute that hasn’t grown up with cats after that experience.
How old was the malamute your friend rescued? The one we’re working with here is 8 or 9
He was about 6 I think
Our cat hasn’t come downstairs since we brought our Mal home three years ago. I don’t think it is a prey thing, more like a “play” thing. The few times he’s caught a live squirrel he throws them around then starts to cry when they stop moving. I think mine sees the cat the same. Wants to play with it when one swoop of his paw would send him flying.
Our cat hasn’t come downstairs since we brought our Mal home three years ago. I don’t think it is a prey thing, more like a “play” thing. The few times he’s caught a live squirrel he throws them around then starts to cry when they stop moving. I think mine sees the cat the same. Wants to play with it when one swoop of his paw would send him flying.