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Aussie and Cats

by Vito
(Tennessee)

I'm very interested in getting a Miniature Australian Shepard. I have 3 cats and a little concerned on how the dog's natural herding instincts may cause a problem with the cats. I do have a lot of experience with dogs and work very well with them. Just wondering if it could be a issue. The Aussie I might get is only a puppy.

Comments for Aussie and Cats

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Cats
by: Anonymous

This will mostly depend on your cats. Are they accustomed to living with a dog? In any case, I recommend getting one of the gates that fits in the doorway of a room. Get the kind that has a gate that swings open on its own frame and also has a small cat door at the bottom. The room will be accessible only to the cats...and the people who can open the gate. We got our two cats as kittens and we already had an adult Aussie at the time. That worked fine and the cats grew up with an Aussie. Three years after that Aussie died, we got another Aussie puppy. Since the cats were already accustomed to living with a dog, this also worked fine. If the puppy got too rambunctious, they would swat her (they kept their claws inside) or hiss. Puppy learned to play nice with kitties.

Good Pals
by: Neil Coy

I have a male Miniature Aussie tricolor that was introduced to my two cats at 9 weeks of age. At that age the cats were of course dominate and accepted the pup almost immediately. One of the cats is a 22 lb. Maine Coon male with a great attitude and a very shy stray tabby female. They became buddies and never had a moments problem. Five years later and after the passing of the tabby, I moved into a household with a smaller Maine Coon and since my original Maine Coon is now 16 years old does not have much interest in play, the younger one and the Aussie play a lot together. The cat will tease the dog to get him to chase and try to herd him. They are great pals and the dog is very protective of the entire household. I hope yours will do the same. They provide a lot of company and enjoyment.

Aussies and cats
by: Anonymous

One of the reasons I chose an Australian Shepherd was because they are so gentle. My dog let our grand baby climb all over him and I woke one morning and he was asleep outside with a wild rabbit sleeping next to him. I think they'd get along with cars.

No!
by: Anonymous

Our Aussie is terrible with our cats. She is a super jealous dog and she has tried to attack them on multiple occasions when they get too close to her, even if they are just walking by. We have to watch her every move and we frequently separate them now.

So far, no good
by: Anonymous

We’ve had our American Shorthair cat for several years. Recently we got an Aussie and from the first introduction they’ve been hostile toward each other. It’s now been 9 months and still no improvement.

Our poor cat isn’t the same. He meows a lot and keeps to himself mostly. We’ve build a cat door to our mud room/pantry where the cat can escape the dog if necessary.

We hope things improve as our dog matures. Fingers crossed.

Herding cats
by: Anonymous

I had a half Chow and half Aussie mix. If the cats got out the dog door, Sam would round them up into the house. Pretty amazing to watch because they all 3 went in the house. He was like a year old when he did that and grew up around them.

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