Will Cats Hurt (Newborn) Puppies? 7 Tips on Protecting Them
Although dogs chase cats, there is a time when a dog is smaller than a cat, especially small puppies from toy breeds.
If a puppy is less than the size of a baby rabbit, will your pet cat treat the intruder as prey?
Can your cat hurt or perhaps kill a puppy?
Will Cats Hurt Newborn Puppies?
Firstly, most newborn puppies have a protective momma dog in attendance with instinctive protective reflexes.
Your cat understands that the newborn puppy is not a rodent or normal prey animal – the smell and noises are different.
But newborn puppies like baby rabbits and birds are young and defenseless, and predators like cats (and other dogs) may instinctively try to reduce potential future threats and competition by killing newborn puppies.
The momma dog is so protective of her puppies because they are vulnerable to attack from other predators.
Sadly, the presence of a cat near the litter may prompt the momma dog to kill and eat her own puppies.
Her instinctive response is to recycle the threatened energy resource (puppies) to have a more successful litter that survives somewhere else.
The best approach is to remove your pet cat from the newborn puppies’ area and allow socialization when the puppies are more independent.
But, always supervise.
What Are the Risks Bringing Puppy into a House with a Cat?
Although the fear of a fatal encounter is uppermost in your mind, there are plenty of risks associated with bringing a puppy into a house with a resident cat.
Cat Attacks Puppy
Your home is your cat’s territory, and the puppy is an intruder in the cat’s mind.
Your cat may completely ignore the puppy and move to higher places to rest or actively escape the room. But your cat may choose to stalk and attack the puppy at every opportunity.
Cats tend to use ambush approaches.
A cat can inflict some deep wounds and emotional trauma. Cat claws and teeth contain bacteria that can result in infected wounds and further suffering.
The cat is asserting dominance at an early stage to remain the top predator in your house.
Puppy Attacks Cat
Not all puppies are significantly smaller than your cat, medium-sized breeds and giant breeds like a St Bernard are more massive or the same size as an adult cat.
The puppy may see the cat as a potential toy with added mobility.
A puppy’s teeth and muscle strength can cause trauma and wounds on your beloved cat.
Cat Feels Stress
A stressed cat can display some unwelcome behaviors – spraying, damaging furniture, and becoming withdrawn and unhappy.
As you already have a relationship with your cat, your family is likely to experience distress if the puppy makes your cat sad and less comfortable in your home.
More seriously, a stressed cat can develop feline respiratory infections.
Puppy Eats Cat Food/Poop
Because you have a cat in the house, the puppy may access the cat’s food bowl and litter tray.
A cat’s nutritional requirements are different from a dog and the protein in a cat’s food is too high for your puppy.
Eating significant amounts of cat food can make your puppy ill.
Puppies eating poop is unwelcome and potentially hazardous. Your puppy can pick up intestinal parasites and bacteria, resulting in unpleasant diarrhea, vomiting, anemia, and weight loss in more severe cases.
The technical name for poop-eating is coprophagy, and some puppies retain the habit throughout adulthood.
Disease Transmission
Most diseases are species-specific, so this risk is minimal.
There is the risk of your adult cat bringing fleas into the home that may bother the puppy, along with other diseases like parvovirus.
This risk is minor if you stay on top of necessary vaccinations, worming, and a flea treatment.
What Can You Do to Minimize Risks?
When you intend to bring a puppy into your home, preparation is essential to smooth the path for your new puppy and cat to live in harmony.
1. Protect Your Cat’s Space
In advance of the puppy’s arrival, ensure that your cat has a private space for its litter tray, sleeping area and that you can place the feed bowls out of a curious puppy’s reach.
By establishing safe, secure places for these activities before the puppy arrives in your home, you avoid inadvertently displacing your cat.
2. Prepare Secure Puppy Space
Your puppy also needs a safe space where the cat cannot bother or terrorize it – possibly a crate or playpen or a separate room.
Avoid putting your puppy in a crate where the cat is free to roam.
If you observe cat behavior with neighbor’s dogs, you may notice that cats are experts in the teasing taunt. Many cats seem to enjoy positioning themselves on fences and trees in sight but out of reach.
Trapping your puppy in a cage while the cat teases it will not foster good relations between the two animals in the future.
Plus, it may make your puppy’s safe space feel more of a trap and punishment than a refuge.
In the early days, make sure you confine your puppy in a room free from the cat.
3. Supervise Short Interactions
Start by allowing your puppy and cat to see and smell each other across a barrier where both animals have the option to retreat if frightened.
Watch both animals for their body language and signs of either distress or an aggressive interest.
Once your puppy and cat relax in each other’s presence, you can allow them to interact together – possibly outside with the puppy on a leash so you can curb any chasing behavior.
4. Don’t Leave Your Puppy and Cat Alone
Your cat and puppy bond with you as the shared link, but both pets have their own instinctive urges that can overwhelm them into behaving as predator and prey.
The key to successful living with a dog and cat is to allow both animals to retreat safely.
If you confine both animals into one space without an escape route, triggering the puppy or cat’s natural hunting instincts can be damaging and, in severe cases, fatal.
When Can Your Cat and Puppy Stay Home Alone Together?
There is no specific age when your puppy and cat can interact safely together without your presence providing a buffer.
Some dog breeds (mainly terriers) are never entirely safe with other animals.
The decision to when your puppy and cat can roam your home without restrictions depends on how you observe them interacting in your presence.
If your puppy constantly chases or tries to bounce on your cat, or your cat insists on ambushing your small puppy, they are not ready for time alone together.
If your cat uses your puppy as a warm cushion for naps and neither pet behaves aggressively, you can probably leave them alone with minimal risk of injury.
Whenever you choose to leave your puppy and cat alone together, ensure that both pets have a means of escape.
As your puppy grows, it becomes the more dangerous predator, but your agile cat can go out a window or a cat flap if you make these available.
Does the Puppy Breed Make a Difference?
The puppy breed makes a difference in how easily your puppy and cat interact into a harmonious blended family.
The significant factors are:
- Size – larger breeds have larger puppies.
- Instincts – some breeds are hardwired to chase and kill.
A small puppy comes into your house as a weaker animal than your cat. More giant puppies are a significant threat to your cat.
The puppy’s size determines whether the cat is at risk or is a threat to your puppy.
Ten thousand years of breeding dogs mean puppy breeds concentrate certain desirable traits. Unfortunately, these desirable traits may be an issue when taken from the hunting field to a family home with a resident cat.
Not every individual terrier will chase and bite cats, squirrels, and other fleeing animals – but most will behave that way.
Some individual spaniels will chase a cat on sight, despite the breeds cat-friendly credentials.
You can maximize your chances of having a friendly puppy and cat relationship by choosing a puppy from the more friendly breeds without advanced chasing instincts.
What About Feral or Stray Cats?
Stray cats establish territories for shelter and food sources.
Stray cats tend to attack pet cats and puppies if they come into contact.
Typically, a stray cat will calculate the risk versus the rewards. Pet cats tend to have access to a full food bowl, and if a feral cat drives your cat away, it can eat its food.
A stray cat’s approach to puppies depends on the puppy’s size and temperament.
Generally, a stray cats’ instincts are to avoid the risk of injury, and puppies bigger than the cat are unlikely to be a target.
A small puppy is a potential future predator that the cat can deal with now to avoid problems later. Plus, any small meaty animal is a potential food source.
Conclusion
Cats and puppies can form a blended household, but it is wise to be aware of the risks and dangers each poses to the other.
In the best cases, the puppy and cat form a friendship of mutual understanding, the middle ground is tolerance, and the worst case is naked aggression.
You can influence the outcome by carefully managing the puppy’s introduction to your cat and respecting that the cat and puppy have different needs.
Many people successfully own both dogs and cats and have few issues with their relationship.
Your cat can injure and potentially kill a small puppy, but often it is the cat that is most at risk from the attentions of a boisterous, playful puppy.