Is Cat Playing Too Rough With Puppy?

[Moonbrained]

I have a 2 year old cat and now a 3 month old puppy (small breed). The puppy is a hyper-playful puppy and the cat likes to play (she plays tag with my senior dog). Right now, the puppy is about half the size of the cat (when she's fully grown she'll be slightly larger) and when they play (chase and wrestle) she pins the puppy and bites down on her neck and won't let go even if the puppy yelps.
What has me unsure on the one hand is that the puppy ends up crying or yelping just about every other "clinch"; but she comes back to the cat to keep playing (doesn't run away or hide). But still, the play looks so rough to me I just don't know how to gauge.
I never let them play unsupervised and I'm terrified if I ever do that one day my cat will accidentally kill my puppy. How do I know what is too rough? How can I teach the cat to be more gentle?

 

[margd]

Is there any way you could post a video of them playing? That's the best way for us to tell you if we think the play is too rough. The fact that your puppy keeps coming back for more makes me think that the play is not too rough, but it is a problem that your cat won't let go. You are doing the right thing in not letting them play unsupervised, at least until the puppy has grown larger.

When you break them apart, try using canned air to divert your cat's attention and to give your puppy a chance to get away. You don't point the air at your pets, just the noise itself is often startling enough that it will break things up. If you are consistent with this, you might be able to train your cat to let go on her own. I'm not sure that you can teach her not to bite your puppies neck at all - this is an instinctive way of asserting dominance, which it sounds like your cat is doing. If the puppy is relatively new to your home, they may still be working out territorial issues. This article might help: How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog

 

[Geoffrey]

As well as margd 's post, with which I agree entirely, you will not have to worry too long as puppies grow very fast and you should have no problems after a few more months.
With best wishes,
Geoffrey

 

[Moonbrained]

Thank you for the article and your response! It took a bit, but I got video:

At the beginning they're playing pretty nicely, but at the end of the video you'll see an example of a clinch... where kitty is just not letting go (her eyes are even closed).

 

[Oscar&Copper]

I'm not all that knowledgeable about cat behaviour/aggression. But the end looks aggressive to me. I can see your concern. My kittens play rough together, really rough sometimes, and I've never seen either of them bite then pull at the neck like that. When they bite the other's neck it's a bite and hold not a bite and pull. Hopefully someone knows more than me and has ideas for you. Personally, I'd keep them separated when you're not around to supervise.

 

[IndyJones]

Apparently dogs do tend to be noisy during play. How does your dog react? Does she crouch with her hind in the air? Video won't play for me.

 

[margd]

I can see why you are concerned. My interpretation of that video is that they are playing nicely together and then your cat has had enough. You can tell by her body language - she's bolt upright, she's tense and on guard for what might happen next and her tail is swishing. At that point, they should separate but the puppy being a puppy is clueless and comes back for more fun. And bam, your cat lets him have it. The neck biting is a great concern since that's serious aggression but in addition, if you look at her back legs, several times they look like they are going into the bunny kicking position. This is an instinctive move cats have for disemboweling their prey and although your cat is not going that far, the motions are there. Cats do this in play as well and normally it's not a concern, but the aggressive biting and clamping down on your puppy's neck just make me wonder if this is something to pay attention to.

I think the thing to do is to watch for the point where your cat signals that she's through and then separate them. The are both adorable by the way and I really hope this works out. As G Geoffrey has pointed out, the puppy will grow bigger quite soon which may reduce the problem. Until then, or until the puppy learns your cat's warning signals, you really do need to keep them supervised when they are together.

 

[jdr]

Bump, how did you go with this? I have a Bengal and signed up to reply as we are having a similar issue and don't know what to do. In our case it seems more dominating or sexual, as the sounds are similar to something he does on soft blankets while thrusting and kneading.