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For the last three years my tuxedo, Ollie, and my bully breed mix, Bella, have been quite literally best friends. For the first year after we first brought Ollie home he would literally suckle on Bella's jowls like he would nursing on a mama cat and in every other way as thick as thieves. They always have rough housed, Bella stopping when Ollie lets out a hiss. Two years ago, we adopted our grey kitty, Roscoe, who immediately bonded with Ollie and despised the dog. Ollie has been fine with both animals, never showing a real preference to either one and has always been the coolest laid back cat I have ever met.
That is, until about 2.5 weeks ago. Ollie was acting as watch cat, like most days, and spotted a strange dog in the yard. I took note and noticed the dog in our yard a second and third time, and went to go provide a leash to the owner and let them know their animal was not welcome to my yard. Went to open the door and the dog came waltzing behind me to see what I was doing, accidentally stepping on Ollie in the process. Ollie turned and slapped Bella, making Bella jump backwards (accidentally) onto Roscoe. Roscoe yowled at the dog and slapped her, triggering Ollie to turn against the dog full force. Both cats ganged up on the dog and latched onto her face, giving her some pretty nasty gashes on her face. Since the dog was bleeding everywhere, I removed her from the cats to stop the bleeding and the cats turned on eachother. Fur flying, yowling, all completely out of character for both cats. As soon as I got the bleeding to stop, Bella was put in her cage. Got the cats separated and locked them away in separate rooms. I checked Roscoe for any injuries and he seemed fine, just a bit shaken up. He calmed down in less than an hour of being in his own dark room. Ollie also had no injuries besides a few minor scratches (non bleeding). However, my normally cool as a cucumber kitty was still wound up 5+ hours after being put away. We decided to let Bella stay at my dads house a few days following the incident in order to protect her from any lasting rage from the cats.
Roscoe was let out to roam the house that night and was 100% normal. Ollie (let out when Roscoe was away later that night) acted pretty spooked as he scoured the house for signs of his imagined attacker. He spent that night in his room. The next night Ollie seemed fine, and was allowed to sleep with us and Roscoe since they (under strict supervision) were back to normal with eachother all that day. Roscoe slept curled next to me, like always, and Ollie randomly attacked Roscoe in the middle of the night (slicing me up pretty bad in the process). Again, Ollie was banished to his room and plans were made to take him to the vet the next day to make sure no underlying conditions were triggering him.
The vet told us it was a case of redirected aggression and Ollie's attacks were due to basically kitty PTSD. We got him started on a regiment of fluoxetine and shen calmer, along with feliway plug ins. We started introducing Ollie to Roscoe first, over the course of a week slowly increasing the time they spent together. Today marks the second full day theyve been together with zero incidents or otherwise unfavorable behavior between the two.
The problem lies with the dog. Roscoe has (surprisingly) been fine with Bella since this all happened and he used to hate the dog! Ollie, however, cannot get over it. When Bella is gone from the house he sleeps in her kennel (which reeks like dog) for hours. When shes here (locked in kennel) and the cats are out, he sniffs her through the kennel grate and walks away. Once the dog is out of the kennel though? No way. He locks eyes with her and moves stiffly towards her, hackles raised. Even if shes restrained tightly to my side. We put her back into the kennel before anything amounts from it, but you can tell the dog is distraught her buddy hates her now.
In addition to the stress of all of this, I'm nearly 9 months pregnant with our first baby. I wasn't stressed at first considering the time I've had off with Covid, and could spend lots of time with training and reintroductions. But I go back to work June 1st until the baby arrives, and with how small a space our current house is, it isnt feasible to keep rotating the animals like I have. We're going to need access to the nursery and other rooms without fear of the cat getting out and starting another fight with the dog. The only time Ollie is spooked now is with the dog and never any other time. I do have a family member that can take the dog until we buy a house later this year, but I would really prefer not to do that as I doubt that will fix the problem, but simply move it for us to deal with at a later date. Getting rid of the cats aren't an option, as they are totally fine when the dog isnt here and this is the first time we have had any trouble with them whatsoever. Im feeling so stressed and lost here, help!
That is, until about 2.5 weeks ago. Ollie was acting as watch cat, like most days, and spotted a strange dog in the yard. I took note and noticed the dog in our yard a second and third time, and went to go provide a leash to the owner and let them know their animal was not welcome to my yard. Went to open the door and the dog came waltzing behind me to see what I was doing, accidentally stepping on Ollie in the process. Ollie turned and slapped Bella, making Bella jump backwards (accidentally) onto Roscoe. Roscoe yowled at the dog and slapped her, triggering Ollie to turn against the dog full force. Both cats ganged up on the dog and latched onto her face, giving her some pretty nasty gashes on her face. Since the dog was bleeding everywhere, I removed her from the cats to stop the bleeding and the cats turned on eachother. Fur flying, yowling, all completely out of character for both cats. As soon as I got the bleeding to stop, Bella was put in her cage. Got the cats separated and locked them away in separate rooms. I checked Roscoe for any injuries and he seemed fine, just a bit shaken up. He calmed down in less than an hour of being in his own dark room. Ollie also had no injuries besides a few minor scratches (non bleeding). However, my normally cool as a cucumber kitty was still wound up 5+ hours after being put away. We decided to let Bella stay at my dads house a few days following the incident in order to protect her from any lasting rage from the cats.
Roscoe was let out to roam the house that night and was 100% normal. Ollie (let out when Roscoe was away later that night) acted pretty spooked as he scoured the house for signs of his imagined attacker. He spent that night in his room. The next night Ollie seemed fine, and was allowed to sleep with us and Roscoe since they (under strict supervision) were back to normal with eachother all that day. Roscoe slept curled next to me, like always, and Ollie randomly attacked Roscoe in the middle of the night (slicing me up pretty bad in the process). Again, Ollie was banished to his room and plans were made to take him to the vet the next day to make sure no underlying conditions were triggering him.
The vet told us it was a case of redirected aggression and Ollie's attacks were due to basically kitty PTSD. We got him started on a regiment of fluoxetine and shen calmer, along with feliway plug ins. We started introducing Ollie to Roscoe first, over the course of a week slowly increasing the time they spent together. Today marks the second full day theyve been together with zero incidents or otherwise unfavorable behavior between the two.
The problem lies with the dog. Roscoe has (surprisingly) been fine with Bella since this all happened and he used to hate the dog! Ollie, however, cannot get over it. When Bella is gone from the house he sleeps in her kennel (which reeks like dog) for hours. When shes here (locked in kennel) and the cats are out, he sniffs her through the kennel grate and walks away. Once the dog is out of the kennel though? No way. He locks eyes with her and moves stiffly towards her, hackles raised. Even if shes restrained tightly to my side. We put her back into the kennel before anything amounts from it, but you can tell the dog is distraught her buddy hates her now.
In addition to the stress of all of this, I'm nearly 9 months pregnant with our first baby. I wasn't stressed at first considering the time I've had off with Covid, and could spend lots of time with training and reintroductions. But I go back to work June 1st until the baby arrives, and with how small a space our current house is, it isnt feasible to keep rotating the animals like I have. We're going to need access to the nursery and other rooms without fear of the cat getting out and starting another fight with the dog. The only time Ollie is spooked now is with the dog and never any other time. I do have a family member that can take the dog until we buy a house later this year, but I would really prefer not to do that as I doubt that will fix the problem, but simply move it for us to deal with at a later date. Getting rid of the cats aren't an option, as they are totally fine when the dog isnt here and this is the first time we have had any trouble with them whatsoever. Im feeling so stressed and lost here, help!