Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My beautiful cocker spaniel passed away a few months ago and I've finally decided that I'm going to get a new dog. I've been reading up on all the breeds and I am interested in a few, including the Pit Bull but my mom has six cats (I'm living at home until I finish school) and I need to find a breed that will be able to live with her cats as well. I cannot find any information on how a pit bull with do with cats. I know that some breeds do not do well. My cocker spaniel was amazing with the cats, he and the cats used to groom each other. If anyone could give me some information about these dogs and how they do with cats I'd really appreicate it. Thank you very much!

>>My beautiful cocker spaniel passed away a few months ago and I've finally decided that I'm going to get a new dog. I've been reading up on all the breeds and I am interested in a few, including the Pit Bull but my mom has six cats (I'm living at home until I finish school) and I need to find a breed that will be able to live with her cats as well. I cannot find any information on how a pit bull with do with cats. I know that some breeds do not do well. My cocker spaniel was amazing with the cats, he and the cats used to groom each other. If anyone could give me some information about these dogs and how they do with cats I'd really appreicate it. Thank you very much!

Terriers and cats can be questionable. A big dog can more easily kill a cat than a small dog can. But there are small terriers who do it, too, notably the Jack Russell Terrier which was bred to kill foxes and is sometimes willing to kill a cat when there are no foxes around to kill.

It would probably be wise to keep the American Pit Bull Terrier separated from the cats whenever you were not supervising, and that doesn't sound like the lifestyle you're looking for.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Thank you very much. I kind of assumed that would be the case. Do you have any idea what other breed of dog might get along with them? I am looking for a medium to large size dog. Any information would be great. Thank you!

>>Thank you very much. I kind of assumed that would be the case. Do you have any idea what other breed of dog might get along with them? I am looking for a medium to large size dog. Any information would be great. Thank you!>>>>

There are dogs of a whole lot of breeds who would be a problem with cats, and dogs in those same breeds that would be great. A good breeder will know if his/her line of dogs is likely to do well with cats. The people in each breed who take questions from the public about their breed are good people to ask about it, too. You might want to go to www.akc.org, the American Kennel Club website, and look to see what breeds appeal to you. From there you can contact their breeder referral contact people and their rescue contact person. Each breed club also has a website, and you may find mention of cats on that. And the book "Choosing a Dog for Dummies" gives some idea of how well the different breeds do with cats.

Of course you'll want to think about a lot of other things in choosing a dog, too, such as how much grooming it will need, whether it's likely to be aggressive toward visitors to the home, how well the breed tends to do with children, etc. A lot to think about!
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Does anyone who is answering actually have experience with the American Pit Bull Terrier? It doesn't sound like it.

Well I have! I currently have six of various ages. If you raise a pit bull around cats, they do amazingly well together. My first pit bull helped my cat raise her kittens. He lived in the closet with them, cleaned them, entertained them, and gaurded them. He wouldn't let my chihuahua anywhere near them! Right now in fact, my pit bull "Pongo" is placidly lying on her back while my orange and white kitten gleefully chews on her throat and kicks her in the face.
Boo, a 1 1/2 year old male was raised with my parent's 10 cats until he was 4 mos. old. I take him with me everytime I visit and he gets along great with the cats, especially Pestilence, who was with boo since she was 4 weeks old. She thinks she's a dog.
Pit bulls are well known to be very "broody" i.e., they love to mother things. Even the males tend to be this way. Of course, there are individual exceptions, but the rule is generally that if you raise them around other animals, they will be fine with them.

Bulldawger