Cross Breeds

Help with dogs and cats please?

Okay, so my family had two cats (Cleo and Zoe) and one dog (Jeter). They both seemed to get along perfectly fine, mostly because one of the cats was outgoing and put Jeter in his place! We found out this cat (Cleo) had a tumor in her mouth and, after thinking about it for a while, adopted another rescue dog named Bella. Cleo strutted around the house as usual and Bella got used to her and Zoe. Sadly, Cleo passed away from the tumor, (though she lived a good long life--18 years!) and after the death, Jeter began to chase around our other cat Zoe. Because she is skittish, she basically retreated to the third floor and rarely comes down. Even now, Jeter, who used to be perfectly fine with the cats, torments Zoe! My sister and I want another kitten and basically convinced my parents that we should get another kitten, as a friend for the shy Zoe. But, my dad, (who's a dog person...) thinks that this cat will basically be a "refugee" on the third floor with Zoe and that adopting one will be a mistake. My mom is on board, but thinks that we should try to get things "normal" between Jeter and Zoe first (Bella is fine with Zoe) That means making Zoe and Jeter comfortable with each other again. Yes, we did it before, but Cleo was Zoe's big sister and protector making it a lot easier the first time. So, any ideas on how to fix the Zoe-Jeter problem? Also, any tips for convincing our parents would be great too :) Thanks, E & K

Public Comments

1. You need to be alpha for the dogs. If they harass the cat you must correct and keeping doing until they stop otherwise they think it is okay. It is a dominance issue most likely.
2. you can train your dog. this video should really help. please watch http://animal.discovery.com/videos/its-me-or-dog-top-tips/