To be pissed off at this cat for repeatedly attacking my dog?!

[squashedalmondcroissant]

I have to just start by saying that technically DDog is not mine he is my DP’s dog but we’ve been living together for the last 5yrs and I look after him as if he’s my own.

So for the past 3 days DDog and I have gone out on our evening walk after work and gone our usual route. We live on an estate with lots of parked cars along the streets and obviously lots of houses and pets all around including multiple cats. DDog is an elderly greyhound and soft as a bag of marshmallows, never barks or growls, never attacks anything or acts remotely aggressively. He just walks right past any cat he sees and pays them no attention.

For some reason there is one particular cat that has taken exception to our walking along the pavement and has made it its mission to attack DDog every time we walk past. First day it hissed & swiped at him then actively chased us down the street and tried to claw at him again. Second day it was stalking us down the road from a distance and then today it jumped out from under a parked car and swiped at us again.

I’m starting to get really pissed off as DDog is quite distressed and makes no attempt to defend himself and I’m worried he is going to get hurt and I’ll feel so guilty explaining to DP. What can I do about this cat? All of our walking routes go past the same place out of the estate where we start seeing the cat so I can’t change our route! Aibu to be pissed off at this cat? The first time it chased us was genuinely scary as it was so aggressive and pursued us, and then today it jumped out from under a car so we couldn’t even see it to avoid it!

Take a spray bottle of water and squirt it at the cat if it comes near. They also hate aerosols, I’ve used a can of compressed air ( DH uses them to clean dust out of his PC) to scare off a cat that was terrorising our elderly cat in our garden.
I’m obviously a cat lover but I don’t think it’s wrong to use methods that will might upset a violent cat to prevent harm to another animal.

I am considering getting a water pistol to take out with us 😂 It makes me wonder what would happen if DDog did get injured, I guess nothing? I have no idea who the cat belongs to so no idea who to approach about it if it did happen.

Absolutely take a water pistol if you think you'll actually be quick enough to be able to hit it with the water. I like the suggestion of a can of compressed air too, the noise would be a deterrent even if it doesn't feel the air.

I say this as a cat person who doesn't particularly like dogs btw. It's frankly lucky your greyhound hasn't taken matters into it's own paws (or indeed jaws!)

We've got an aggressive arsehole cat here that attacks other cats and I'm forever going out and chasing it off. It sent my previous cat to the vets 3 times with bites that became abscesses, and me to minor injuries on one occasion when it got hold of me so a cat attack is not an insignificant hazard.

@GrannyAchingsShepherdsHutoh god that sounds awful! I’m so sorry for your cat and you. I was thinking maybe I was being overprotective but maybe not. I’m not wholly surprised DDog hasn’t tried to defend himself, he is super gentle and his first and last instinct is always to run away rather than fight back 😞 I just really hope he isn’t put in a position where he has to make that choice.

Is there any way you could carry the dog in your arms until you get past the danger zone, or is he too big to carry? Sorry I’m not much of a dog person so I’m unsure how big/heavy greyhounds are!

This is something that people may have to see for themselves to understand. We have a similar Tom cat on my street. It will wait under a shrub at the side of the pavement or under a car and will try to attack any size of dog that walks past. It sometimes stalks dogs too.

I think carrying something in your hand like a water pistol/squeezey bottle /compressed air and just firing it pre-emptively may be the best idea, so the cat already knows you have something to defend yourself with.

I own and foster cats. I have absolutely no problem with people using water pistols and have told neighbour's this. They are loveable neutered arseholes, I cannot imagine one of them attacking a dog, but have no issue with non-harmful intervention.

Have you ever picked up a greyhound?

Well clearly not, hence saying I’ve no idea how big/heavy they are 🤣

This made me giggle. They are not little dogs by any means 😆

I have an image of limbs sticking out all over the place

You need to protect your dog and find a way to scare off that cat, and the water gun solution is a good one.

I have a very aggressive and territorial cat myself and I wouldn’t want him injured but definitely put in his place.
There is a good chance that the cat you are encountering is feral and not neutered which would explain the extreme aggression. It’s not the cat’s fault but your elderly dog doesn’t deserve this stress.

😂 I bet someone, somewhere picks their greyhound up and rocks it like a baby!

One cat I had would sit in the window growling at the dogs. She'd beg to go out to fight. Take a spray bottle, or the dog's prey drive might kick in. The danger is him giving chase and getting injured or killed.

I have a cat and wouldn't have any issue with someone giving her a soaking if she's being a pest.

😄 my cat often comes home wet when it’s not been raining, I wonder if this is why 🤣

I shouldn't laugh but my cat lives with our German Shepherd. One minute they are best buddies and the next the cat is terrorising the dog.

Our cat was feral before he was taken in to the rescue where we got him. Then we lived in the middle of nowhere with him for several years.

Our cat now knows that he can stand up to dogs that chase him, so when the neighbours lab was off lead and chased him, instead of running the cat attacked him. We paid the vet check and preventative antibiotics obviously.

The cat hates the pug that walks past growling at him so he hides in the hedge and pounces on it's back when it passes. Also joins us and our dog on walks. Swear he thinks he is a big dog.

The rescue centre now borrows him from us for the morning to cat test dogs.

I wouldn't be upset if a neighbour got him with a water pistol. A bit of water doesn't harm a cat.

Carry a water squirter with you and use it every time.

Our cat now knows that he can stand up to dogs that chase him, so when the neighbours lab was off lead and chased him, instead of running the cat attacked him. We paid the vet check and preventative antibiotics obviously

Obviously? I wouldn’t be paying the vet’s bill for any dog that chased my cat and I wouldn’t be expecting it if it was my dog that was injured as a result.

I have had a couple dogs that have learned their lesson the hard way. It’s annoying but it was their own fault.

It's probably just defending it's territory. It doesn't understand not hurting it because it's an animal and animals will defend their territories. Dogs are much more able to kill a cat.

Just take a spray bottle or the can of air like someone said, don't hurt it, it's just being an animal. My cat gets really stressed out at other cats and will chase them off but she has been injured by toms in the past. It's best to shoo them off.

Yes to the water pistol. Cats can be very, very territorial.
My cat doesn’t leave our back garden and is generally placid. When we first got her, several neighbourhood cats made the mistake of wandering into our garden. None of them come anywhere near now. She is horrific to other cats and cat bites are very dangerous.

When my kids were in primary school, there was a cat who lived next door to the school. He used to hide in the hedges on the footpath into the playground and attack the children's legs as they walked in in the mornings. He was a total menace!

Cans of compressed air are sold as training aids for dogs, they emit a hissing noise which in my experience frightens dogs so using one might deter the cat but it could also scare the dog. A water spray is a good suggestion,

Sorry, just seen that you said you can’t change your route.

Sorry but this made me 😂
Cats can be ferocious wee creatures, can't they
Water pistol will be your best bet

In hind sight it was the owners fault and the bill should have been on them but I was so flustered after watching it happen through the window that I offered to pay the bill.

I just felt bad that one of my animals had injured someone else's.