Our 5 year old greyhound has had some kind of altercation with a cat in our garden and is now scared to go into the garden in the dark.
Several weeks ago, around 10-11pm, I let her out for a wee and heard a yelp. I went into the garden and saw a wild-eyed cat. The hound cowered over at the other side of the garden and it took me some time to get her to come into the house. She was shaking, hackles up, heart pounding but looked unscathed physically.
Since then she has been reluctant to go into the garden especially at night and there have been a couple of accidents in the house.
I have seen the cat twice since the first incident (not sure how many times the hound has seen it). I'm quite surprised that the cat comes into the garden, although the garden is big and has lots of hiding places. It does have a wall all the way around, but I guess that's not an issue for an agile cat.
Other than keeping a loaded water pistol at the back door, does anyone have any advice on how to discourage the cat. I have nothing against cats, but dragging the dog into the garden every night is becoming a bit tiresome.
Thanks