Does anyone have a lurcher/s living happily with a cat?

[Lovemusic33]

I would love a lurcher type dog, it ticks all my boxes for what I want out of a dog but I have a cat. Has anyone successfully added a lurcher to the family with a cat? Can they live happily together? My cat is getting old, he’s 12/13 years old, large ginger Tom who can hold his own, if we were to get a lurcher it would be a puppy, I don’t think I could risk a rescue. Is it possible? Or should I wait until the cat has gone…l.which could be soon or could be another 5 years.

My last dog was a terrier sighthound cross who with a few weeks of training lived happily with three cats over her lifetime. She was one when we adopted the first. I know lots who live with cats. All puppies are knobs to cats though so you’d have to separate them for some time.

Yes, I have two lurcher and three cats, and have fostered lots of lurcher puppies for a rescue.
It is crucial though that your cat has plenty of safe places to go and isn't pushed out by the pup, can eat in peace and so on

My friends adopted adults lurchers & greyhounds that the rescue had tested which I guess could be easier on the cat as puppies want to play chase more as it's fun. If look on Lurcher links page can see it's not that unusual combination and a few even live with rabbits. Though traditionally the hunting sighthounds were often worked alongside ferrets and need to ignore any livestock when clearing rabbits.

My lurcher was definitely not cat safe when I adopted her but a stray decided they must be friends and I think it freaked her out that wasn't keeping away, that she accepted all the nuzzling from then on. Usually with prey drive it can easier to accept a cat indoors than outside and dogs that live with cats may still have high prey drive or want to chase any non- family cats while out.

I took in an old abandoned lurcher, she was fine with the cats, but it helped that she had no teeth and couldn't run as fast, Im not sure it would have been as easy as a boisterous youngster!
I'd be inclined to go for an older cat tested dog and skip the intensive puppy phase.

Thank you, lots to think about. Ideally I would like a rescue dog but was worried that there maybe more risk of my cat getting chased? It seems there are some lurcher that are ok with cats. My cat has lived with dogs before but has been an only pet for the last 4 years so maybe put out by a new dog. I can easily give the cat its own space to begin with by using stair gates but I guess a lurcher maybe able to jump a gate? 😬.
My friend has a lovely small lurcher who is so gentle and well trained, she does like to chase squirrels and rabbits but rarely catches up with them.

Pretty much all dogs have a prey drive. I haven't ever met one that hadn't even the toy breeds. Most dogs would chase. It's what they do then that makes the difference - terriers can grab and shake. Sighthounds can grab and chomp. Spaniels and labs can grab and hold etc etc. A puppy socialised with cats is likely to just be a nuisance rather than a threat but there are no guarantees. My cat is elderly 14/15 and we have a 7 month old working terrier pup. She would be a pain to him if we let her but it's so far all play. But I do know that it can tip over into actual prey if the conditions are right so we would never allow playing and given his age I'd not leave them alone in the house together either just in case. He isn't phased by the pup as he's lived with a dog before and isn't a lap cat so his life hasn't changed much. We have stair gates and room dividers and they are separate unless we can sit on the puppy to stop her trying to play with him. He regularly rolls on his back by the barrier and lazily bats her to play.

To add my cat behaves totally differently with the puppy than an adult terrier we had in to cat test. Even though they were separated and dog on lead he was really scared. He's never been scared of the pup. Cats that live with dogs know when a dog is a threat to them.

As per my user name, we have an elderly dog. We also have a young lurcher who we rescued as a pup and two adult cats. The cats were initially very wary (understandably) of the new arrival. Pup tried to play with them by bowing, bouncing, batting at them with a paw, etc. so the cats let her know they weren't interested by swatting her and that was that.

The only issue is that one of the cats tends to run past the lurcher instead of walking calmly past, so the lurcher is more inclined to try to play than with the other cat, who just ignores both dogs completely.

I'd say get a young pup who will be trained by the cat. An older cat-safe rescue may not be cat-safe with a cat they haven't met before. Both of our dogs would chase a strange cat, even though they live with our two.

I have 2 cats 1 of them was a stray and had kittens and we kept 1 of them. 2 years ago we saw an ad for pups. Had no idea what kind. They badly needed homes is all I will say. I took 1 and it was a little tiny thing. He is a giant lurcher now 2 years on and he loves trying to cuddle into the cats. I had to let them be the boss when he was tiny. It was their house after all. It's really up to you not the dog or cat how it works out.

My very dear friend had an old lurcher and a 10 year old cat, they had grown up together and were good friends. Until one day she didn’t have a cat any more…
I would advise caution

I had two cats both about two years old when we got our Labrador/ whippet x puppy - cats ruled the roost and had no problems . As lost one cat this year to illness got a kitten - dog was fine