Westies and Cats
People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs for example.
Well, I have no idea anything about how exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or perhaps a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of understanding of Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one of the things that she needed to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to over ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just needed to find her place. She’s done that now. There can be occasional spats to decide who will be top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey backwards and forwards amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog in to the midst of a lot of cats who had never seen a dog before. Our Norwegian Elkhound, Saladdin was a key part of our family structure for a long time and actually helped raise two of our cats from kittenhood. He’s gone now and the cats haven’t had to cope with a dog for a while, however the old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to have any kind of dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, however it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One of the things that we insisted on in the beginning was that a new dog was required to submit to the cats. This is especially valid when dealing with terrier dogs such as the West Highland Terrier. It doesn’t matter how lovable and cute they may be, deep down within their heart and soul these are hunters. They need to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and basically anything that runs away from them qualifies as game. It doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there is no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way right down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is to define what they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.
That is why I was so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the very beginning. It wasn’t hard to do. If she got too frisky we had to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word in addition to a tug on the leash was enough to do the trick. It certainly helped that our cats are not particularly afraid of dogs and don’t mind demonstrating the use of their claws if she gets too feisty.
Things have settled into place now and we’ve been able to relax a lot of the boundaries we laid down at first. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its just as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In truth it seems to be more of a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing one another around the house its not unusual to discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or just hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals will bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the very first to really chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and set the stage for the others to follow.
Your situation may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. If your cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a rather different course. In a case like this I would recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get accustomed to each other. Umbilical training, where you have the dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is a very good training method under any circumstance. It gives you control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Keep with the umbilical work for at least 7 days and keep your dog in its crate when it isn’t on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes the dog is not really a threat to it.
Precisely the same things apply if you want to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten if possible, simply because they’re more malleable and that will make your situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat get to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep your dog on umbilical for a while.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They might not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Make use of the umbilical, make the dog submit at the start and all should be well.
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