Whippets And Cats

[geckogirl]

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Hello All,

I am a bit of a newcomer and have not got a dog (yet!), but am doing a bit of research in the hopes of changing this.

A bit of background info: I always wanted a big gundog, so have written off ever having a dog, as I worked and did not have time or space to exercise it properly. However, I have now given up work to look after my toddler and family, and think the time is right for a dog. So, trying to work out what would be a good idea.

We went camping this weekend, and the people opposite had the most beautiful... whippet! She was gorgeous, fast, energetic, yet really calm and gentle with the children. They even had her climbing up the ladder and down the slide on the playground! She went out for a run with her owner (I do a lot of running and would like a dog that could come out with me), and was very well behaved compared to the collie that came and tried to steal our sausages, and the golden retriever which came right into our tent and stole my sister's flipflops. I think what really made me fall in love with her (apart from being so fast and beautiful!), was the combination of calm yet energetic. So, you whippet-people, I have 2 questions:

1. Is the calm and friendly yet energetic and playful combination a real whippet trait?

2. We have 2 cats already, and I remember hearing that whippets cannot live with cats as they can't stop themselves chasing and killing them. We would introduce them as puppy to established cats, would this work or is it just a bad idea?

Many, many thanks for your help in advance,

Helen

 

[jinnyfizz]

Hi Helen and welcome!

Yes - it's a guaranteed whippet trait being calm and affectionate together with bursts of energy when required!!

I introduced Jinny as a 9 week old pup to my 5 cats ..... no problems

Here's a picture of my whippie puppy 'couch potato' with one of the cats :huggles:

Good luck with your search and let's have some pics when you get one :luck: :cheers:

 

[talisman]

Hi

I have recently introduced a kitten to our home and i have a year old whippet and a jack russel. No problems at all apart from they play a lot.

I do have a very sweet natured whippet so this does help. Other people have said their whippet would if killed it on the spot. It would be easier to introduce a puppy to a cat so i think you would be ok.

Wendy

 

[AnnSa]

My Sada has the best nature you could find in a dog, she's totally gorgeous, i

wouldn't swop her for anything in the world but she's the biggest thief going..........

 

She tried to look innocent when she ate my flip flop even though she had three sequins stuck to her face and some more appeared in her poo later on :x

She will help herself to anything and hide it in her bed or in the garden if it

cant be eaten.

I dont know about cats, since she was attacked by one she goes mad if one

is near her, but none have stuck around long enough for me to see what she

would do.

 

She cant be that bad though as i now have another 8wk old whippet in the

house who Sada has loved since it arrived :huggles:

 

[Nicola]

Hi, welcome to K9. :cheers:

Good choice of dog :thumbsup:

Whippets are calm and loving. A real couch potato at home, but lovely to watch running and chasing when out and about.

A word of warning though...they tend to be very lively as pups and adolescents and can be very 'bitey', destructive, playful, fast and wiley, and can do the wall of death around your living room several time a day (put all your ornaments and breakables away!). They only really calm down once they've reached 18-26 mths (it depends on the temparement of your pup...you get some quieter ones and you get some real live wires! (w00t) ). Saying that, they do have their lively spells for an hour or two then sleep for a couple of hours, so you do get some respite when they are pups.

Have a look at the FAQ section (see link below). Your question about whippets and cats living together has come up quite a number of times, as it's a good question. :thumbsup:

http://www.k9community.co.uk/forums/index....showtopic=13951

 

[jezza]

Welcome to k9 :cheers:

Yes calm and affectionate as well as super fast when they want to be! I would have thought that if you bought the puppy up with cats then you wouldn't have a problem, my 2 whippets would kill a cat in an instant if they could get hold of one but they have never been bought up with one lots of people on here keep cats and whippets together.

However, I wouldn't fall for the well behaved bit for all whippets!!! Out of my two, Molly is an angel o but Lenny is a :devil: he would've stolen your sausages without a second thought, but because they are so cute they get away with murder!

Lenny getting himself into more mischief

 

[pixieru]

Hello welcome to K9

I used to have 2 cats with my whippets and they got on fine (both have been PTS now) one of my cats used to sleep with the dog where's the other one was grumpy and kept out of the way, but the dogs had never been nasty towards them.

Rupert and Pixie are calm most of the time but they do have there mad moments where they run round the living room at about 60mph, it took a couple of years for them to actually calm down. One thing i will say is......hide your toilet rolls! they love to trail them all round the house when you are not looking, LOL.

I think whippets are the best breed of dogs, they are so affectionate.

 

[whippetsrus]

Hello and welcome.

 

[hely]

Hello and welcome,

my gypsy hates cats, goes mad when she see's them, but there again she hasnt been brought up with them

she's is the most lazy creature i have ever come across, dont get me wrong she loves her walks, but as soon as she's home, she's on the sofa and doesnt move :- "

very loving, would steal food out of your hand given the chance and likes to stand by the kitchen bin to wait for any leftovers to fall on the floor (w00t)

whoever is in the kitchen cooking is her best friend :- "

great with the kids :thumbsup:

love her to bits :wub:

 

[Crystal]

:wub: Hi - I've got cats , whippets and children and they all get on fantastically, but they have been bought up with the cats from pups and are taught from a young age not to hound the cats. One of my young cats does insist on cuddling up with my 5 month old whippet and he gets abit rough chewing her ears so I have to supervise. One of my cats also comes for walks but he stands his ground when the whippets run near him- in fact he is a bit of a bruiser. But although they may be use to my own cats if they see my neighbours cats run they look excited as if to chase - and I always follow this up with a firm 'NO'. With regard to the children I think it is a perfect bond mine are older now and my eldest daughter goes jogging with ours - I love my whippets because if i want to be energetic and walk miles they'll be there or if i want to snuggle on the sofa they are more than happy to keep me company Sue

 

[bird]

Hi Helen, this was my biggest fear when I was deciding on a whippet pup. I have 2 cats which were 12 and 5 when we got Lacey. I had no reason to worry because they all get on absolutely fine. When she was a pup I did obviously keep an eye on her when she was near the cats and if she chased them I would squirt her with a little water! But now she knows that they rule the roost and they all have their feeding times together. Here is a pic of Lacey with my eldest cat Jazzy. Next week we're picking up our new addition Ruby who is a 9 week old whippet pup.

 

[geckogirl]

Guys,

Thank you so much for all the lovely reassuring stories- I have spent far too much time today surfing the internet looking at them, and apart from the cat issue they are perfect for our lifestyle- come jogging with me, play with my daughter, cuddle up on the sofa, not too big and hairy, game for a laugh. And she can sit under the table cleaning up the food that said daughter drops- the cats are too picky and will only eat bits of meat/ cheese!

OK, maybe I'll be back in a few weeks with my whippet puppy pics :- )! Now just got to persuade hubby that he won't be walking it every day and it'll be no trouble honest.... might have to edit out some of the naughty stories before I show him the cat loving bits!

 

[Pamw]

We have three cats one of them a norwegian forest cat who is the boss....as long as its a puppy they will accept it our first whippet Rocket still thinks hes a cat as he thinks its ok to wash himself as the cats do...also in winter the whippets like it best to snuggle up to a warm cat.....you will find in the house and your own garden the cats and dogs accept each other but when a stray comes in....then it is all systems go with both dogs and cats chasing the outsider away.....it is good how they all get along....

 

[Janimal]

I have 3 cats and now 3 whippets.. they all get along fine. It just takes patience and time...and they can be introduced successfully.

I always get mine to say Hello almost as soon as they (a puppy) arrives...and in a safe environment and I never leave them alone together until I can trust them fully.

If you love whippets I wouldnt let this put you off getting one, because it can be done. :cheers:

Below Archie at 8 weeks meeting two of my cats Meeko and Mitch... :huggles:

 

[Trish]

my lot love our cat,but they all was brought up with him been round,sometimes our cat wants the dogs to chase him round the house :blink: which you would think whippets chasing a cat would lead to disaster ,but they have never touched him and he sometimes gets them in a arm lock and gets the dogs onto their backs on many occasions :lol: but the dogs ae so gentle with him :thumbsup:

they are mostly calm around the house and certainly go crazy when they have their free run time,bt i do have 5 whippets so one wold seem very calm in sure :thumbsup:

 

[melanie]

hi and welcome to k9

i have 6 whippets and 2 cats and they get on fine and even sleep together, as you can see by the small pic under my name (the small black/white thing in the middle is the cat!) :thumbsup:

i also jog a bit with my younger whippets, they seem to like it and happily trot along side me.

 

[njblack]

Hi,

We have four kids and a Whippet (Zach), soon to get another (whippet not child). My parents look after him during the day and they have a cat. To be fair the cat is a bit wary but Zach, although curious is not bothered and they get on fine.

Even outside of the house he is not interested in cats. I have to say that he has caught and killed a rabbit in our garden and jumped the 8ft stone bank into the woods at the back of our garden. He is also infactuated by the lure when he went race training, but in the house he is a real baby who loves his home comforts. As a pet, and as far as the children are concerned he is perfect. He is from the Yialousa kennels who I would highly recommend.

Our experience with Zach is that he is the most adorable, well behaved dog we have had. He goes to the beach nearly every day and that's where he goes crazy, I have never seen a dog so fast and full of energy, but he comes back straight away when called (even when playing with other dogs). He will heel very well whether walking or running. If he is typical of other Whippets you will be fine. We have had him for nearly a year. He was socialised and trained from early on, as soon as we had him. I am aware of other whippet owners whose dogs will chase cats outside the house, but they have not lived with them.

Good luck.

 

[geckogirl]

Really, thanks everyone.

I now KNOW that a whippet would be perfect. Shame my husband has just put his foot down and said "no". Oh well, we will be a dogless household until retirement then... :- (

Bit upset really but trying not to be sulky about it.

 

[georgina]

Hi,
We have four kids and a Whippet (Zach), soon to get another (whippet not child). My parents look after him during the day and they have a cat. To be fair the cat is a bit wary but Zach, although curious is not bothered and they get on fine.

Even outside of the house he is not interested in cats. I have to say that he has caught and killed a rabbit in our garden and jumped the 8ft stone bank into the woods at the back of our garden. He is also infactuated by the lure when he went race training, but in the house he is a real baby who loves his home comforts. As a pet, and as far as the children are concerned he is perfect. He is from the Yialousa kennels who I would highly recommend.

Our experience with Zach is that he is the most adorable, well behaved dog we have had. He goes to the beach nearly every day and that's where he goes crazy, I have never seen a dog so fast and full of energy, but he comes back straight away when called (even when playing with other dogs). He will heel very well whether walking or running. If he is typical of other Whippets you will be fine. We have had him for nearly a year. He was socialised and trained from early on, as soon as we had him. I am aware of other whippet owners whose dogs will chase cats outside the house, but they have not lived with them.

Good luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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we are so pleased Zach has such a wonderful home :wub:

we dont have cats but my sister has a whippet and she fosters cats for the cats protection and her whippet mothers the kittens - she has never had a problem and i think she has around 9 cats at the moment

best of luck getting a whippet puppy :luck:

 

[oakmoorehill]

Welcome to k9

I have a gundog ,whippets and a greyhound .The gundog is an irish setter bitch Zoe she is about 16 months old and is mad as a hatter. She is destructive she has recently 'eaten' the tray in her crate she chews her bed up and you just cannot tire her no matter how long her walks or runs in the park .She is my OH's dog. She is also lumsy in the house and her tail can clear a coffee table with one wag. Don't get me wrong they are very loving dogs and love kids but don't realise they are big very elegant and bueatiful to look at everyone admires her when out walking.

On the other hand the whippets are much calmer don't need half the exercise she does. I have 6 dogs and 3 bitches and they all get along great the oldest is 7 years and the youngest are 4 pupsthat are 6 months. The greyhound is o similar temperament as the whippets he even thinks he is a lap dog but as with the setter he forgets how big he is

My mum is a child minder and she has always had x breds but now has a whippet as well she says she has never had a dog that is so good and gentle with the kids even children that are frightened of dogs soon become happy to love and fuss Milly