Huskies have a higher percentage of wolfiness than other dog breeds, which means that they can sometimes act with their instincts rather than their trained behaviors. This can make them a challenge to keep in a home with small dogs or cats living in it. Guinea pigs, small dog breeds, and cats are all common victims of chasing by Husky dogs.
DO HUSKIES GET ALONG WITH CATS?
Siberian Husky dogs are some of the most beautiful dogs that you can have as pets. They are loving, kind and enjoy time spent with their family and other dogs in their house. They have a beautiful coat, bright eyes, and a cheerful attitude.
However, you might still be wondering, do Siberian huskies get along with cats? This can be a tough question to answer because every husky is a unique individual with a unique prey drive and a willingness to chase small animals that move quickly.
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DO HUSKIES LIKE CATS?
The question of whether or not huskies get along with cats does not have much to do with them liking or disliking the cats in their household.
It is more about how high their prey drive is. This is not a dog breed that was created to live inside or to be a pet, so prey drive can be a big determining factor in their overall behavior.
If you have cats in your home and are not sure that a husky will get along with them, you need to understand more about the breed first.
Why Was the Husky Breed Created?
The Siberian Husky dog breed was bred by the Chukchi Tribe in Siberia thousands of years ago. This dog was made because there was a lack of food in the area, and the huskies were used to transport food as well as to hunt food. They were not meant to be pets, and this can leave issues common to two animals living together.
Huskies were created to be hardy and to look out for their own needs. This way of living and selectively breeding the Husky breed has led to a very different outcome than many other dog breeds that are commonly domesticated.
The reality of owning a husky and having cats in your home with it is that you can limit your dog’s prey drive, but you may always have trouble controlling their desire to chase and kill small things that move quickly.
DO SIBERIAN HUSKIES EAT CATS?
The biggest issue with cats living in the same house as a Husky is their desire to run or dart quickly from place to place. This kind of behavior matches the prey behavior that huskies were bred to identify with their chase instinct and hunt.
The predatory sequence that makes huskies chase cats when they move quickly is known as See-Chase-Grab-Kill.
While your Husky may not have the intention to actually kill your cat, it is very easy for a large and powerful dog to kill a cat by accident when its natural instincts take over.
A Husky that is well-fed living in a home will, generally speaking, not have the intention of killing a cat or small animal to eat it. They will only be acting on instinct because they saw something moving quickly near them. Keeping your husky well fed can make a big difference in their strong prey drive. Many husky owners will tell you this is a great way to make sure that both cat and Husky get along.
Whether or not Siberian huskies are good with cats is a question of training rather than innate breed characteristics.
Can I Teach My Siberian Husky to Live With My Cat?
This is something that you can accomplish, but it will take lots of effort on your part. Overcoming instinct is a difficult process, and this is a particularly hard instinct to overcome when you are training a husky dog. Compared to most other dog breeds, this can be a challenge for Siberian Huskies.
There are some simple ways to make sure that your husky does not chase your pet cat or treat it as prey, and you will need to make sure that you reinforce these training techniques daily if you want them to work.
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Make Sure They Know Your Cat is Family
You will need to be certain that your Siberian Husky is clear that your cat is a part of the family. They might think of your cat as a prey animal that has gotten into your home, or maybe they are just not aware that you have an attachment to the cat.
You will need to leverage the pack mentality to encourage your Siberian husky to behave itself around your cat. Make sure that your dog is aware that the cat is important to you and that they are a ranked part of the pack.
You can enforce this concept by making sure that the dog is submissive to the cat when food is concerned as well as when going through doorways and other small spaces. This kind of work can help convince your dog that the cat has a place in the pecking order.
