Westies and Cats

People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for instance.

Well, I do not know anything about how exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe 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 had to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to in excess of ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just was required to find her place. She’s done that now. There are occasional spats to determine who is 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 handful 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 manage a dog for some time, nevertheless the  old thoughts were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire any kind of dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it really wasn’t the end of the world for them either.

One of the things that we insisted on from the beginning was that the new dog needed to submit to the cats. This is especially true when dealing with terrier dogs like the West Highland Terrier. Regardless 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 virtually anything that runs from them qualifies as game. It does not mean they aren’t great dogs, but there’s no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is always to define the things they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.

That’s why we were so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the very beginning. It wasn’t hard to accomplish. If she got too frisky we were required to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word plus a tug on the leash was enough to do the job. It certainly helped our cats were not particularly impressed by 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 many of the boundaries we laid down in the beginning.  We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its equally as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In actual fact it looks like it’s more of a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. When they aren’t chasing each other throughout the house its not unusual to find Willow curled up with one of the cats, or maybe hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, you can never tell which two animals are likely to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 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 circumstances may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already accustomed to having a dog around. If the cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a rather different course. In a case like that I would recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get used to one another. Umbilical training, where you have your dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is an extremely 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. Stick with the umbilical work for at least seven days and keep the dog in its crate when it’s not on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes the dog isn’t a threat to it.

Precisely the same things apply if you wish to introduce a cat into your house. I’d recommend a kitten when possible, as they’re more malleable and that is likely to make the relationship more managable. Make sure that the dog and cat are able to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep your dog on umbilical for some time.

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 is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit in the beginning and everything ought to be well.

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