[UniquelyNormal]

We've been thinking about adding a husky to our family. The only thing that's stopped us so far is our cat. I've read that the husky prey drive can be high. Anyone have experience with this? If we get a puppy would the cat put him in his place & that be the end of the issue or not?

Thanks

[rocketbunny]

<shrug> My 2 year old beagle gets along just fine with my free-range house rabbit (traditional beagle prey). My cat and the beagle have a long standing truce agreement (they ignore each other) but I have no doubt that kitty could do serious harm to the beagle. Kitty also has plenty of options for escape to higher ground if necessary.

I tend to think that most critters can be trained to get along, they just need to know that the other is a member of the family. Heavy supervision early on (until doggie is trustworthy) is pretty much required.

[bacilli]

I have a husky. She's very much my baby, but she absolutely kills everything that gets too close. She's mauled 4 cats in the last 7 years. She also goes after my ridgeback if he doesn't do what she wants. She went after first cat when she was a little tiny puppy, she didn't seem to care that she was getting clawed, she just wanted to eat the cat. She's only killed one cat to date, but the moles/squirrels/mice/chipmunks/birds are countless.

Now, it may seem like I'm a terrible pet companion, but the truth is we lived in the country until about a year ago. She would go outside roaming and bring home her prizes. There were also a bunch of feral cats that would come onto the property, so it's not as if she's running loose killing people's pets or anything. She's just a hunter, and very good at catching/killing small animals.

[bitetoobreakkskin]

when i lved with my mom she got a husky as a puppy, also she has two cats...skylar (the husky) learned not to mess with the cats from an early age, she did however hunt anything and everything she found in the backyard..snakes, raccoons, possums, birds even! another thing, if you get a husky please make sure to have them checked regularly for diabetes (skylar died from it, my mom said the vet told her huskys are prone to that).
edit: also, if you have the dog in a fence, make sure its reinforced, theyre VERY good at escaping!

[nelie]

There are Husky rescues and they can tell you whether a particular dog is good with various animals. We adopted my beagle from the local shelter and he had lived with rabbits before hand.

[cinderpa]

We introduced a 6 year old Husky into our family a few years back and we already had a cat who was about 4 years old. At first the husky would try to play with the cat and just basically be a nuisence to him, until the cat had enough and put the husky in his place. They got along just fine after that.