Ruby is on borrowed time

As most of you know, we are having problems with Ruby and our cats, well, having 5 kittens in the house, drastic measures are needed.

She had her first introduction to the kittens today, on lead and muzzled and it went..........BADLY!!

If she hadnt had the muzzle on she would have taken them all out!!

My OH and I have had a long chat (me crying my eyes out) that as of tomorrow, Ruby will be spending a solid hour, every day in the same room as the kittens, still on lead and muzzled, if by the time the kittens leave for their new homes, we see no improvement, we will be rehoming her.

We have had her for 8 months now and there has been zero improvment in her behaviour towards the cats and as we are keeping one of the kittens, i am terrified she will get hold of it when no-one is here.

She is a lovely dog, shes just not a "cat" dog and because we have to keep them separate, its making D get over excited when he sees them as he doesnt spend any time with them anymore (although he never tries to hurt them, and i trust him completely with them) and i want my furry family back, i barely see my cats anymore and although i love Ruby dearly, it is making me resent her a little (she says still crying as she types )

We do also worry what effect it will have on D if she goes, as they have such a strong bond but this just isnt fair on any of us.

So, Ruby is on parole

sorry to hear about you problem, do try and remain positive as this will help ruby to calm down quicker
hope it all goes well for you

Aww what a shame, although I know how you feel. When I got my kitten I got her knowing full well that our resident dog hated cats! We managed to keep them apart as the dog was kept in the kitchen all her life and the cat just had the rest of the house. We managed it, but it was easier for us as the dog was aging and the cat was young so that when they did meet the cat could easily outrun the dog if necessary.

I really feel for you, it's a very difficult situation to be in and I really don't know what to suggest? I hope the introductions go well, but there are just some dogs that never learn to like cats.

Best of luck x

I hope you can resolve the problem hun, Fingers crossed for you, xxxxxdk

Sorry to hear this, I remember your previous threads and know how hard you have tried. I hope that there will be some improvement.x

So very sorry to hear this, although I offer no advice, as I can not imagin what your going through with ours all being cat lovers.
I feel for her though and you of course, she is obviously one of those dogs that feels the need to dislike cats.
I hope you get some results but as you say you have really really tried. Fingers xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for you Hun.

Thank you all.

The frustrating part is, there seems to be no aggression, she whines, tries to get to them, tail is wagging the whole time but when she gets close enough, she nips.

There is no growling, so part of me thinks she just wants to play but a nip to a tiny kitten could be fatal.

We introduced D too and although he was a bit over excited he just sniffed them and even licked one of them so i have no worries about him, apart from how he will feel if Ruby goes.

Oh chick, I really feel for you. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes for anything.

*Hugs* honey xxx

sorry i know this is probably not going to be a popular post, but you dont have to keep one of the kittens do you ?? so why do you not just go back to how it was before ? It just seems slightly unfair that because you have kittens Ruby has to be the one to go ?

Sorry if this upsets you but I just think that the dog was there first .....

That doesn't sound like I want to kill them. Sorry I don;t know your situation, but have you adult cats too or is this just kittens that you have.