Westies and Cats
People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier be friends with Guinea Pigs for example.
Well, I do not know anything about how exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or possibly a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of knowledge about Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one thing that she had to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to over 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 actually occasional spats to determine who will be top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey back and forth amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog in to the midst of a bunch 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 deal with a dog for some time, however the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, however it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One of the things that Marilyn and I insisted on from the beginning was that a new dog needed to submit to the cats. This is especially valid when working with terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. Regardless of how lovable and cute they can be, deep down inside their heart and soul these are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with the game animals, and virtually anything that runs away 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 down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is always to define the things they can chase and fight with and the things they can’t.
This is why I was so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the start. 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 complete the task. It certainly helped that our cats weren’t particularly afraid of 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 a lot of the boundaries we laid down at first. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its quite as likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. The truth is it seems to be really a game of tag than anything, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing one another 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, one can never tell which two animals will bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the first to really chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) which set the stage for the others to follow.
Your circumstances might be quite different from ours, because our cats were already familiar with having a dog around. If your cats haven’t had anything to do with dogs, you will probably want to 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 accustomed to one another. Umbilical training, where you have the dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is a very good training method under any circumstance. It offers 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 1 week and keep your dog in its crate when it isn’t on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes that the dog is not really a threat to it.
Exactly the same things apply if you want to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten when possible, since they are more malleable which can make the situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat get to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep the dog on umbilical for a time.
Cats can definitely coexist with Westie Terriers. They may not become buds the way our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other is certainly possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit from the beginning and all will be well.