So Zoe DOES NOT like our family dog :(. I have a ~60 lbs 9 year old German Short Hair. Awesome family dog, grew up with my first cat, no issues. Have been slowly trying to introduce Zoe to the dog, but she is not having it. She’s not scared of him, and nothing bad has happened to tramautize her or dissway her from accepting him. I will sit in the floor and hold him so he doesn’t try to play or do anything too aggressive to run her off. She will work her way righ up to him, righ up in his face no fear, growling the whole time. She’ll hiss a few times, and then try to slap him in the nose.

Poor guy. I’ve been trying this slow approach letting her control the pace for going on 8 months now. She is not aggressive or mean in any other way. She has a perfect temperament, but I’m out of ideas cause for now, she doesn’t like him at all.

Any ideas? I would prefer the become buddies so they can be in the house together.

Well ..... most of the time, things go well. Looks like Zoe is simply not liking your dog. A 60 pounds dog is pretty big. Know that every cat is different and has completely different personalities, especially bengals. How active is your dog? Many cats like their environment quiet and not noisy and active (I have one of those). If Zoe hasn't gotten her confidence up being around the dog by now, it's possible it will never happen. There is the saying about cats and dogs -- but most people dismiss it and have cats and dogs that get along great. In some cases, however, it is not meant to be.

Hopefully Zoe has a tall cat tree that she can climb to get away from the dog. Hopefully, you show them both equal affection so neither is jealous. And, truthfully, I'd spend more time with Zoe trying to warm up to the dog. You don't want your dog being aggressive toward Zoe. Eight months is a long time and ample time to get this sorted out. Have you held Zoe in your lap and have the dog come over to you so they can sniff each other out? Have you done this about 2 million times over the past eight months? Zoe need to feel safe when your doggie is around -- holding her may cause her to want to escape and scratch -- but at least she would be safe in your arms. I would also use terms like "good Zoe," "nice Zoe" with her name when she is behaving being confronted by the dog. Same with your doggie. Use those terms with his name. I don't have a dog and cat -- just two cats, so I have not been confronted by this situation.

Also, do you play with Zoe (wand toys are great) when the dog is in the same room so the toy is the distraction and not the dog. Do you feed them in the same general area so the food is the distraction and not the dog?

I'm guessing you are Zoe's first owner and you have had her since she was a kitten and she's never had a previous owner.

My Oberon was once a constantly growling soundtrack from The Exorcist. He has now changed into a mellow cat that doesn't pay much attention to the other 2 cats, and is growing increasingly friendly towards humans.

I attribute this to two things. One he is getting enough food. He eats way more than my previous biases said a normal cat should. I think He had been underfed for a long time, and a hungry predator will growl alot. He gets two 5.5 oz cans of wet plus one or two portions of raw every day. He is especially complacent with a full belly. Perhaps you want to feed Zoe before she spends time with the dog. Maybe even over indulge her once in a while, so she has a full belly when she is around the dog.

Maybe "feed" her mind and tire her out with some play before she spends time with the dog. Some good predatory fishing toy play could get some of those predatory growls out of her system.

The second thing is the use of Calming Collars and diffusers that are out there. They have the appeasing pheromone that are in cat's whiskers. They are good for 30 days, but I like to attach the old collars to cat trees and sometimes even wear them on my wrist. You might even want to put a new calming collar on the dog. I think they even make tags infused with the pheromone that might be more easily attached to the dog's collar. Brands include: FELIWAY, SARGEANTS and THUNDEREASE.

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Sherry...have done about everything you've mentioned. One thing I will single out from your comments however is the confidence...confidence around him is not her problem. She has no fear of him. She sits right in his face the whole time she's trying to slap him, LOL. Other than that, have tried all your suggestions. I would also suggest that diet, full belly, attitude, disposition, and all those things are not a factor here in this case. She will play with toys and pretty much run a normal routine right up in his space with no concern for him. She is not a fan of being held; that's more of a job or something she has to tolerate instead of an enjoyment. Not angry or irritated by it, but not something she looks forward to. Point being, being held is not a source of comfort for her, thus I don't think it buys me anything trying to work through this one.

She's also not threatened by him. He's not in the house unsupervised. Although he'd want to play, I don't want to induce a traumatizing event for her that just pushes her even further away from becoming friendly.

Since things have not changed in 8 months, they probably won't at this point. Sometimes pets just have to co-exist and nothing more. They may never be friends or best buddies. You can only do the best you can. If you've tried all the things I suggested and nothing has changed the situation, this may be something you just have to live with.

Yea, that sucks. I’m gonna keep trying though. Poor guy. He’s the one being nice, she’s the one being the...well...never mind! LOL.

I'm really really not a dog person, so I wouldn't know the first thing about specifically having a cat and dog get along. But I can tell you that growling is usually about territory. It's because your cat feels that in some way the dog is threatening to take up a resource that the cat wants ownership of, and does feel threatened (threatened does not always equate to fear of violence or injury though).

I think, channeling Jackson Galaxy here, the thing to try would be to try to do things to increase the sense of "ownership" the cat feels in spaces where she might feel particularly threatened by the presence of the dog. So that means, high perches, "scent soakers" (objects that are infused with the cat's scent), I'd also definitely try Feliway. And then beyond that just observation. What do you think, specifically, your cat is concerned about? Are there specific places in the house where she just doesn't want the dog to be around (maybe a favorite sleeping spot, her food, or her litterbox)? Is it that she is maybe enjoying some time with her favorite humans, and doesn't want to share you with the dog? Does the dog maybe help himself to her water or food? Is there something else that the dog does in particular which particularly cheeses her off?

From what you've said, it doesn't sound like she wants to injury the dog or anything. It sounds like she's just saying "stay away, I don't want you around me here or right now". You might have to live with that.

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The little monsters 3

Brian, I LOVE that you channel jackson Galaxy. I'm sure there is a My Cat From Hell episode that deals with this.

Curious, does the dog back up when she slaps him?

How is this encounter happening? Are you putting him next to her and she is slapping him? or he approaches her himself? or is she the one going after him?

My cats and dog get along pretty fantastic, play, groom each other, ect. I have always had cats and dogs together of many breeds, siberians, shepherds, collies, goldens, ect. It was always more about teaching the dog than trying to teach the cat.

My cat will still give the dog a growl and a slap if she has had enough of him. It's just her way of saying, okay I have had enough! Dog's cant read the subtle body language of cats like tail twitching ect, so it escalates to a smack which the dog understands.

When they first met a hiss and a slap is exactly what he got the first time, he backed off and that helped her realize she can control the situation and him being around isn't a huge deal.

I would watch her body language and see if she is giving other subtle cues to the dog that the poor dog cant read/understand (because shes a cat and not a dog). I'm talking about tail twitching, ear positioning, dilated pupils, ect.

You may just need to train the dog to leave her alone or try putting the dog on a down/stay and play with her. Get her used to his presence as just that, a presence and not an annoyance. They may never be 'friends' but if the dog is well behaved and can be taught to leave the cat alone, then they should be able to at least co-habitat.