Any hope for getting a vicious cat to get along with dog?

[houseblend]

A little background: I've had a cat for 11 years now. She is sweet and affectionate and almost dog-like. 2 years ago, DH and I got a puppy. My cat was less than enthused, but has tolerated our dog as she has grown up and seems to have accepted her into the family. They play and overall get along.

When DH and I go out of town, we bring our dog to my dad's house to stay and he watches her for us. Well, a few months ago Dad adopted a stray cat. It turned out the cat was pregnant. She had her kittens and after 8 weeks old, my dad had given all the kittens away. Now a month later, we brought our dog over to introduce her to Dad's cat since we are planning a trip soon.

His cat was not happy at all. She made horrible noises (which my own cat has never made) while sitting behind the chair closely watching our dog. We were sitting there petting our dog (dog minding her own business), when the cat jumped out of nowhere and viciously attacked our dog. Our dog seems okay, despite some scratches that bled. Our own cat has playfully swatted at our dog, but never anything like this.

I've really encouraged Dad to get the cat spayed for the obvious reasons, but also hoping it would help her behavioral issues.

Is there anything else we can do? Is there any hope at all that the cat will ever allow our dog on her turf without attacking her? :confused:

[jh124]

We had a cat, Devil Cat (God rest his soul), that knew our dogs were mere pawns for him to play with. He was a bigger cat, maybe 12 lbs, but our dogs were HUGE. He'd attack them and keep them in line. After he got used to them, he'd just have to growl or hiss and they'd back away from whatever treat we had given them and take it for himself. He didn't need to lift a paw.

While they were never friends, Devil Cat and the dogs grew accustomed to one another and entered reproachmont. I'm sure that over time, the cat will learn to deal with your dog - after the dog has been properly subjugated to her rule.

[houseblend]

Did you do anything when your cat attacked your dogs? We're trying to figure out if it is best to let the cat feel she has done her job protecting her turf while clawing our dog, or if we should break it up. I'm a bit afraid of how much she will hurt our dog. :( (Our dog is a larger dog, too - 80 pounds.)

[jh124]

Did you do anything when your cat attacked your dogs? We're trying to figure out if it is best to let the cat feel she has done her job protecting her turf while clawing our dog, or if we should break it up. I'm a bit afraid of how much she will hurt our dog. :( (Our dog is a larger dog, too - 80 pounds.)

hmmm, after laughing at our chicken coward dogs (of course, we never had bloody wounds), we'd yell at the cat to stop and try to bat him away.

Ok, I will admit, I'm a dog person, but really, how on earth does one train a cat? I honestly don't know that it's possible. I know that the cat trained us to do what he wanted us to, but "discipline" and "cat" are two words that seldom go in the same sentance. That's a question for the cat people on the board.