Will a cat defend another cat against a much larger dog?!?!?

You are a Star Wars fan aren't you? I have 3 cats. I added the third cat when no one would take him from a friend. They get along pretty well, but the two in residence before him have been together for about 7 years. When the new cat picks on the female the male will run to the disturbance and jump on the "new" cat. I've had him for 2 years and this hasn't stopped. And he only picks on the female (spayed) and her knight in shinning armor is neutered, so don't know if that makes a diff. or not.

I have seen my spayed female cat band together with neutered male cat when the male was being bullied by some intact adolescent male cats. The young males all acted like they had a crush on my female cat, but would try to beat up the male.

My stepfather had a cat who was the family peace-keeper/enforcer. Tiger would immediately rush over to anyone - human, feline, or canine - who yelped or whined and then smack whoever he thought had hurt them, even if it was just an accident. As the household had three cats, two dogs, and three adult humans, we often got in each other's way but mostly the animals got along great.

So it does not surprise me that your cats would band together against the dog. You might do well to teach the dog to give the cats a few feet of space.

The issue is that dogs are poor generalizers - it's not that the dog is "sneaky, greedy" etc, but that they have no intrinsic sense of morality or "rightness" and so only think something is "bad" if it has bad consequences. If it has never had bad consequences except with a human in the room, then how on earth are they to know that the rules still apply with the human out of the room? You need to train in such a way that corrections and rewards occur when the dog does not think you are present - i.e. hiding around the corner. Read here https://tr.im/4p1q5

I personally owned a Labrador Retriever (read: chow hound) that could be left 6" from a hot dog in a sit-stay for half an hour and not touch it - the word was "mine" and it meant that you don't touch that, even if I am not in the room, even if whatever, you DO NOT touch that. You could leave a plate of food on the floor for hours and not only would she not touch it, she would also keep the other animals (dogs and cats) from touching it.

In all probability, these dogs studied were just not properly trained/proofed before the experiment. With "proofing" to set them up and catch them in the act to give

I have 2 dogs and 4 cats. A couple years ago, my husband brought home a rescued male Jack Russell Terrier someone had offered him. We have a very petite, spayed female Jack Russell and our two dogs seemed to get along well with the newcomer. Everything seemed okay with our cats too. However, on the third day, the new JRT, attacked one of my cats as she was crossing the living room and he chased and pounced on her behind the TV. My female JRT saw this and she jumped on the male JRT and the fight was on!!!! I had to separate them to different areas. When they both calmed down and I allowed them together again, but my female JRT tends to hold a grudge and she kept jumping on the male after that and the fighting would start all over again. I was forced to call the previous owner and tell them that it wasn't working out and they needed to find another home for the male JRT.

Ooops....I just realized your story involves two CATS and mine a cat and a dog. Sorry. But I think the moral of the story is that two existing pets will protect each other if needed.

If Your Mom Was Being Attacked By Some Person or Dragon Wouldn't You Defend her? Cat's Are Very Loyal They stick to Someone and never forget them Like I Had To Leave My Cat In TX When We Moved........I Have a feeling He Will Always Come To Our Old Home And Start To Meow And Meow And Meow But No Answer Because We Will Be Some Where Else......*Sob* :((

If you have had the dog for 2 months, by now both of the cats definitely know it's not a dangerous dog. They may like the dog or not, but they are not afraid of it.

So I'm pretty sure that the behavior you describe is either play, or just trying to make the dog go away.

You don't say that either of them hurt the dog, so I guess they didn't; so I'm thinking that they were playing.

[One of my dogs plays by barking at one of the cats while the cat bats at him. They will keep this up for a couple of minutes, until the cat gets tired of it and walks off.]

Cats, though affectionate, very seldom fight to defend anybody except their own kittens or themselves, as they don't have the "pack" instincts that dogs do.

Under normal circumstances this may seem odd, but cats do come to each other's rescue. Your cat may even come to your rescue too! My father had a wildcat once and whenever a stranger, the postman or the jehovah witness came to the house he would attack them and hiss at them. Cat will protect people or other cats they have a bond with. Seeing as both your cats lived together for awhile they will tag-team your dog until they get accustomed to Zoe and "make friends".

My two cats used to gang up on my Lab all the time. (Keep the soft claws on unless you want the dog to loose an eye.) Poor dog. Mine got beat up all the time and he was really sweet to them. The cats were downright mean. If he walked within five feet of the kitchen table they would dart out and smack him around.

I crate trained my dog for two reasons: potty training and to keep him safe from the cats when he was a puppy.

One of my cats got into something toxic and I had to give her a bath immediately. The other cat came up behind me and swatted me and hissed. She was defending the other cat.

When the cat who instigated the attacks reached 17 and was very sick she died. After she was gone the other cat stopped attacking the dog. They got on well afterward.

My cats are loving, sweet animals. They comfort me when I'm sick or sad. They are playful and lively and know me well. They are very friendly but loyal to me and my husband. They are tolerant and even playful with my three year old and don't bite if feeling threatening(scratch though). Also cats aren't as needy as dogs. They can be left home and not wet on the carpet if not let out in time. They can even with patience be trained to use a human potty.

It's OK Jess the whole world is just one big fuzz ball isn't it? Seriously that sounds like pretty typical kitty behavior. Solo sounds like he's alpha and wants to be in control all the time so when he sees Jabba in distress he comes to the rescue. I can see it happening. Maybe it's a game to him, I don't know just guessing.