Long post, sorry :\
I've had my dog since he was a puppy 9 weeks old. He's a Norwegian Elkhound/Border Collie mix. He's turning 7 years old in 2 months. He has always been more of a companion dog if anything. Has to follow me everywhere, extremely smart, knows lots of tricks, he is basically my sidekick. Wherever I go he goes. Hell I even got my first tattoo which is his paw print.
He hasn't really had many issues with other animals but he also just likes to do his own thing. At dog daycare years ago he used to only play every once in a while and the only couple scuffles he's been in were provoked by another dog. He usually just liked to keep to himself. My parents own many dogs he never cared for, and have had a couple cats over the years and he's never went after them. He would stare at them like he was curious but never chased or tried anything. If they were next to them he didn't do anything. My old roommates had a cat he just avoided and my ex gf had a cat he didn't care for either. While on a leash he can be iffy.. seems a little protective not sure why, but never had any incidents. He is also slightly food aggressive? Has never attacked anything near his food but will let out a little growl if they get near it (other animals only not people). Same if he has a bone. Other than that not much aggression.
I've been living on my own for about 6 months and decided I've always wanted a cat as well, and adoption is free this month, so now would be a great time. My parents said if for some reason it didn't work out they would take her so no matter what she has a forever home. I felt bad leaving for work everyday with my dog being home alone for 8-10 hours. A cat could keep him company. I figured a kitten would be great.. it would grow up with my dog and I felt my dog would be far more welcoming with a kitten. Cats also tend to themselves most the time so it isn't as much upkeep as a dog with exercising and letting them out and such. So I adopted a kitten and fell in love immediately. Was hoping they would end up being good buds and at worse they would both just do their own thing.. tonight that all changed.
For the first 4 or 5 days the kitten and dog didn't meet. I kept the kitten in a separate room. The dog would sniff under the door a lot and was curious but eventually just kind of didn't care. Then I let them meet. Held the cat and showed the dog. She hissed and seemed a little scared (seemed normal) and the dog was super intrigued. After a couple days of easing into it they seemed fine. The dog kept a close eye on the kitten always wondering what she was up to but never showed signs of being mad. No back fur up or teeth showing like he normally does if bothered. The kitten eventually began following the dog and wanting to pal around with him. She really liked him. He didn't really care for her but didn't seem bothered.
One time she got near his food and he let out a little growl. No teeth showing or anything more of just a grunt. I told him it was okay and to stop/relax and he did. She sniffed around his food and even tried to eat some and nothing came of it. This was the most aggression he had shown toward the kitten. For the next few days I let the kitten run freely, but I put the dogs food up just in case since I wasn't always by the food to watch.
Well tonight when I got home from work I let the dog outside and went and got the kitten. When I'm gone I keep them separated just to be safe. After letting the dog in I put the kitten down. Stupid me didn't even think about the dogs food being there because they had been fine. I didn't see what happened but she happened to either go near his food bowl or tried to eat his food. In an instant he has the kitten in his mouth, shakes her once, and drops her. I yell at him and he runs. She starts running under the kitchen table.. BLOOD IS DRIPPING EVERYWHERE. Surprisingly she hardly made noise. I get under the table and get a hold of her.. her eye is a giant blood bubble. She's meowing every once in a while which is her usual but doesn't seem to even know what happened. Doesn't seem in pain but damn it looked awful.
Now I have a mix of emotions as I'm running her to the emergency vet. I'm so freaking mad at my dog, even though I'm not sure I really should be, I'm so upset for my poor kitten, and I'm feeling EXTREME guilt. I adopted this stray to rescue it and now it's eye is probably destroyed. Can't help but break down in tears. Even at the vet I'm in tears and crying here and there.. AND I'M A 30 YEAR OLD MAN. This really hit me hard. The 3 other people waiting were woman looking fine yet here I am trying to hold myself together. They ended up saying the kitten was somehow taking it extremely well for how bad it was.. definitely the stronger one of us two lol.
They are keeping her overnight. I told them that just by looking at it I'm like 90% sure she's going to lose her eye and feel awful. They told me they aren't sure yet because of the swelling but the way they worded things I'm pretty sure they just didn't want to break my heart telling me she will lose it. Saying things like she won't even know considering she's a kitten, she will grow up to it being "normal". They told me they can do surgery to take it out if it comes to that. I will be amazed if she doesn't need it. Vet bill was $900, and that's the bare minimum. They told me it can go up to $1900 depending on how long she needs to stay.. and that's NOT including surgery.
Anyways sorry for the long post. Just really heartbroken right now and had to get it out somewhere. I really screwed up and wish I could turn back time. It's going to be hard to explain to all my friends that know I got a kitten what happened to her. I felt I was her guardian and let her down big time. Haven't been this torn up in a while.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ckkq0o/my_dog_attacked_my_kitten_she_is_likely_going_to/
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