I've had my cat for about 8 years now (who has recently changed from being an outdoor cat to an indoor one due to living situations) and despite being typically calm and affectionate, she has become more tense and aggressive ever since we had a roommate move in with a big dog who is super fixated on her. We don't have a way to change our living situations so right now I've just been trying to at least have them stand each other and wanted to see if anyone here has any answers.
So far, it seems that neither pet is actively aggressing towards the other. My cat has lived with other small dogs (10-15lbs) before and did perfectly fine, but she's never lived with a large (70lbs+) dog before. The dog is young and curious and only wants to play while my cat acts kinda like a mature middle-aged woman and wants nothing of it. The dog stares and follows my cat around whenever she's in sight, but he never tries to chase/bite/growl/etc., he just wants to play. Meanwhile, my cat only hisses, growls, or scratches in defense when the dog gets too close (within 6 inches) and he gets visibly scared and runs away (only to come back within a minute). In the last few months that this dog has lived here, my cat has basically confined herself to my room and has been easily irritated by most interactions (petting, brushing, getting picked up). I don't want this to be a permanent solution as I want my cat to be able to roam freely around the house stressfree without a giant dog looming over her all the time.
My other roommates seem to think that these interactions are them "getting along" but I don't think it's good behavior to have the dog constantly fixated on my cat, which in turn, causes my cat stress and anxiety. I understand that the dog is...just being a dog and his natural herding instinct kicks in whenever he sees my cat, but I would prefer it if there were some way to get him to ignore my cat without supervision whenever she walks into the room. Any suggestions?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/fw4y6q/new_dog_is_nonaggressively_fixated_on_cat/
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