Can Lurchers, Greyhounds and Other Sighthounds Live With Cats?

We are often asked if Lurchers, Greyhounds and other Sighthounds can successfully live in a home that has cats.  The short answer is that some can and some can't.

 

 

We test our hounds with cats in a series of stages to determine to the best of our ability whether or not a particular dog can go to a home with cats.

When dogs come into us we try to get a history on them if one is available.  If a Greyhound has no history of racing, or is a failed racer there is a better chance that they will pass the cat test.  The same holds true for all Sighthound puppies and most Lurchers that have not been worked.  (However, there are also many ex racers and ex working hounds successfully living with cats.  So there is no hard and fast rule to determine which dogs can successfully live with cats.)

Cat tests are carried out with suitable hounds brought in to us. This involves placing the muzzled dog in the same room as our 'stunt' cat and seeing what the dogs' reaction to the cat is.   Dogs that are too keen with the cat fail and we would not home them with cats.

Next, we try to place likely cat friendly hounds in a foster home with a cat.  Placing them in cat containing foster home allows us to fully test how the hound will accept and react to a cat in a home setting. 

Lurcher SOS hounds that pass all three stages are then termed as cat friendly or cat trainable and are deemed suitable to live in a home with cats, provided some precautions are taken by the new owner at the start of the adoption until the dog and cat know each other (eg muzzling, just in case). We will advise new owners on how to properly introduce their new hound to their cat.