[silvercat]

Last winter Sylvie met a dog - a lab, & a cat.

The lab has a toy hedgehog she plays with so we were very hesitant, very slow & very observant in letting them meet. It was more of a first 'slow sniffing' then meeting. The dog was very curious, but once Sylvie was in my palms & the dog had the opportunity to sniff, the dog backed away, almost seemed scared. I was at this house for a couple days. Whenever I opened the door to go into the room Sylvie was staying in, the dog would follow me, remain inquisitive, but always keep a safe distance back.

Similar with the cat. Now with the cat we were even more concerned as the cat has been known to hunt & bring mice/birds home. Sylvie and the cat were not going to meet while we were visiting but everything happened in a thankfully controlled manner. Similarly, the cat came slowly forward with Sylvie secure & protected in my hands, sniffed Sylvie & then backed away. The cat wanted nothing to do with her for the remainder of the time we were there.

Tonight Sylvie met my parents dog, a ****er spaniel. Being a spaniel we were hesitant for them to meet. They've been in the same room & he's been a couple feet from her but always held as we didn't want him to try to attack or pick her up. Tonight when I was sitting on the sofa & the dog was on the floor, I took Sylvie out & put her on my lap. Slowly I let the dog sniff her. However as soon as Sylvie was on my lap, the dog lent away & ****ed his head in a submissive manner. When I moved Sylvie a safe distance near him (watching both animals carefully), the dog then backed away & moved to the other side of the coffee table. He then sat over there but never took his eyes off Sylvie until she was back in the carrier.



So my question, for those of you with other pets that have in a controlled manner met their hedgie - what was it like? I know it's not recommended. The first two animals met Sylvie as a precautionary measure so they didn't charge into the room. What I wonder though "Is Sylvie just a super tough & intimidating hog?" or do others find animals are scared of their hedige?

 

[Immortalia]

My cat has met my hedgie. He's a very laid back and declawed kitty(the type you can just push him over and he'll flop down in that spot). He just laid there, and my boy just walked around. Not much really happened. My cat is just the type to sit out of the way, and walk off if the hedgie moved closer. But he's always been very good with my smaller animals. He used to play with my chinchilla all the time, and she would actively seek him out and nuzzle up to him.

My dogs will NEVER get to meet. The smaller 2 are too hyperactive, and my big one is too.... "hunter mode" when it comes to small animals.

But my horse has met my hedgie! lol Not really much of a "meet" but rather I had my boy is my arms and I let my horse 'sniff' him through the stall bars. No actual interaction was made though.

 

[Pipkin]

My bunny and hedgie will never meet purely because I dont think its safe. I have 3 dogs. My jack russell will never be allowed to meet my hedgie as he is far too unpredictable and hyperactive its ridiculous, plus i can imagine him thinking hes dinner. My pug and yorkie are allowed in the same room as his cage and my pug just tries to eat his food from the container below his cage and my yorkie is scared to even go near the cage, no idea why :lol:
Although none will ever meet him as I see it as too risky

 

[hedgielover]

I had to the same controlled meet with my Brother's golden retriever. I was very nervous because the retriever is still young and a bit nuts but he was also terrified of the hedgehog. I put Quigley on the floor and sat beside them and Quigley walked over to the dog for a sniff but Tracer (the dog) just backed away. Quigley followed him and Tracer backed away. Practically all the way out of the room.

My mom's cats were more interested in Quigley's food than him and steal it out of the playpen. I wouldn't say they are afraid of him but all of them were around when I had my first hedgehog and all got a nose full of quills at one point.

My friend has an older Jack Russle who is really calm for the bread the dog has a pet guinea pig and used to have a hamster. When she came over to visit I let her meet Quigley in his playpen and she followed him around, watched while he was eating and laid down near him when he went to sleep. He ignored her and didn't even mind when she sniffed him. The only reason I let them near each other is because she loves small animals and has a long history of interacting with hamsters, rabbis and guinea pigs gently and safely.

 

[krbshappy71]

Riley and I have sat on the floor, him in my arms and his blankey, in front of the metal baby gate to the dogs. Riley comes out and sniffs wildly at their direction, very curious indeed. They stick their noses in the bars and snuffle wildly, the one Golden drools and whines and I would be concerned about him getting any closer because he is just too interested and excited. Riley does not ball up or even hiss, he's a very mellow hedgie. I only do it occasionally if the Golden whines because he knows I have Riley and because Riley does not appear afraid at all. I have no intentions of letting them meet in other ways, I feel this is the safest for us. I'm sure the Golden is just excited, but I don't trust that excitement.

I have not done this with Whyte, he is just a ball of spines in general so I don't want to stress him out in any way.

 

[leannem]

My friends great dane was also terrified of Harley. I had mentioned in another post that I had read that hedgies do not have a scent. I was thinking that this may contribute to why the dogs are afraid. Dogs rely heavily on smell (butt smelling especially) to figure out a lot of things about other animals. Maybe if the hedgies aren't giving off a scent (maybe just poop smell) then the dog is confused by it? I dunno.... just speculation.

 

[Stephanie76]

Same here as krbshappy.

I have introduced my adult lady, Pequop, to our 2 cats (always supervised, just because you never know!) and it went over swimmingly! My Scottish Fold cat, Wallace, was extremely friendly and the both sniffed eachother and moved on! :lol: Ruca, my Tuxedo cat, never really cared period, but did recognized Pequop's "presence" and was just unamused. :roll: However, the two cats have not met my baby boy, Leroux, as he is quilling and getting over a staph infection.. and I would like to think those are 2 good reasons to keep him pretty much isolated for now.

 

[Little Lebowski]

We introduced Lebowski to our cat almost immediately (If we didn't the cat would have been way to curios to keep her away). She likes him a lot, she won't interact with him but she will lay near his cage and sleep and when he is out she wants to be in the same room with him. Like when we let him run on the carpet he will run into the other room and the cat will follow him and lay in the corner. She doesn't even watch him, just wants to be near him. Sometimes she tries to cuddle in my lap when he is in there (I won't let her because she would probably lay on him! :shock: ). He could honestly care less about her being around him, he sniffed her once and now just totally ignores her. It's amusing :lol: