People often ask about good companions for West Highland Terriers. Can a Westie Terrier get along with Guinea Pigs for example.
Well, I do not know anything about how exactly a Westie would get along with an Iquana or maybe a Guinea Pig, but I have a wealth of information about Westies and cats..
When Willow came to us last summer one of the things that she had to adjust to was a household already inhabited by three tomcats ranging in age from four years to over ten. The cats definitely rule the roost here and the new little Westie just needed to find her place. She’s done that now. There are certainly occasional spats to determine who’s top dog/cat on any given day, but that’s normal and the cats jockey forward and backward amongst themselves whether the dog is there or not.
We weren’t just dropping a dog in to the midst of some cats who had never seen a dog before. Our Norwegian Elkhound, Saladdin was a key part of our family structure for a long time and actually helped raise two of our cats from kittenhood. He’s gone now and the cats haven’t had to deal with a dog for quite a while, but the old tapes were still there. They weren’t overjoyed to acquire a brand new dog to contend with, especially an energetic pup, but it wasn’t the end of the world for them either.
One thing that we insisted on in the beginning was that a new dog must submit to the cats. This is especially true when managing terrier dogs including the West Highland Terrier. It doesn’t matter how lovable and cute they can be, deep down in their heart and soul they are hunters. They want to get in and duke it out with game animals, and pretty much anything that runs away from them qualifies as game. That doesn’t mean they aren’t great dogs, but there’s no way around it: the terrier breeds from Pit Bulls all the way down to Yorkies are scrappers. So our job as owners of terriers is always to define what they can chase and fight with and what they can’t.
This is exactly why I was so strict about making Willow submit to the cats from the start. It wasn’t hard to accomplish. If she got too frisky we needed to lay her down until she settled and calmed, but mostly a sharp word and a tug on the leash was enough to get the job done. It certainly helped our cats are not particularly afraid of dogs and don’t mind demonstrating the use of their claws if she gets too feisty.
Things have settled into place now and we’ve been able to relax most of the boundaries we laid down to start with. We have chases in the house now, up the stairs, around and down. Its equally likely for Willow to be chased by a cat as it is for her to chase one. In fact it is apparently really a game of tag than anything else, and nobody gets hurt. Whenever they aren’t chasing each other around the house its not unusual to discover Willow curled up with one of the cats, or simply hanging out on the windowseat with one. And, one can never tell which two animals are going to bond. Our oldest cat, Whiskey, was the 1st to actually chase Willow (I think she pissed him off, to tell you the truth) and that set the stage for the others to follow.
Your situation may be quite different from ours, because our cats were already familiar with having a dog around. If the cats have not had anything to do with dogs, you should probably follow a slightly different course. In a case like that I would recommend keeping the new Westie on umbilical for a couple of days while the critters get accustomed to one another. Umbilical training, where you have your dog on a long leash and keep the leash tied around your waist, is a very good training method under any circumstance. It will give you control of the situation without having to hold the leash, or even pay much attention to the dog. Stay with the umbilical work for around one week and keep the dog in its crate when it’s not on the leash. The cat will quickly settle down once it realizes the dog isn’t a threat to it.
Similar things apply if you wish to introduce a cat to the house. I’d recommend a kitten if at all possible, simply because they are more malleable and that will make the situation more managable. Be sure that the dog and cat get to sniff each others butts so that you have the nose engaged, then keep the dog on umbilical for a time.
Cats can coexist with Westie Terriers. They will often not become buds in the same manner our animals did, but peaceful respect for each other should be possible. Use the umbilical, make the dog submit to start with and all ought to be well.