Why is my Chihuaua killing?

I have a three year old female chihuaua, named Molley, and I have 2 cats. The two cats recently had babies. Our dog Molley has never had babies. She has killed 2 of the babies in one litter of the cats and one of the babies in another litter. We saw her kill one of the babies, we tried stopping her but it was too late, so we know it is her involved in this behavior. One of the cats has had babies at least 5 times before and our dog Molley has never attempted to harm the kittens before. Why is she exhibiting such behavior now? At first we thought maybe she thought they were her babies and was trying to carry them by the neck and just bit too hard but the last baby was practically mutilated. Please help so I may understand this type of behavior.
Thank you, K.C. Texas :confused:

Absolutely keep her away from the kittens from now on. She has obviously developed a prey drive, and they will not be safe left alone with her.

Karen, I have kept her away now from the babies, I just need to know why this has happened and why now and not before. She gets alot of love and care so I just don't know why she is doing this? Thank you, K.C.

I sent you a PM, but Google "prey drive" and that should give you a good explanation.

First, welcome to PT. My advice for you would be to find a behaviorist ASAP for your dog and get your cats spayed immediately.

If there are any kitten left in the house, please make sure they are 100% safe from your dog. (Keep them in a locked room)

I echo Jen about #1 getting your cat spayed. There's no reason for a cat to have "at least" 5 litter of kittens.

:( My words to the tee..

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Originally Posted by JenBKR

First, welcome to PT. My advice for you would be to find a behaviorist ASAP for your dog and get your cats spayed immediately.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by JenBKR

First, welcome to PT. My advice for you would be to find a behaviorist ASAP for your dog and get your cats spayed immediately.

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I agree with this also. Is your Chi spayed? Please have all the animals fixed asap. We have way too many unwanted animals in this world right now. We don't need anymore. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JenBKR

First, welcome to PT. My advice for you would be to find a behaviorist ASAP for your dog and get your cats spayed immediately.

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100% agree with this post

Get your cat spayed. Never breed again.Problem solved.

She and I exchanged PMs, both cats were former strays. One cat is already scheduled to be spayed, and I gave her suggestions for the other, which is semi-feral, so she hasn't been successful in getting her into a carrier to get her to the vet to be spayed. I explained TNR programs, and told her to ask the vet for suggestions, as the cat will let herself be petted, but that's it for human interaction right now.