cat terrorizing dog

My boyfriends dog is terrified of my cat and the cat knows it!!!

Lila is a very sweet and timid 5 year old yellow lab. Every person or animal that has come in contact with Lila has fallen in love with her – except one of my two cats.
I have two four year olds I rescued from the local shelter when they were 12 weeks old. Buddeez and Palz are sister and brother and are affectionate, people loving cats. They have never met a dog until Lila.

Buddeez was initially scared of Lila but now just keeps distance between them. Lila has had good experiences with other cats and initially wanted to play but quickly became scared of both cats. Palz’s personality immediately changed whenever Lila was/is around – I think he becomes jealous and possessive of both Buddeez and myself. Lila has spent nights at my place and I have even had Lila spend weekends with me and the animals have basically ignored one another. I noticed some tuffs of fur after leaving them home alone together one day last April/May and Lila began to avoid/hide from Palz. The animals had no contact all summer and Palz’s behavior has escalated since we have been exposing them to one another since September.

Palz escalating behavior consists of ‘herding’ Lila, even when she is lying down (similar to a dog herding sheep.) He crouches up to Lila and hisses horribly and then chases her into a corner when Lila tries to run away. I have always rescued Lila before seeing if the cat would physically attack her. Sunday night (the night I returned from vacation) was our worst experience ever. Lila was sleeping in her dog bed along side our bed and we awoke to Palz hissing and approaching her. When Lila ran away Palz chased her into the other room. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t grabbed the cat and locked him in another room. Lila was so scared she pooped on the bedroom floor and then hyperventilated and shook all night long. (Poor thing!)

I feel as if one bark from Lila would put the cat in his place.
(I am also asking for help within the dog behavior section to help Lila stand up for herself.)

:confused:

my cat always terrorizes my dog. :)

cats are more like people the dogs are,they know when they aggrivate people and other pets,you will see them smiling when they finish their "missions" lol gotta love them kitties!
hootch