I know first hand the drive-small pet issue way too well... my husky girls have killed a few critters.... that is one main reason I don´t allow Queequeg, my pom, to interact with them.... she´s small, cat like and squeaky noise making....

I thinnk Ashlee made a point... give the cat and dog a separate room, a place where they have no interaction unless the dog, Tikeya, is leashed adn/or muzzled for the cat´s safety and go from there...

time will tell if they can be trusted together or not... each dog/cat relationship is different, but in order to try out you must have a safety place for the cat to go...

as the baby gate or the hole in door.... although I won´t trust too much a baby gate... a determined husky, senior or not, may jump or bump it off in order to get to "target"....

anyway i do hope everything goes well and if you get the kitty I´ll be expecting tons of pics!!!