u/cspvm

Hi! This is Nala. She is an 10-11 year old black mouth cur mix (allegedly). I adopted her a little over 9 years ago from a humane society. I am looking for muzzle suggestions. I have zero background or knowledge on muzzles so I am coming here for help. I have measured her and The Muzzle Movement” does not have a size for her. Her measurements are: length - 9cm; width - 9cm; height - 7 cm. It will be for “long term” wear. I’ve looked at Mia’s Muzzles briefly but I’m not sure that she would drink water with that style.

Six weeks ago, something happened and she killed my 13 year old cat in our yard. They have never had issues. They sleep together. They’d lived together for 9 years. Absolutely random and heartbreaking. She has lived with 4 dogs and 3 cats for the majority of that time. She is NOT aggressive. She has never shown any interest in any of the cats, but the one she killed is the one that actually engaged with the dogs. The other two completely ignore them.

Here we are 6 weeks later.. and I walk out to find two dead kittens in our fully fenced 6’ privacy fence. So now, we are going to immediately get a muzzle. I realize custom ones take several weeks. I fully believe that these two incidents are related. All our animals are spayed or neutered. We don’t have a feral cat population near us. I have never even seen another cat in our yard. Of our three cats, Blue was the only one who was ever outside. Some random momma cat gave birth under our shed, and now my cat that I had for 13 years is dead, and my dog I’ve had for a decade has a question mark over her and our trust in her is broken.

I know this is not a reflection of Nala, it’s instinct. Dogs have been killing cats since the beginning. But I love her, I don’t want to abandon her, I don’t want to stress her out by re-homing, and I don’t want to risk any thing happening with our other cats. She deserves to kept safe too.

I’m sure this is more information than necessary in a group that is supportive of muzzling, but six weeks ago I was absolutely inundated with negativity for not immediately euthanizing or taking my dog to a shelter on a Facebook group that I turned to for advice. Lesson learned.

Thank you for your time if you’ve read this far!! And I appreciate any recommendations and advice!!

ETA: I would also love any resources and guidance on properly muzzle training!