Without actually seeing the incident, we cannot say what exactly occurred. Did you and your daughter miss body language indicating your dog didn’t want to be cuddled? Does your dog feel unwell?
Has she ever growled at the child, and if so, have those growls been met with respect or with punishment?
You need need NEED a behaviorist IN your home assessing the situation appropriately. Until then, keep the child on a short leash around the dog.




Because I am a stickler for accuracy in language: If they’re a mix, then they aren’t purebred. The word “purebred” means an animal bred from parents of the same breed or variety. Because you have two different breeds involved, they are a mix.
That said…do they go outside? Have you taken a fecal sample to the vet annually? I give heartworm preventative 4x a year – my old man cat doesn’t go outside, and I get annual fecal and blood testing done for him. Get fecals and blood panels done, at the very least, to make sure everything’s good. Without a full picture of your cats’ health, you cannot make an educated decision on how to handle medications and the like.
I’m really sorry for the mistake, so they’re not purebred (my cousin told me that that’s how purebred cats are and I believed him), anyways, I’m not an expert in cats nor am I accurate in language. My cats go indoors and outdoors whenever they want and I’ve never taken them to any fecal or blood tests but I do have a vet coming to my house every month for a checkup on my cats’ overall health.
If they go outside, then yes, they should be on heartworm preventative. I would also have them on an external parasite preventative/flea and tick preventative, as well.
Have they ever seen a vet? Vaccines? If not and they are outside then you have more to worry about then worms. You need to get them checked out properly by a vet and you need to consider them to be indoor cats. Outdoors cats have a short life so and of around 5 years or less. I door cats can live up to 20. You say they have been sick before, most likely because they caught something outside. I would take to a vet and let them administer the medicines and preventatives. It’s not that much money to have this done.
Thank you for the answers