Hi there, We get our new puppy at the beginning of September a lovely little black girl that we are calling Storme. Doe anyone have any words of wisdom/tips for introducing her to our cat. She is 9 but I think quite flexible. Just to make matters more tricky we have decided to get a new kitten who will be arriving a couple of weeks after the puppy. We lost our boy cat earlier this year so he left a feline sized hole in our home that I couldn't resist filling when a friend had a litter. TIA
What I do is make sure the cat's claws are short and provide escape routes and places puppy can't get to. These are for the split second times I am not supervising but with our latest puppy the escape holes in the kitchen gates are still being used as one cat has special dietary needs and I don't want the dog eating her food. Not sure what difference it makes to the cat but I think maybe it does to the puppy, I greet, pet, feed first the one who was here first. So sorry you lost your boy cat. Literally lost, as in he roamed? We had that, Nick would be 18 now and I still think about him. Where did he go, what happened? Especially since Nick loved the dog and they were quite bonded. In my experience kittens LOVE dogs. If the kitten is young I wonder if they see them as some sort of big mother cat? Now, I have not introduced a kitten to a puppy. I think the problem might be too rambunctious play on the puppy's part and the puppy too young yet to heed your advice to play nice. I think that will require even more supervision on your part. However I have found cat to cat introductions harder than dog to cat, or vice versa. Some of my cats get along, some don't, but they all like, if not love, the dog. So I think you might have to watch your older cat with the kitten just as much as the puppy with both cats. Good luck. I hope you post photos.
In my minimal experience, it's all going to depend on the personality of the cat. My two 10 year olds are skittish things whose instinct is "run" if they see the dog and the dog sees them. My senior lady is 16 and deaf and has the proverbial no f***s left to give - she'll go where she likes and gives Xena a good swipe for daring to get too close. Xena, bless her, just wants to play with the kitties! So much play bowing! I click and treat for calm but I'm not making much progress because I'm not going to force my skittish cats into an uncomfortable situation, and my senior lady is old and creaky and just needs a nice retirement. Just make sure that your cat has a safe area that's free of your puppy. Mine have free roam of the bedrooms and have their litter box where the dog can't get to it. There's a gate (with a cat-sized hole) separating the dog area from the cat area. Obviously feed your cat away from the pup too. I'm hoping that Xena will eventually calm down around the cats but I think it's going to take a while.
My cat is a resucue who gets eye infection flare ups when stressed, so we kept them apart for a long time and still largely do. The dog has the kitchen with a stair gate in the door. The cat has upstairs where the dog isn't allowed. There are lots of escape routes for the cat. First off I would fuss the cat and then go and see the puppy and let her smell the cat on me and vice versa. I then introduced them by picking the cat up and letting the puppy have a sniff, but letting the cat escape if she wanted to. She generally legged it upstairs! The puppy just wants to play with the cat and can get a bit overexcited. The cat is now much braver, she will come into a room with the dog if she wants our company and chase the dog off if she gets too much! Someone on here posted to not expect them to be good friends, and I think that is good advice. They tolerate one another and I'm fine with that. They are still never unsupervised together. Good luck!
Welcome to you knees (interesting name!) Whatever you do, don't let the pup chase the cat. My dog stays with my friend , and her cat, when we are on holiday. My friend has always been of the 'the cat can look after himself' attitude. Which he can, but Tatze loves the chase and is now cat obsessed. She walks beautifully on lead but - if there is any chance of a cat being about - she has to wear her harness, which would have been unnecessary if she'd not developed this cat chasing habit ...
I have always had cats and dogs with no bother. The cats always seem to figure out the dogs first then lay down the ground rules. My current 2 cats and 2 dogs are good pals but from day one the cats never ran...they stood their ground so the dogs don't realise they can chase. Even my Malamute who is supposed to be a cat chaser, he is better pals with them than the lab. They have their daily snuggles. For us though the cats and dogs don't share the same space inside, so I guess easier. As someone already said it does depend on the personality of the cats. I suspect your kitten will be fine as they will grow up together but your 9 year old may take longer to adjust. Safe spaces are the way forward. Good luck and don't forget to post some pictures of your pup (and kitten) Emma
Thought I would add, when Oban was a pup the three cats were horrified I introduced this little black "Holy Terror" as his Grandma called him. They thought all dogs were polite, well mannered, gentle and kind and OLD like the wonderful Lab girl we had lost to old age that same year. Two would put in appearances, give him a swat if needed and avoid him. The other one, the former feral we only kept because she bonded fast to the dog almost as soon as we live trapped her and brought her inside, she hid for about a year. Itty Bitty Kitty is the only one of that threesome we still have, she's 18 now and she and Oban will sleep side by side, cuddle and groom each other. Bitty is far less accepting of the other current cats and I have to keep them separated.
Thanks everyone, if I'm honest i'm more nervous about introducing kitten to cat (they are both girls, not sure if that is worse or not). Kitten comes to live 2 weeks after the puppy. Hopefully thats enough time for both puppy and cat to adjust slightly. She is fairly stubborn and curious so I think she'll be ok. We are going to crate train is it a good idea to keep pup in crate while they meet for the first time?! We'll also have a stair gate on our living area so that the puppy is mostly limited to that. We don't have stairs so cat can't retreat up there. Will post photos when i've figured out how. I'm on my laptop and all photos are on my phone. Puppy is called Storm, Kitten is Sparkle and cat is Roxy. xx
@Snowshoe I just found that I didnt reply to your message. Sadly Diesel passed away, he had renal failure. Must be difficult when you lose a cat and you don't know where they went. At least we got to say goodbye, he was a dear old soul. I honestly don't think he would have coped with the puppy. Poor thing probably would have had heart failure. He was my 3 legged boy. xx
Poor Diesel. I hope he was a good old age and even though it might bring tears and sadness whenever you think of him it wakens that place in your heart where he will always live.
