Dog and cat together- doable?

undecided

Hi all

really need advice here! I have a two yr old collie x since she was a pup. today the kids found this lovely kitten not sure how old but not fully grown. have them to the stage where the two are in the same room but very cautious of each other. My dog is as terrified of the cat as he is as her. If the dog goes over to look at the cat the cat spits or growls. at this stage cat on a chair dog not far away but dog not allowed look at cat! Any advice please?

sorella

Sounds promising so far.

Our rescued collie hates our cats - period.

The idea of letting them share space in any way is out.

One glimpse of cat and the collie becomes a streak of fur

So you are doing very well indeed.

Time will work things out.

Our other dog is fine with the cats; she was a puppy when they were introduced.

Irish-Lass

We have 3 dogs and 5 house cats. We had 2 cats first before we got our first dog. It takes time and patients but you will get there in the end, the cat and dog may never be the best of friends but they will tolerate each other and they will set their own boundaries.

We have added to the animals over time and we have had 2 cats grow up around the dogs from kitten and one kitten and one puppy grew up with each other and they have a much closer relationship to the point that the cat will sleep in between the leg of the dogs.

I'm in work and can't post pictures but will post some when I go home - its great when there is harmony in the house - unless of course the cats are having their funny half hour and the dogs want to join in

Tabitharose

very do-able time care and patience



Ellie Dog had never been up close to a cat before she arrived here, Genie ginger cat was terrified of dogs when she arrived her ( and Mildred cat was feral but that's another story)

here she is with some kittens I was fostering for Irish-Lass

Tabitharose

just to elaborate a bit we are a 2 dog 5 cat household, neither dog was used to cats, and the cats weren't used to dogs...... we have the odd foster dog here and depending on how long they're here for they're cat socialised by the time they leave.... we have more regular foster cats too who are dog socialised by the time they leave

charlesD

@Tabitha Rose Great pics

I would say it is very doable as well. My dog gets along well with cats, however if the cats get scared and run from her she feels obliged to chase them. This is something we are still working on.

I had a roommate for a while who had two cats and they were very skittish at first, but after a few months they became comfortable around each other and eventually would even sleep on the couch together.

Like Irish-Lass said, they will likely figure out their own boundaries with time.

anniehoo

Awww loved your pics Tabitha Rose! Labs are just the most easy going breed ever!
OP-it may or may not happen for ya unfortunately. It totally depends on the personality and age of the animal. Just let the bond/chaos happen and you'll soon figure out what the story is.

The thing with cats and dogs is they have totally different body language. Cat waggy tail=aggression, dog waggy tail=happy etc. So if a cat sees a big lump of a dog wagging its tail excitedly, it sees a ginormous aggressive predator so its very hard for them to instantly alter their way of thinking. Get them when theyre young and they learn the difference but harder to undo when theyre older!

sorella

And they know what is possible.

Our male cat loves the smaller dog; will play with her and roll on his back etc for her.

But he knows that the collie - rescued aged 5 , now around 7 - is a very different matter.

Is not above teasing her, by seeming to be within reach until collie gets close and then vanishing up a tree. But knows that collie is too old to learn now and that is not safe to be near.

That is fine; each has their own space.

anniehoo wrote: »

Awww loved your pics Tabitha Rose! Labs are just the most easy going breed ever!
OP-it may or may not happen for ya unfortunately. It totally depends on the personality and age of the animal. Just let the bond/chaos happen and you'll soon figure out what the story is.

The thing with cats and dogs is they have totally different body language. Cat waggy tail=aggression, dog waggy tail=happy etc. So if a cat sees a big lump of a dog wagging its tail excitedly, it sees a ginormous aggressive predator so its very hard for them to instantly alter their way of thinking. Get them when theyre young and they learn the difference but harder to undo when theyre older!

caff

Parents had a cat for years, shes about 14 I think, possibly older. They got a puppy last year and no issues so far. The puppy just wants to play the whole time but the cat is old and really wants none of it most of the time and lets the puppy know when its going too far. Quite funny at times.
Important thing I think is too make sure both pets get attention as they can get pretty jealous if they feel they are been usurped by a newcomer.

rachel

I had a similar dilemma at the end of last year. I have 4 cats and was adopting a lurcher.
Experienced similar reactions as the OP has seen - cats looking like bottle brushes and hissing everytime they saw the dog.
All the people/animals in my house spend most downtime in my living room (I like to think it's because they love me but I think the open fire might be the reason!) so I'd sit in there with all the animals and over time they got used to the new dynamic.
At first I kept them separated when I was out (I was very worried about lurchers & cat chasing tendencies) and then started to leave them all in the house together but always ensured that the cats had an ''escape route'' i.e. I left all doors open and didn't leave them all closed into the same room together
Gradually they all got used to each other to the extent that my younger cats will stop and sniff my dog in greeting when he enters a room. The only tension is from my ''alpha'' cat who has no qualms about taking a swipe at my dog if he gets too close but otherwise ignores him!

So my advise would be, take it slowly, spend a lot of time in the same room with both of them to show them that this is the ''norm'' and gradually they should begin to accept each other as soon as they accept there is no threat

lisajane

This is a picture of my dog with our cat when he was a kitten. The cat was scared of the dog at first and would hiss, spit, and growl. Look at them in the pic, and that was after a few weeks. They look so cute.
We have another cat and when he was a kitten he would do the same, hiss and growl at the dog. The cat now gets comfort from sucking on the dog trying to get milk. Its so cute.

And the dog, a staffie, is meant to be a dangerous breed! There is nothing dangerous about her.

JESSELVA

Anything is possible with animals if handled correctly. We have rottweilers, corgis' and rabbits'. The all socialise together, have even got pics of Mammy Rottweiler in a big box nursing her babies and big ears the bunny in same box having a snoop at them. I ve found the trick is food. I d hold the rabbit in my arms while someone else held the dog on a lead right beside me. I d feed the dog and stroke and fuss it while holding the rabbit in my other arm. Any suspicious movements towards bunny would be curtailed with a soft smack on nose and loudly saying no. It worked. Took about 3 weeks'. Even had a cat rear new born bunnies about 20 years ago. The cat had kittens the day after the rabbit had her babies. But mummy rabbit would not or could not feed her babies. Four of the little things died as we tried to hand feed them. In desperation we took the cat away from her babies for half an hour and put the 2 remaining baby rabbits in with her kittens', it was a fantastic success. If I were you, I d hold the cat, and stroke and cuddle her, while at the same time getting someone else to do likewise with the dog. Begin by keeping a good distance between you. Lots of cuddles, and reassuring talk, even if its silly words, (tone of voice is more important than words)and dont forget the tit bits, feed each a treat as you move towards each other. Take it slowly,it will work.:P Best ofluck. keep us updated.

Irish-Lass

Oh Tabitharose I did so love those kittens that you fostered

Here is our vicious rottie snuggling up to kittens - Mr. Blue is between her legs and a foster kitten is at her bum:rolleyes:


Here is a foster kitten using my rottie's head as a pillow:D


Here is our dog Jess with our cat Kissy (left) and Mr. Blue (right) and a little ginger foster kitten in behind Kissy


Here is a foster dog we had called Maggie who had been abused loving our Tabby Tums - she use to sleep with her paw over the cat and he loved it


Here is our dog Jess doing some babysitting for foster kittens that we had in



Sheba playing with a foster kitten


And this is a little tabby foster kitten that was suckling from Jess the glowing eyes on the stairs are our cat Winnie looking on in shock :P


I had to post this picture cause its just comical
3 kittens were foster kittens and the tabby cat at the back is our Tabby Tums


This is a small selection of the pictures I have they show various cats/kittens that have come through the house and hopefully it will give you some hope that it is an achieveable goal - but they may not be as friendly as my crew are just depends on the animals concerned - but best of luck and when it works it is so worth it

Lorrs33

Awh great pics! I had two cats when I got my puppy. Twelve years later, they're not the best of friends, but they tolerate each other. Only the odd time does it get violent

undecided

Thanks everyone for all the help and the pics! they are great! hope I can get these two as friendly as that. they have started to tolerate each other fairly well but there is an invisable line not to be crossed. ah things can only get better!

I have a cairn terrier from a pup and he has grown up with four cats, one was a kitten when I got him and the other three ranging in age from 4, 7 and 11, you can't seperate them, they all get on extremely well.

My dog is very protective of the cats, any other cats come into the garden or go after my cats he chases them away, he will not come into the house until they're all in first and if he's in and one of them is out he starts barking when they're back and won't stop till he see's them in.

sudzs

Our collie X is 12 now and does his nut if he sees a cat in the garden, he would try to go through the door to get a chase!

But last year a young cat adopted us during the really cold snap and after a few days the cat was in the dogs bed, his food, his water and up on the furniture and worse again, our laps! :eek:

But to our amazement the dog was quite cool about it! The only problem was every time the cat tried to go upstairs, dog would charge up and herd him back down! Dogs and cats aren't allowed upstairs in our house!!!

So you should be fine! Good luck with it!

And great pics from everyone!