Introducing a dog to a resident cat.

Susannahmia

My gran died a few years ago and ever since we have been looking after her 10 year old corgi. My uncle got the house and when asked (more like begged :rolleyes: ) if he wanted us to take the dog he refused point blank.

Anyways to cut a long story short six months on he has suddenly decided he doesnt want the dog after all and has demanded we take him :rolleyes:.

We love the dog so we are delighted however in the previous six months since we moved we have bought a kitten. He's an indoor cat who goes out the back garden for an hour or two a day (we keep his claws trimmed so he cant climb the fence).

We introduced them once (before we knew that we were getting the dog) and the dog was terrified of him, the cat went mental spitting hissing etc. This dog isn't too bad with cats he mostly ignores them or will chase them a little if they run but not really attempt to catch them in earnest.

He is kept as outdoors only atm but when we get him we are going to try to transition him indoors especially for the winter. So we will have deal with house training an older dog too

So my question is when we bring the dog home what would be the least traumatic process for introducing the two animals? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We will probably be collecting him next week and I am expecting mayhem.:o

mymo

That wasn't a great first meeting, I have an older cat I introduced first one pup, then another adult cat, then another pup, all in the space of a little over a year.
First meeting with the pup was when pup was sleeping, let the cat into the room and let him sniff around, he avoided the pup.
Make sure they can smell each other and make sure the cat can escape somewhere the dog can't go(baby gates are great for this).
Feed well away from each other, and don't let it get to the chasing stage if possible.
Its a good sign really the dog was afraid of the cat, means he'll stay out of its way. The cat will calm down once it realizes the dog isn't going near it. Just be patient and supervise interaction for a while, short times are best to start. Don't make a fuss about it, and ignore most of the hissing, unless kitty goes for the dog, or vice versa. Don't make a fuss of the dog for being scared either, you may think you're reassuring him, but could be enforcing behaviour.

Best of luck.

pokertalk

when you bring the dog home bring a blanket or something that the dog has being sleeping on and let the cat have a sniff around it leave the blanket in where the cats sleep. when they first meet ,if you have a glass sliding door let them meet on either side. also you can feed them close to each other with. a closed door inside the house with the dog feeding on one side and the cat on the other .do this for a couple of days and then open the door slightly about an inch and feed again. keep this up for a couple of weeks and after a few weeks they might be able to feed in the same room. be patient and stick to this and they will work it out. i did this with my dog and 2 cats and a month later one of the cats were sleeping in the same room .the other cat took a while longer but got there in the end. the baby gates are a good idea at the bottom of the stairs at the start so the cats can go upstairs and relax without being hasseled.

doctor evil

You could try washing the dog and giving him a good rub over with a towel that the cat has been sleeping on, you could also put some cat hair from the brush over him.

Try to have the inital meeting in as neutral area as possible, with somewhere uphigh where the cat can jump up to.

Susannahmia

So should I try keep them completely separate for a while? Eg the dog outdoors while the cat is indoors? If so for how long? Or should I allow limited supervised contact from the get go? Its just we would like to try to transition the dog indoors asap. The cat sleeps in the kitchen and eventually we are planning for the dog to sleep in the utility room or sitting room.

mymo

I wouldn't separate them too much, they will have to learn to live together.
I have a baby gate on the stairs so the cats cat get upstairs but not dogs(well that was why I got it, don't use it except when I'm out now), you could put between rooms so they can see each other but still be apart.
Just don't leave them alone for a while, if you're out shut them in separate rooms.

Susannahmia

Thanks guys, keep the tips coming!:) I will post on Tuesday or Wednesday to let you know how the first day went.

The Sweeper

Hey OP

It takes time and patience, and it isn't easy. It can be easier to introduce a grown dog to a kitten than introducing a pup to cats, because you can't expect a pup to exercise the self control and judgment of an adult dog.

Here's a link you might find useful:

http://leerburg.com/dog-cat.htm

A very good barometer of how introductions are going is the bark test: you must never allow a dog or pup free access to a space where cats are, with no lead, until he exhibits absolutely no desire to bark at the cats.

Susannahmia

Ok well the uncle dropped the dog down for a few hours today to sort of get him used to the place. The dog is terrified of the cat its actually quite funny to watch. The cat follows him around staring him down, heckles up,growling and generally intimidating him. Dog doesn't know what to do and tries to stay as far away as possible and avoid looking at it etc.

However despite all the bullying the cat is afraid of the dog under it all I think.

Help!

The Sweeper

Hehehehe that's pretty standard.

Manage it - don't let the cat smack the dog around too much unless the dog is really doing something that deserves a slap. One of my cats sneaks up on the dog and batters him if he gets the chance - it's a bloody problem because it means the dog is more full-on with this cat outside the house if he seems him in the yard. (This same cat is also the only one who refuses to run if the pup tries to 'spook' the cats by bouncing at them - he flies at the dog, paws flailing).

It will take a lot of time. Eventually the cat will begin to ignore the dog, but again, don't let them get too close to each other unless they're really calm. Praise both of them for positive reactions, but simply separate them if they react negatively. Distract them with games or treats when they're in each others' presence.

Never let the dog chase the cat, and never let the cat ambush the dog. If it happens, don't stress too much, but give a correction to the guilty animal the second it happens, and work harder at not letting it happen again.

mymo

The second cat I got is a little sod for tormenting the dog, will happily slap him for no reason(usually when I'm not looking) and then the dog chases him(and gets told off). I'm not sure if he's trying to play or what(he does play chase with the smaller dog) but the poor dog flinches every time the cat passes him now. It is getting better since I stopped telling the dog not to chase him, but it will take time. Don't know which of them is worse, they're like kids getting each other into trouble.
It's early days and sounds like it's not going too badly.

Milly33

Susannahmia wrote: »

My gran died a few years ago and ever since we have been looking after her 10 year old corgi. My uncle got the house and when asked (more like begged :rolleyes: ) if he wanted us to take the dog he refused point blank.

Anyways to cut a long story short six months on he has suddenly decided he doesnt want the dog after all and has demanded we take him :rolleyes:.

We love the dog so we are delighted however in the previous six months since we moved we have bought a kitten. He's an indoor cat who goes out the back garden for an hour or two a day (we keep his claws trimmed so he cant climb the fence).

We introduced them once (before we knew that we were getting the dog) and the dog was terrified of him, the cat went mental spitting hissing etc. This dog isn't too bad with cats he mostly ignores them or will chase them a little if they run but not really attempt to catch them in earnest.

He is kept as outdoors only atm but when we get him we are going to try to transition him indoors especially for the winter. So we will have deal with house training an older dog too

So my question is when we bring the dog home what would be the least traumatic process for introducing the two animals? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We will probably be collecting him next week and I am expecting mayhem.:o

We recently took on a foster kitten (mad so he is forgot what kittens were like) but we have a dog already who is queen of the castle as such, well she isnt spoilt but there has been no other animal in the house except for goldfish and the odd day were I bring my parents dog down. When we got the kitten and introduced them as they do the kitten started spitting the min the dog showed she was scared of her. The dog actually refused to look at the kitten pretending it wasnt there. We made sure to always be there when the two of them are in the room together at the start so we could ward them off eachother if they seemed a bit scared or (its always the kitten) if one of them is annoying the other. And also paying less attention when the dog started whineing when the kitten was at it becuase it was just for attention,kittens are curious. I never thought I would see the day when they would sit on the coach together but they do, and have even eating out of the same food bowl together. We have made it a thing to be noticed by the dog though that if she is giving out to for anything the kitten will do. Lets say begging at the table, they will be rewarded if they dont or if they do...