We have a dog, can we get a cat?

knarkypants

Hi all,

We have a 7 yr old Labrador and we would like to get a cat/kitten to add to our family. Our dog has always been the only pet (apart from the fish!) so we're not sure if he would accept a new animal in the house especially a cat.

If he sees a cat out in our garden or when he's out for a walk he will bark and chase them. A couple of times a very brave cat stood up to him and there was a bit of a stand off but my dog eventually backed off and left the cat alone.

So could we introduce a cat into our home or is it too late? If so, how would we go about it?

Thanks.

hedgehog2

I would say no problem,we have a dog who goes ballistic if he sees a cat on the wall.
Thought we could never get a cat but a stray wondered into ourvhome and the very 1st day once the dog saw we accepted him there has been no problem in fact they sleep together now.
We also are fostering two kittens as a result of this succesd and our dog won't bother them but if he sees a cat on the wall he is out barking.
My advice go ahead as our dog is 5 we have the cats now 4mths without any bothrt its company for him when he is left on his own.

VonVix

It really depends. Hedgehog's post is best case scenario, but you can never really tell for sure unless you do it, dogs are different after all.

How is your dog with other dogs? Specifically small ones? Does he have a high chase drive in general?

boomerang

It will also depend on the individual cat. For instance, in our rescue we would often have kittens reared in foster homes with dogs, so they'd be first choice in your situation.

Provided your dog doesn't have a high prey drive as VonVix mentions, it can work. But I can't emphasise enough how careful you would have to be with introductions in the beginning and I certainly wouldn't leave dog and cat alone until you are 100% certain the cat is safe with your dog.

The UK pet charities have some great PDFs/leaflets on introducing your dog to a new cat, if you do a google search.

knarkypants

VonVix wrote: »

How is your dog with other dogs? Specifically small ones? Does he have a high chase drive in general?

He's very friendly with all dogs. Maybe a little too friendly at times (his nose does be stuck to other dogs butts!:o), he just never knows when to stop and the other dogs would sometimes give out to him. Generally when he gets over the bum sniffing he'll play with them and then leave them to it.

I do think he is mostly just being a bit bravado when he sees a cat. When a cat stands up to he'll huff and puff a bit and then back off. We've had him from 9 weeks old, the only animal he's ever attack is a mouse.

Would we be better going with a slightly older cat like 1yr+ as he is big and can be rough. I'd be afraid he'd hurt a little kitten if they were to play.

SpaceTime

You can, but you need to be very careful how you introduce them and definitely don't leave a kitten unsupervised with a dog! They're tiny and can quite easily be roughed around too much or even eaten depending on our dog's personality and how he/she perceives the cat.

Also, be quite careful about the dog too. Some dogs are a bit stupid and will sniff / get their eyes very close to a cat. And cats can and do lash out with their claws in self defence or even in playful mode. I've heard cases of dogs getting quite badly eye damaged by the family cat.

In general though it works out fine and the dog will bond with the cat as 'the family cat' who gets adopted into the pack in the dog's mind.

Once the cat's old enough to stand up for itself, the dog will learn some respect quite quickly. Cats don't really take any nonsense!

I don't know how an older cat might interact with the dog. They can be a little more 'set in their ways' than a kitten who might be a little more open minded about being friendly with a dog.

In general, when we've had a cat and a dog together, the cat tends to stay out of the way of the dog and the dog tends to try to be friendly with the cat which invariably ends up with the cat's patience being tested.

You can certainly have a cat and a dog, but just don't count on them being best friends. They'll just about tolerate each other in a lot of cases (more so the cat will just about tolerate the dog. The dog's usually quite confused at why the cat reacts badly to its attempts to be friendly)

Zapperzy

We introduced a new adult dog to our home with an existing adult cat. Went completely wrong in the beginning as the dog has a high prey drive with cats being his favorite one to chase and current cat is a complete scaredy cat afraid of her own shadow. Worst possible scenario happened and dog ended up being introduced to the cat by running in the kitchen door and chasing the cat up on top of the kitchen units. Mayhem ensued for another few months until they got used of each other but 6 years later they're like two peas in a pod, very much a love/hate relationship in that they still like to chase each other around the kitchen.

That's not how to do it anyways! :P Looking for kittens that have been in foster homes with dogs is a good start. When introducing them keep your dog either on a lead or in a crate if you have one. Cats don't like being held down in scary situations so best not to have the kitten/cat in your arms if he doesn't seem comfortable and always have somewhere for the cat to go if he feels threatened, they usually go up so might be an idea to take all breakables off shelves and make sure the tops of kitchen units etc are all safe (nothing sharp sticking up or no gaps for him to fall down).

orchidsrpretty

I've had both situations and if you are at all open to the idea I would get an adult cat.
I got a new kitten and she was obsessed with the dog, she keep suckling off her and the dog really didn't know what to do. It was so hard to keep them apart as the kitten was constantly crying out for comfort from her 'mammy'.
I have a cat that I got a couple of weeks after I got a pup so she is fine with any dogs.
A rescue cat that I got(maybe about 1-2) is generally very nervous and really hates the dog but as others have said they will learn to at least tolerate each other. It took him over 6months to even come into the house without bribes etc.
The 6year old rescue dog I have was not use to cats but a year later she will still chase them but it seems that it just a game now, as soon as the cat turns around or stops running the dog gives up.

metaoblivia

We introduced a dog to our home with two cats and then later introduced another cat - a kitten.
We never had any problems and our dog loves to chase small animals like squirrels. But in the home he always knew that the cats were in charge. When we introduced the kitten to the home, they became best friends and played with each other up until the day I moved away and took the kitten with me.
So it's entirely possible to have cats and dogs living together under one roof, you just want to make sure that you introduce them correctly and that, as others have said, you get a kitten or cat who has been with dogs before. Most shelters will note whether or not a cat is good with children, dogs and other cats. It might be best to start with the cat in the carrier and let the dog sniff them. And when the cat is ready to come out, you might want to have the dog on a lead just in case.

knarkypants

Thanks for all the advice. Himself had thought there was no way we could introduce a cat as our dog is older and use to having the run of the place.

Now that we know it's a possibility we will give it some more serious thought. I might be back soon looking for recommendations of shelters!

Thanks.