Introducing a dog to cat's, Any advice?
Discussion
Hello, Today I got a dog from the rescue centre and brought him to our house where 2 cat's live. There was no history of the dog's attitude toward's cat's so while we were at the rescue shelter we took him into the cattery and he didn't really seem bothered.
Got him home and tried to introduce them all, First cat ran off and we haven't seen it since but the 2nd cat is my worry. She only has 3 legs and never leaves the house, when I took the dog to her she spat and scratched its nose, When that happened the dog went for it. He wasn't barking or snapping at her but if I would have let him go then i'm sure the cat would now have no legs.
How do I deal with this? It's no problem having the dog locked in a room with us for now and tomorrow I am going to get a long lead for the garden so he can be tied up but I don't want to have to do this all the time.
It's taken the cat a long time to get settled since the leg incident, still tries to scratch its ear with a stump so no doubt now its going to start crapping in random places again.
Any advice on how to try and get them to get on?
Got him home and tried to introduce them all, First cat ran off and we haven't seen it since but the 2nd cat is my worry. She only has 3 legs and never leaves the house, when I took the dog to her she spat and scratched its nose, When that happened the dog went for it. He wasn't barking or snapping at her but if I would have let him go then i'm sure the cat would now have no legs.
How do I deal with this? It's no problem having the dog locked in a room with us for now and tomorrow I am going to get a long lead for the garden so he can be tied up but I don't want to have to do this all the time.
It's taken the cat a long time to get settled since the leg incident, still tries to scratch its ear with a stump so no doubt now its going to start crapping in random places again.
Any advice on how to try and get them to get on?
First just let them see eachother for a while, put the cats into cat boxes in the middle of your front room and then let the dog into the front room on a lead. Let him sniff around whilst they hiss etc at him. I think the only reason he attacked was in defence as you say he got bopped on the nose, his reaction was to protect himself against this animal that hit him first.
do this for a few minutes for a few days then let him in without a lead (but the cats still in boxes) then after a few days of this, and if they seem to have settled with eachother a little, then open the doors of the cat boxes whilst he is inside.
introduce them slowly but make sure you are within reach to grab the dog.
ETA - Although I said to stay within reach of the dog its important not to keep grabbing him as he goes for a sniff as this will only make him nervous which in turn will make the cat nervous and he will end up with a whacked nose again.
do this for a few minutes for a few days then let him in without a lead (but the cats still in boxes) then after a few days of this, and if they seem to have settled with eachother a little, then open the doors of the cat boxes whilst he is inside.
introduce them slowly but make sure you are within reach to grab the dog.
ETA - Although I said to stay within reach of the dog its important not to keep grabbing him as he goes for a sniff as this will only make him nervous which in turn will make the cat nervous and he will end up with a whacked nose again.
Edited by ymwoods on Thursday 27th May 01:02
Most dogs will back off when swiped by a cat, this is good and you want to see.
Whilst it is possible to get them used to one another, go carefully esp as thid dog wasn't prepared to back down. Dogs trust hsve good advice pages as do the Feline Advisory Bureau ~(FAB) easy to find via google.
Whilst it is possible to get them used to one another, go carefully esp as thid dog wasn't prepared to back down. Dogs trust hsve good advice pages as do the Feline Advisory Bureau ~(FAB) easy to find via google.
Shay HTFC said:
+1 for easing rhem in at first by just having them close to each other, but kept apart. Just hold your dog and have someone else hold the cat while they look at each other and get comfortable. Then slowing introduce them together getting closer and closer.
Highly unadvisable (the part in bold), unless the "someone else" is wearing chainmail.Putting the cat in a catbox as suggested above would be a better idea.
putting the cat in a box is just going to stress it, both animals will sense the tension (plus yours) and see cat/dog meeting as a negative thing.
noses first - get them used to the other animals smell, leave the dog in a room where the cat has been - put things of the cats in there like bed etc if possible, then swap. both animals will become used to each others smell and hopefully the next meeting will be less tense.
after doing this for a period of time i'd then get the dog (and yourself / other humans) calm somewhere like watching the telly, let the cat wander in, stop the dog without a fuss getting up or moving for the cat, let the cat have a sniff around. be on hand incase either goes for the other.
they both respond to instinct, if they can sense tension then they will be on edge.
noses first - get them used to the other animals smell, leave the dog in a room where the cat has been - put things of the cats in there like bed etc if possible, then swap. both animals will become used to each others smell and hopefully the next meeting will be less tense.
after doing this for a period of time i'd then get the dog (and yourself / other humans) calm somewhere like watching the telly, let the cat wander in, stop the dog without a fuss getting up or moving for the cat, let the cat have a sniff around. be on hand incase either goes for the other.
they both respond to instinct, if they can sense tension then they will be on edge.
Firstly, did the rescue centre tell you it was cat friendly?
I don't honestly think it's a wise idea to rescue an adult dog when you have a cat with three legs. A puppy however will be accepted by a cat a lot quicker and will also grow up with cats so won't be aggressive towards them.
I don't honestly think it's a wise idea to rescue an adult dog when you have a cat with three legs. A puppy however will be accepted by a cat a lot quicker and will also grow up with cats so won't be aggressive towards them.
Introduced 2 cats, one a miserable 13 yr old Tom and the other a sweet 3 yr old puss to my 13 year old Jack Russell. Kept the cats in a separate room with a glass door for a few days so they could see each other. Once they had got used to each others presence opened the door but left them to introduce themselves. The young one and the dog hit it off straight away, but the miserable old Tom still hisses and spits. The dog ignores this generally but they have had 2 biggish set too's which the cat started and the dog finished. Basically they keep apart from each other. They have been living tegether mostly sucessfully for nearly 6 months now.
The thing not to do is try and force them together, let them do it in their own time, and pay them all an equal amount of attention. Dogs can get very jealous.
Oh and don't forget you now have 2 extra mouths to feed. And definately keep them apart at feeding times,my dog gets very protective over his food.
The thing not to do is try and force them together, let them do it in their own time, and pay them all an equal amount of attention. Dogs can get very jealous.
Oh and don't forget you now have 2 extra mouths to feed. And definately keep them apart at feeding times,my dog gets very protective over his food.
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