Another Kitten Question

[Guest kmr820]

Hello all,

 

Presently I live with my two greyhounds, Ziggy and Zorro. This past weekend we were visitng a friend who is an Animal COntrol Officer and she had 4 cute kittens in a large dog crate in her livingroom. I was smitten with one of the kittens and am contemplating adopting her. I want everyone to eventually be safe and happy and am doubting my sanaity for even thinking about a kitten. Ziggy made no attention to kittens or hens or roosters or chicks. Zorro was interested in more of a "let's play" and "who are you?" fashion. He was hissed at when he came to close to the crate and lowered his head and backed away. My friend reached into the crate and took out a kitten with him present and he was curious and he respected limits. Unfortunately, I didn't seriously think about adopting until I was leaving, my friend wasn't home and I didn't do any further testing. Two other obstacles is that the kitten is 3 hours away and I live in a teeny-tiny house. Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

 

Katherine

[RobinM]

Kittens are adorable, no doubt and easy to get adopted. If you are serious about a cat, why not get an older cat- maybe 2 who have been returned because of family issues and maybe they have lived with dogs???

 

Have your dogs been tested with cats? I'd be leary with a tiny kitty and greyhounds. I have 3 cats and 5 hounds. They are wonderful with the cats but I would be scared to bring in a kitten who has no boundries becasue they are kittens!

[GeorgeofNE]

It's very easy to "fall" for a kitten. Maybe give yourself a week to think it over, bearing in mind the cute kitten stage is over very quickly, followed by up to 20 years of cat! If you're not able to make the drive to pick it up, then perhaps you were reacting to a cute fluffy kitten but not so much THAT cute fluffy kitten? I'm sure there are plenty of them in a local shelter near you, or as Robin said, adults.

 

I have one hound and two cats. They do fine. The cats were kittens when I bought them, but older kittens since they were both shipped to me and most breeders hold their kittens a bit longer than your typical "free to good home" kittens. I think my hound was actually much MORE tolerant of them when they were little than he is now. He seemed to sense they were just silly babies.

[Guest gecko_foot]

Kittens are adorable, no doubt and easy to get adopted. If you are serious about a cat, why not get an older cat- maybe 2 who have been returned because of family issues and maybe they have lived with dogs???

 

Have your dogs been tested with cats? I'd be leary with a tiny kitty and greyhounds. I have 3 cats and 5 hounds. They are wonderful with the cats but I would be scared to bring in a kitten who has no boundries becasue they are kittens!

 

I agree with this.

 

Mr. Tumnus was fostered with 7 cats before I got him, and he is definitely cat safe. I've had him since January, and there have never been any problems with him and Mako, my obnoxious little manx. That being said, Mako was about 7 months old when I got Tumnus, and he had been exposed to big dogs before. In response to what RobinM said about kittens, Mako had no fear whatsoever and even followed Tumnus (who was muzzled) down the hall when the rescue group came for the home visit. Fortunately, Tumnus didn't care, but it could have been a bad situation. Kittens are more prone to acting like prey than a "dog-safe" cat. They don't know running can get them in trouble, and even a dog that hasn't shown any prior interest in cats, etc. could chase and harm a kitten that runs from him/her.

 

Here is a prime example of how clueless a kitten can be: Mako was doing this the FIRST day I got Tumnus...

 

If you decide to adopt the kittens, be very, very careful. Take the introduction slow, and keep your grey muzzled at all times until you are absolutely certain that the dog isn't paying ANY attention to the kittens. It pays to be a little paranoid when introducing kittens to big dogs. I have personally seen the tragedy that happens when you get complacent. It's not pretty, but it's 100% avoidable.

 

Good luck!

Edited August 4, 2010 by gecko_foot

[dobelvr]

I just added a new tiny kitten to our household. She lives in a large dog crate. Her and the dogs can see and touch each other but she remains safe. The dogs are crated for various periods of time so she can safely run around. I'll keep to this routine until she is bigger. We have two other cats who mostly stay upstairs. They were feral kittens that were trapped and tamed. They've never been comfortable with the dogs. She is slowly being introduced to them and hopefully they will play with her. We really want a downstairs cat. I think her and the dobe are going to be good buds.

[Guest lasharp1209]

Why not try fostering kittens/cats for a local shelter? That way you can gauge how the dogs react to them without making that 20-year commitment. Shelters ALWAYS need fosters. The crate idea would be a good one in that case, especially if you don't have a spare room to use. That way the kittens are protected from the dogs and vice-versa when you are not there, but with close supervision and/or separation you can let them out for playtime and see how the dogs do (and maybe fall in love with one of them in the meantime... )

[Guest jaws4evr]

we have two dogs, (one GH) and two cats. Both cats were adopted from a local rescue, and are both well into adulthood (best guesses are 8 and 10 when adopted, now 10 and 12?). The dogs get along better with the cats than the cats do with eachother.

 

As someone else so marvelously said, kittens are only kittens for a few months, then you get 15-20 years of CAT. Do you picture yoruself wanting a cat in 20 years? If not, then a cat isnt' for you. Adult cats are marvelous animals but not for everyone.

 

Our GH was cat tested before we adopted her, and she does very well. We strongly discourage her from playing with cats, or inviting the cats to play, or even over-strong attention. She ignores them 90% of the time, sniffs then 8% of the time, and considers playing with them 2% of the time. She's crated when we're not home.

 

The cats also aren't allowed outside (except brief supervised yard visits), and the dogs are NOT allowed out when they are out. The prey drive is a different beast when the pets are otudoors, so to keep everyone safe we just never let the two meet. Our GH wants to hunt and kill the wild hare in our neighborhood VERY badly, but in the house she's perfectly polite.

 

We also have lots of high-climb spaces for the cats to go to if they feel too pressured. For the most part, the furry ones live in happy harmony

[Fruitycake]

If your grey hasn't been extensively tested with cats, do it before even considering bringing a kitten home.

 

I agree that kittens are cute kittens only for about 4 months and then they're brats and then they're adults. Or mostly adults. We had two adult cats that had learned about dogs before we got Monty, so they were fine and Monty was really great about them (he wanted to share playtime and offered toys to one of my cats to play with). But adult cats can be just as crazy and rambunctious as kittens (Fruitcake, at 13+ years old, is more kitten than "matronly" cat and romps and stampedes and chases her tail as good as any kitten).

 

If your dogs have shown very little interest in cats, it may work. Kittens are pretty resilient and can learn doggish attitudes and even believe they're one of the pack. Although, if you have a local shelter with adult cats who have been with dogs I'd probably go that route. [but that is me - I've gone through the kitten stage with my two, and that's enough for me for a lifetime. Kittens and puppies are so adorable because they need that to survive their youth!]

 

You mentioned your teeny-tiny house. We have a greyhound (78 lb), a keeshond (35 lbs) and two cats and two adults in a 950 sq foot house. Of course, usually the cats are on the humans and the dogs are on the floor underfoot, but it works for us. Cats are indoors only, their litterboxes are babygated away from the dogs (gate with a little kitty door for thme cats to get through) and the food is given in a "dog free" room. Think about the layout of kitty bathroom and food before bringing someone in. Dogs like litterbox buffet (and clumping litter can be really really bad for them)!