Tips To Help Cats Acclimate To New Dog In House?

[Guest rachel2025]

Hi There,

 

 

I am posting this for a friend who rescued a 3-5 year old rottie/shepherd/lab mix this weekend. (Hope it is okay to post a non-grey question!I am hoping some greyhound adopters would also find this to be relevant)

 

Anyhow, she has two cats who are NOT pleased. She says the dog is not aggressive, but he is exuberant and curious about the kitties, who are both "running, hissing and launching off the walls."

 

The dog is crated when she is at work.

 

Is there any advice about how she should go about introducing the cats to the dog/helping them all to become comfortable with one another? Obviously, the cats are currently as far away from the dog as possible.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[OwnedBySummer]

My tip is to pull all the furniture slightly away from the walls. Far enough for kitty to get behind but not far enough for the dog. Then the kitty will have lots of safe places to escape to.

Edited January 31, 2011 by OwnedBySummer

[PrairieProf]

I fed my cat and dog in view of one another for a while (separated by a baby gate) -- not right up close. It helped lure the cat out and gave them a chance to get a look at each other while being focused on something else pleasurable. The dog needs a chance to see/get used to the kitties to settle down (hopefully!).

 

I also highly recommend baby gates with a pet door (set into the human swinging door part) that can be open or closed -- that way the cats can gradually choose to be in the dog's space when they're ready. The cat should be the one who mostly sets the terms and schedule for encountering and getting used to the dog.

Edited January 31, 2011 by PrairieProf

[Laurenbiz]

Hi There,

 

 

I am posting this for a friend who rescued a 3-5 year old rottie/shepherd/lab mix this weekend. (Hope it is okay to post a non-grey question!I am hoping some greyhound adopters would also find this to be relevant)

 

Anyhow, she has two cats who are NOT pleased. She says the dog is not aggressive, but he is exuberant and curious about the kitties, who are both "running, hissing and launching off the walls."

 

The dog is crated when she is at work.

 

Is there any advice about how she should go about introducing the cats to the dog/helping them all to become comfortable with one another? Obviously, the cats are currently as far away from the dog as possible.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

Of course the cats are not pleased

 

For the first week or so, we monitored Bernie's adventures in his new home - and if Kay wanted anything to do with him, she could come and go as she pleased. When we couldn't monitor him, we kept him in the crate when we left the house, or we kept him baby-gated in the bedroom at night. Kay still had the run of the house, and if she wanted to come into the bedroom, she could - we positioned the baby gate in the doorway about six inches off the ground.

[Guest BiancasMom]

I agree on making places available for the kitties to hide. I also made sure that my cats could get to their food and litter boxes without worrying about the dog. Maybe an extra litter box temporarily? Cats can take months to adjust to change so as long as the dog is not bothering the cats, don't give up. I have one cat who can be aggressive when stressed so I kept a spray bottle of water available when the cats/dog were out together at first in case the kitty (or dog) needed to be distracted or things got too intense. I also made sure each got time without the other at first.

[Remolacha]

I tuned one of my bedrooms into the cat's room. They are fed in there, and have litter boxes, and plenty of places to sleep I installed a baby gate in the doorway, about 8" above the floor. The cats can come and go as they please, but the dogs can't get into the room (and yes, I've had a couple try to crawl under ) They can all see each other, as well.

[GeorgeofNE]

They need a "safe zone" they can get to and the dog can't. What's really easy is to put a baby gate across a door, and raise it up off the floor about 8 inches.

 

Most cats hate ANY change in routine, and they can be pretty snotty about it. It could take a while (weeks!) but I'm sure they'll be OK.

[lotsoffreetime]

yep, baby gate across doorways, raised above the floor so the cats can get through easily but the dogs cannot. We also have more than one feeding station for our cats, with water, of course, so if the cats are not comfortable coming downstairs to eat/drink, they don't have to. The food and water is well above the level the dogs can get to, so the cats can eat undisturbed and feel safe. And at first we had more than one litter box area set up, but we no longer need that. We have four young Greyhounds (ages 3 and 4), and they can get pretty rambunctious, so even though are 3 kitties are pretty tolerant, there are times they need some space away from the dogs! We also pulled the furniture out from the walls initially to allow escape routes for the cats, and the cats will still use them at times, especially when the four dogs suddenly come charging in from outside. We would also reward the cats whenever they were around the dogs and being calm... I know...hard to reward a cat, but ours LOVE the Whiskas Temptations (remember the commercial where the cat runs right through the drywall to get them?), so we used that. Good luck to your friend. Time and patience will pay off.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

I think it's important when you have a young dog that is full of energy and curiosity that you keep the dog leashed when the cats are around. The less the dog chases the cats, the sooner they will become accustomed to it.

 

What I did to prepare for my grey coming home was to gate off the litter box and I put the cats' food into an old chinchilla cage with an access door cut into the narrow end. (I don't allow my cats on tables/counters, so putting the food above dog level is not an option for me). I kept the dog leashed until I was certain she wasn't interested in chasing the cats. I was lucky in that my cats were already used to dogs coming into their home and sometimes staying for a while, so it wasn't a major change for them . . . except that she hasn't left.