Fear of Cats
I have a 9 year old outdoor cat that tends to be very unfriendly . I tried to introduce her to her new "sibling" Bjørn, through the glass of the kitchen door. And of course as I suspected my cat, Flea, got hissy and raised her hackles. But after a few times of letting them watch each other Flea began to ease up (this of course took about a month). I then decided it was time for the next phase, so I got a playpen for outside and placed Bjørn inside of it and monitored their interaction. At first Flea would circle the pen and hiss & growl, but got less upset if I paid her complete attention. I gave her treats and would pet her until she was calm and able to lay near the pen without any problems. I would make sure Bjørn wasn't displaying any stress signals/behaviors. Both would lay down and watch each other. After 2 wks and no hissing, etc., I decided to let Bjørn out to venture the backyard. Flea was fine the whole time we were out there. So a few days went by without a hitch until one day Bjørn accidentally surprised her and boy did she flip out! So much so that Bjørn is afraid of her now and won't go near her at all. What can I do to help get him over the fear or have I made irreparable damage?? Please help! (Bjørn is currently 5 1/2 months old)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Just let them sort it out as long as Bjorn is not being aggressive. The cat will just take a while to accept him.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I agree with Bev!
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Permalink Reply by Linda on
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What Bev said. And if they don't ever become buddy buddy that's ok too. When we got our female Irish Wolfhound she was 6 months old. She ran head first into our cat who had never lived with a dog before. Sammy reared up and whacked the dog's nose but good. Tasha took off and ran straight into the closet door that had a full length mirror on it. OMG! There was another monster trying to attack the dog. For all of Tasha's life if Sammy was sitting by the water bowl the dog would die of thirst before going near her.
But we took in a stray cat a year or so later. Tasha and Tigger became the best of buddies, played together, slept together. People always went into a panic if they saw them play...huge huge dog and little cat. Hell, Tasha thought Tigger was her puppy and Tigger was happy with her being his mother.
So just give it time. They may become friends or it may just be an armed truce. It will work out fine.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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I agree with Bjorn :-) They don't have to be buddies, just civil around each other. You've done well so far, time to ease up.
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Permalink Reply by Victoria & Bjørn on
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Thanks so much everyone! I figure it's just in Flea's personality to be mean so I suppose I just have to accept that and Flea will just have to accept Bjørn's presence. At least it will be entertaining to see them "play" chase ;) Actually I've been putting Flea in the garage for now so Bjørn won't be too stressed out while he gets to know his surroundings.
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For me "civil around each other" does not include chasing. I would not allow any chasing. In your situation it would be hard to see it as play.
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Permalink Reply by Maria & Reggie on
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I agree. Just let them be civil with each other. My 3 year old cat isn't too pleased with the new addition to the family, but after a couple of days he's ignoring Reg and just sniffs him if Reg walks up to him.
My family has always introduced a cat to a dog by holding the cat/dog and then letting the two sniff each other. That way you can prevent any fights that break out.
Don't worry, they'll eventually be civil around each other as long as you don't allow chasing. I've found over the years it's easier for dogs and cats to be civil with each other. Cats being civil with cats has always been a different battleground in my experience.
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We've had cats and dogs together for years and of course there have been plenty of times we've had to introduce the new cat or dog to the current residents. As I posted before I only had my 125 lb Irish Wolfhound terrified of a 7 lb cat but was best buds with the other 2. Last May when we took in Oliver (cat) he wasn't afraid of the dogs but my 2 corgis herd the cats and most of the time the cats instigate the chase scenes. It seems to be play time for both cats and dogs.
Oliver being new didn't know this at first and Max would try to herd him, one morning Max basically cornered Oliver. Oliver turned around and smacked his nose, drew blood. After that Oliver was the first one to start the game of chase. When the dogs are just laying around the cats are known to go sniff them and wash an ear or 2.
Not all cats and dogs are going to get along like my 5 do tho. So your pup chasing your cat who obviously doesn't like dogs would not be a good thing.
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Yeah I've been afraid of Flea drawing blood and I agree on the chasing as well, it was mostly a joke, that's why for now I've put Flea in the garage. I figure they can smell each other from under the door. Plus Bjørn won't come out if he knows she's loose. It's like having kids, I tell ya ;)
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