Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Patty & Frodo and Crystal CWCs on July 12, 2010 at 11:42am

How long have you had the puppy? It took one of my cats a YEAR to get used to our puppy! I made sure to give them each their separate space. I gated off most of the house (good with a puppy anyway, makes it MUCH easier to housetrain) and gave the cats some area to go that was not where they felt threatened. That way, they could choose to come out and see the puppy, or could go away. You definitely need to give the cat a place to go where the puppy cannot. My puppy was NOT allowed on the sofa, so that helped - the cats quickly learned they could jump up and the puppy would not be able to. Make sure puppy is NEVER allowed to chase the cat; leash the puppy if necessary in the house in the early stages, and give treats when the puppy is sitting calmly or even ignoring the cat. Make sure you keep the cat's claws trimmed short so if there is a confrontation, the likelihood of injury is lower. (If your cat is very food motivated, you can do the same thing with the cat - give treats when the cat is NEAR the puppy and calm. Worked with one of my cats but not the others.)

LOTS of patience is required. They may never end up being best of pals, but can learn to tolerate each other. All five of mine tolerate both dogs, now, but two of them still wish the dogs were gone! But they all get along fine.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Ana Smith and family on July 12, 2010 at 2:08pm

we got Lyra on june 25th and the cat doesn't like the dog but doesn't hate her. She really couldn't care less about the dog exept when the dog gets to close to the window sill where Zoe (the cat) happily sits.
-Ana and Family

Permalink Reply by Ana Smith and family on July 12, 2010 at 4:07pm

Ok that makes me feel better. Sounds like we are doing the right things, just worried especially since the cat has NEVER peed in the house before and she has peed 3 times in the two and half weeks we've had the puppy. I'm gating and crating and leashing throughout the day. Sounds like we just need to be patient. I thought things were good because the cat wasn't hiding and pretty much content unless the dog got near her window perch, like Ana posted. Our cat is declawed, so at least I know she can't scratch the new puppy. We will definitely try the treat thing with the cat to reinforce her good behavior with the puppy. Thanks, again!

Permalink Reply by Patty & Frodo and Crystal CWCs on July 12, 2010 at 7:16pm

Make sure that the litterbox is in a private area that only the cat can get to ... because the cat will definitely pee somewhere else if she feels like she might be threatened. You might even want to put out extra boxes right now until she feels happier.... again, if the puppy startles Zoe even ONCE in the litterbox, then Zoe might go somewhere else! so try to provide other outlets (no pun intended) for her....

-Patty & Frodo and Crystal, the cardigan welsh corgis, and the kitties Mokey, Muppet, Fizgig, Fraggle and Eggnog

Permalink Reply by Ana Smith and family on July 13, 2010 at 10:07pm

sounds good! sounds like uve definatly got experience and Zoe's litter box has a door where it is so it's private! :)
-ana, family, and lyra and last but not least Zoe