Comment

Comment by Bev Levy on September 9, 2009 at 9:18pm

I have had cats and dogs for over 30 years. Some will bond very strongly and some will just tolerate each other. All of my cats have been declawed (I know it is inhumane to many) so no threat to the dogs. I never tolerate chasing the cat unless the cat starts it and I know the dog won't take it too far. If a unauthorized chase begins I stop it immediately with a firm no. If necessary I will leash the dog for a few days so I can catch them very quickly and put a stop to things. The pairs that really love each other have been adorable. Watching the cat and corgi each trying to wash the other one's ears at the same time was priceless. My Standard Poodle and one of our kitties used to wrestle all the time and then lay down and cuddle after. My currant crew includes two rescue cats, two corgis and a doberman. One of the cats gets along well with the dobe and Izzy. They like to sleep by each other and nuzzle. The other cat ignores the dogs and Sparty is way too cool to acknowledge the existence of a cat! Anyway cats and dogs are fine together put you do need to be in charge to insure the safety of everyone.

Comment by Sarah C. on September 5, 2009 at 9:59am

My dog was a puppy when she met our grown cat. They have never gotten along, but the Cat is most decidedly the boss. They don't play, though, the cat often bosses the dog around, the dog often chases the cat, and we deal with scratched and prying cats from under furniture on a weekly basis. On most days they are indifferent to each other. According to the study I am about to link, complete indifference marks the dog-cat relationship in 25% of homes, and aggression and hostility makes up another 10%.
Don't expect them to cuddle and be like lolcat pictures, at least not right away.
HOWEVER!
The same article gives hope to people who introduce young animals to each other. If your dog is already non-aggressive toward cats, and the cat is young enough to learn his body language, there's hope. Or there should be hope.
The source of course!

Comment by Beth on September 5, 2009 at 8:05am

Introducing a kitten would be sort of the opposite of introducing a puppy; if you bring in a new puppy, you want all dogs to understand that the adult dog is on top of the doggie pecking order. But with a kitten, you want to pass on your own authority to the kitten. Now, some kittens are quite capable of taking care of themselves, and will hiss and spit even more than adult cat.

I have never introduced a kitten to my dogs, but I think what I would do is bring the kitten on my lap (where heavy clothes so you don't get scratched) and let the dog sniff gently but if the dog gets an intense stare or gets excited or tries to mouth the cat, give the dog a very firm correction. Make the dog understand that the kitten is under your personal protection and is not to be harmed.

With a dog that is not cat-savvy, I would probably pick a slightly older kitten, 4 or 5 months old. A younger kitten is so tiny and it would be easy for it to get hurt. Alice was maybe 6 weeks old when I found her (I am just guessing, as I have no idea where or when she was born) and she fit in the palm of my hand. All it would take from a dog with a kitten that small was one quick move....

Comment by Mochi on September 5, 2009 at 3:42am

When I brought Autumn home the first time she chased my cat checkers. I used my "emergency voice" NO. After that point she seemed to know not to chase them. I also helped the cats establish the alpha position by feeding them before I fed Autumn. Now they get along just fine. Rarely I will find them cuddling. Except when they get close to Autumn's food. She growls but never snaps at them. More just like... hey you cats stay away from my food! (even though they never eat her food and could care less about it... hahaha.)
Checkers my little black and white cat chases Autumn out of the kitchen every night before dinner. :) It's really cute.

Comment by Virginia on September 4, 2009 at 11:53pm

what if i bought a kitten to introduce to Mae? Should i still do the same? But more closer watch?

Comment by Beth on September 4, 2009 at 6:36pm

Please just be careful, as there are quite a few dogs out there that would kill a cat given half a chance. You want your dog to look interested, but not give an intense stare. A silent charge is a bad sign; you know that a playing dog does not charge and is usually not quiet.

Many dogs can learn to live with cats. When we brought Maddie in, she is nearly five and had not had any experience with cats. Alice hissed at her once and that was enough to convince her that cats are best ignored. I would love if they could be friends but Alice just wants no part of that, so they have worked out a (mostly) peaceful way of ignoring each other.

Usually the cat is the one who winds up on top of the pecking order, which is as it should be--- a Corgi is 3x heavier and many times stronger than a cat, so it's best if the dog respects the cats warnings. The dog should visibly submit to the cat's hisses (ears back, lowered posture, and hopefully vacating the area). Even if they learn to play together, the dog should still quit when the cat decides the game is over.

Just keep a close eye and be honest with yourself about your dog's reactions. Good luck!

Comment by Karen and Hardy on September 4, 2009 at 6:20pm

My dogs and the cat have a "stay away from me and I'll stay away from you" relationship. Occasionally the dogs will sneak up on the cat in play, but they know to move fast because he hisses. Sometimes he taunts them as well. It's 50/50 torture but they don't hurt each other. They can all get along but they don't necessarily "like" each other! (Kind of like people! lol!)

I don't really see where there's too much of a pecking order with them...maybe because there's an odd number of furry kids.

Comment by Nubbinz McQuillis-Slagle on September 4, 2009 at 6:02pm

Mae probably will calm down after she becomes accustomed to being around a cat. We got a cat not too long ago and Nubbinz mainly wanted to play and love on the cat. But cats are cats, and he was having none of it. They will establish a pecking order. To my dismay, our cat came out on top. Nubbinz always lets him have his way. Unless there is something particularly delicious up for grabs.

One thing I did to speed the process was put the cat's food bowl on top of Nubbinz kennel. That way the cat associated the dog's smell with good things. Of course, that might not work for you, but you could get the same effect by rubbing the dog with a towel and then placing the towel under the cat food. And vice-versa. A cat-scented towel under the dog food might help as well. In our case, it sped the "getting-to-know-you" phase right into the "I like you" phase.

I got this idea off an animal behavior show. It seemed to help a lot in our case. I hope it helps you.