by looking_glass 18 Replies latest jw friends
Put the cat in a kennel cage with his food and litter and bed in there. The dog will be able to walk all around and check him out and the cat will see he means no harm, and in three days they will be best (maybe not best) friends.
That's the preferred method to introduce a new kitty to an existing one as well.
The baby gate will not work since kitty will just go to another room and never "meet" the dog
It will take a long time for the cat and dog to warm up to each other. Much longer than you are going to be watching the dog. Why not leave the dog at your g/f's place and go over daily to feed and walk it? If you have the dog over to your place, keep the animals seperated. The dog may be sweet but it can still kill your cat--very easily.
My first impression was: " very carefully "
If anyone really have a solution I will try to pass it on to my dogs (Husky´s) and my daughter´s cats.
As it is now, I have to go over to her place twice a day for her cats while she is 10 days on holyday starting next week....
I am not a cat person but a dog person. But I agree a crate would be the best idea. It would be nice if the dog had a crate also. So when kitty is out the dog is in the crate. I would also recomend you never pet the cat while the dog is out. The dog will then want to get involved.
I was lucky. My dog had never seen a cat before and the first one he met was use to dogs. Since it just looked at him, didn't run or hiss. He wasn't interested at all. He looked at it like a smelly rock.
But had the cat run, he would have been all over it. So remember to a dog if it runs, it may look like food. Some dogs can't help that prey instict and will grab a small bird, cat, hampster and shake it. So don't assume he won't.
Doesn't sound like the best situation, I hope everything works out.
Just use some Duct Tape to tape one leg of each animal together... then put them in the shower on full blast.
Elsewhere, my fear if I do you plan of getting to know eachother, will be that they will form an alliance and turn on me. I am going to go with the baby gate idea and work with them over several days and see what happens. Again, the dog is a sweet heart, I am so not worried about the dog, it is my cat that is Princess Bossy Boots. My BF will help, as I will need all the reenforcements I can get.
I worried about this too when I brought my dog (shepherd/lab) home to my cats.
It turns out, I had nothing to worry about. They are the best of friends. They sleep together, share food, clean each other (licking), and communicate with each other. It's really cool.
But any cat that enters the yard who isn't a kitty-cat family member gets chased away quickly and forcefully by the dog.
The first week will likely be the most difficult.
Lots of fits and fights... over time they will tolerate each other in the same room... then in the same area... then next to each other...
I am hoping that it will go better then last time. Which consisted of my cat hissing a lot, the dog cowered in the corner shaking horribly. Later I found clumps of hair, I think the dog was so stressed that she was lossing her hair. It seemed like the cat was starting to loosen up a little until each time we got them together, until the dog made the fatal mistake of jumping up on the bed and then all HELL broke loose. The cat jumped up and smacked the dog, the dog went flying out of the room yelping and hiding in the corner again. The dog had a scratch on the top of her ear, she was fine, but she was so frightened, and I was so freaked out that I just could not try it again. Yes, I am one of those people who says all the time, don't do that you are going to get hurt (however, I have no problem jumping off the side of a cliff with a kite attached to my back ... go figure)
