Cat Owners: Have you ever introduced your cat to a dog?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

how did it go?

on edit: i am introducing my cats to the gf's dog this weekend

[MrCoffee]

1. my cat beat the living crap out of my ILs' stupid cockers.

he handled himself admirably in the face of two drooling dogs.

[Road Scholar]

2. After the dog finally left, the cat chewed my ass out for such

an improper social blunder. The dog hasn't spoken since, either.:shrug:

[JackBeck]

3. We didn't see poor Suki for about a day.

But Momma Lulu held her ground and stared from a close, safe place. Once she got comfortable, she went to her plate and ate a bit. Any time that our friend's dog got to close the dog got a hiss and a swipe. She held her ground and the dog gave total respect.

[Maddy McCall]

4. The other way around, and it was the weirdest thing.

We introduced a kitten to our home--the kitten was not yet weaned, but we had no choice but to take her when she was offered.

Brought her home, and she immediately took to my schnauzer. My schnauzer had never been pregnant, never lactated. Well, the kitten started nursing on the schnauzer--and my schnauzer started lactating.

Here's photographic proof:



I think it works better to introduce a kitten to a dog than to introduce a dog to a cat. Our cats get along just fine with our dogs, but we had our dogs before we had out cats.

[NC_Nurse]

5. My cats took a while to accept the dogs.

I have one especially feisty cat...she still swipes at our dogs if they run by and she feels they are too close.
She's always been a pistol though. Our other cat was fine with them from the git go.

[Wcross]

6. I brought two kittens in to a house full of dogs- they are pals.

Larry using Chairman Meow as a pillow.



Buddy and Moe hanging out with Chairman Meow and Flea Taxi.

[jrandom421]

7. Not well

Poor dog only wanted to be petted, but the 6 lbs of fur and fury shredded dog to the tune of 163 stitches, not to mention 20 on dog owner and 3 on cat owner. Then she jumped out a second story window and was ripping out the weatherstripping around the windshield of the truck that was taking dog to vet. Never again will we do such a thing.

[crispini]

8. So-so.

My brother moved in with me for awhile I have two cats, he has a chihuahua. They never really got along, but they learned to tolerate each other. He just reallly wanted to chase the cats and they weren't down with that at all. Even a few nose-swats didn't get him to stop.

[Mrs. Venation]

9. No, But

One of the neighborhood dogs decided to introduce itself to Big Daddy. Results?


Lying in Wait



Big Daddy Ain't Playing!




We haven't seen the dog since that day.

FTR, photos were shot by my Bertha. :loveya:

[radfringe]

10. couple of questions

1. has the dog ever met a cat?
2. have the cats ever met a dog?

our cats are use to dogs. When we bring in a foster dog, the oldest cat rolls her eyes and wanders off.

rules for introducing cats to dogs and visa-versa

1. get a "safe room" blocked off for the cats. One room in the house where the cats can "escape" - use a baby gate to block off the entry. This will allow the cats to get in/out as they want and still keep the dogs out. Put the litter box and cat's food in the "safe room"

2. Show the cat's the safe room before the dog shows up, let them get use to it.

3. don't force an introduction. Let the cats/dog find themselves. But keep an eye on both.

[RubyDuby in GA]

11. My husband's 10 year old cat didn't take well to my 9 year old dog

For the first entire year, Dead Cat Walking (as I like to call him - ok, his real name is Ted), ambushed Rusty (my doxie) at every chance he got. Rusty still gives Ted a really wide berth, but now Ted will come and lay down right next to him on the bed.

I think it has something to do with the fact that Rusty is much better with our 6 month old baby and gets rewarded for it and Ted is insanely jealous.



On edit: my brother and SIL have a teacup chihuahua and a tuxedo cat (same as Ted) who is less than a year old. They get along like peas and carrots. I will reiterate that I think it's just Ted who is the devil.

[trackfan]

12. When we got our dog, the two cats hated him.

One, especially, would spit and hiss at him, and he would bark back at them. It only took a few days for one cat to get used to him, and since then they've gotten along okay, albeit a rather cool relationship, with spats now and then. The second cat took a couple months to get used to the dog, but then they became best pals.

[swag]

13. My cat Chevrolet snarled and hissed at friendly old Bill,

then they coexisted more or less peacefully for about a week as Bill just stayed away from Chevrolet.

Things tend to work this way with Chevrolet and visiting humans also.

Bon Chance.

[ceile]

14. The dog ran and all was well.

My male cat did not take to golden lab (male)-beat him up on a regular basis. If the cat was in the kitchen the dog would go hungry rather than cross his path. The same happened with our second dog. The dogs just stay out of the cats' way.

[Mz Pip]

15. My story

When we got our German shepard/Chow puppy we had 2 cats. One cat adapted easily to the dog and they became friends. The other cat never did like the dog and moved in next door where he lived happily with 2 different families for nearly 18 years. He would come to visit us but never stayed long.

We had other cats during the 13 years we had the dog and they did ok. THe dog accepted our cats and kept the neighborhood cats from coming in our cat door. She knew the difference between our cats and the others.

The introduction phase can be dicey. Neither animal will instantly welcome the other. I'd put the cats in a separate room and let both the dog and the cat get used to each others smell with a door between them.

Good luck.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[deucemagnet]

16. I don't think my cat will ever accept a dog.

Ever since I adopted him as a stray he'll jump if he even hears a dog bark on TV. I think he had a bad experience with a doggy before he came to live with me.

[NMDemDist2]

17. usually you want a door between them so they can smell each other

before they come face to face

put one of them in a room with a closed door and let them sniff under the door

when I introduced my cat to my dog we did it through the screen door, when they touched noses and the dog's tail was wagging I knew we were home free

[mike_c]

18. my cats would never forgive me for that....

And the dog would bear scars for the rest of his life.

[SoyCat]

19. Our big boy had to live with a toy fox terrier we were fostering (less than a week) and

they got along quite well. We could tell that if they had remained together that they would have eventually started playing together--even though the cat is twice the dog's size/weight!

[China_cat]

20. Like this

ETA the cat in this picture went on later to kill a Doberman.



and this

[ElsewheresDaughter]

21. just did to our new yorkie...but the 2 cats are use to dogs already and

the yorkie was fine with the cats...they are all use to the birds (1 african grey aprrot and 2 cockitiels)that fly free around the place too...they all even sleep together. it is so sweet....

oh and 13 chickens in the yard...E I E I O

[quiet.american]

22. My cats hid out, until one of them decided enough was enough.

A relative of mine came to stay with me for a while, bringing her small dog, who was a pup at the time and about one-and-half-times larger than my cats.

My cats dove into the bedroom the minute the canine furry came through the door. After about two days of hiding, one of them ventured out, walked right up to the dog and sat down in front of him with a calculatedly steely stare. :)

With a few friendly pounces, the dog playfully made as if to tussle with my cat. My cat chose his moment and then WHAMMO! right across the kisser of the dog with his front paw. The poor pup was stunned.

After that they understood each other and it even got to the point where they took naps together.

My other cat, though, was having none of it, and always stayed well out of the way.