Dog Community

Help! Dogs and cat getting along......

Posted : 10/15/2009 9:59:27 AM

Hi everyone!
I'm a new posted, but very thankful I found these message boards. I can tell I will be a frequent poster and hopefully able to provide some advice as well!

We have two dogs, 2 1/2 yr. old mixes (we think part Rottweiler, Shepard and Chow based on their looks) and they are the love of our lives. My mom is incredibly ill and has been in the hospital for treatment the last 14 days. The doctors do not expect her to be discharged for several months, and if discharged she will not be able to care for an animal. This brings me to our issue.....

My mom has a beautiful 7 year old Tiger cat that needs a home. Our neighbor offered to try it out to see how it worked, but unfortunately her cat does not like Mr. Freckles and she is asking us to take him back.

The cat has never been in our home, and we want to try to see if we can get these three to get along. I do not want to bring him to a shelter, as they are overloaded and I have no other "interim" solution except our home.

Any advice on how I can help our dogs get used to him?? I know this isn't a cat website, and I'm more concerned about our first priorities which is our dogs.
How can I make this work so that the cat doesn't have to be given up because my mom is unable to take care of him? I'm trying to do the right thing and make sure all three animals are happy.....

Thank you for your help! Tongue Tied

glenmar

Posted : 10/15/2009 11:07:37 AM

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry for all the troubles you have right now.

The best way to keep dog and cats together is to keep them SEPARATE. This can be accomplished by designating a specific room for the cat and either closing the door, or installing a half door that ONLY the cat can get under. Even with my crew, they have access to the cats only under direct supervision, and not one of them would hurt them, but, I don't need for themt to suddenly remember that they are dogs and decide to try. Good luck with doing the best thing for mom's cat. We'll keep your mom in our prayers.

Jewlieee

Posted : 10/15/2009 1:53:04 PM

My cat has his own room which most of the time has a baby gate in front of it. Sometimes I remove the gate and just shut the door. I cut a cat hole in the door so only he can get through. In the beginning I would put a litter box in the cat room and one in the basement (or where ever you want the final box to be. My cat would use his room box if he was too stressed to go to the basement. Now he has learned that he can stay up off the ground and the dogs can't get him. He does like the dogs though and will go to them gor a good butt grooming . Ew.

tiffy

Posted : 10/16/2009 6:32:19 PM

How "drivey" are your dogs? Do they chase cats outside? I've always brought cats home as babies and my dog, Tootsie has absolutely no prey drive. None. Her and the cat play often and its usually the cat who initiates it.

grab01

Posted : 10/25/2009 10:58:30 PM

How dogs respond to cats outside doesn't always carry over to how they respond indoors. Three of my dogs would chase any outdoor cats they happen to see, but they do not pay attention to our indoor cats.

We do the same thing as others..we have a room with the 'cat stuff' and keep a baby gate across the door. This allows the cats to come and go, but the dogs will leave them be (as well as not eat their ood, get into the cat boxes, etc)

This has worked well even with our cats we adopted as adults..like Falafel, who I am pretty certain had never been around a dog before, judging by her 'ahhh!!' reaction initially.

erica1989

Posted : 10/25/2009 11:07:16 PM

inside/outside are very different as far as prey drive goes. Casey will chase off a cat outside - but snuggles with them inside.

To the OP - just take things slow. supervised play groups, lots of treats when they are together. Many dogs/cats can learn to adjust to living together - it just takes time.