Advice please - a new dog and a house full of cats?!

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kit279

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I'm moving house soon and the plan is to have a friend move in as a sort of housemate arrangement. BUT she has a small Patterdale-type dog and I have 2 cats. One of my cats is small and timid, one of them is big and mean and doesn't like dogs...

Friend has offered to keep the dog outside with a kennel and a run type arrangement. Her dog is nice tempered enough and she takes her dog with her to work every day so they wouldn't be left to have it out together unsupervised.

But I'm worried that it's just a recipe for disaster - having just watched one of the yard dogs absolutely *kill* a rubber ball thing... The cats go in and out as they please - I know they can fend for themselves but I'm quite seriously concerned that the dog might go for them. Alternatively, the big mean cat is quite capable of giving a dog a nasty bite or swipe.

Neither of the cats is used to dogs, we've never had them.

Any advice would be very much appreciated...
 
Easy rehome the cats :D

No seriously I would probably crate the dog so he / she can get used to seeing the cats and vice versa before they are let loose, that may give you an indication as to how they're going to get on. It maybe you are worrying unnecessarily.

Good luck
 
Well I've got two semi feral rescue cats who come and go as they please and spend fair bit of time sleeping inside and we got a rescue dog two months ago, had no idea how it would work.

Allowed the cats to carry on as normal to start with but they were scared and hiding away just coming back at night for food. Dog was fine just looked at them but wasn't really interested.

After few days we decided to keep the cats in 24/7 just for a few days so they could get used to the dog and it worked brilliantly. We don't let the dog upstairs so this is now cat territory, the cats have sussed the dog out and the dog pretty much ignores them.

I would say depends on the dog, you may have probs if it likes to chase but our cats get in and upstairs so quickly I doubt it'd have much chance!

We also feed in different rooms, cats in kitchen and dog in living room.
 
I've heard of cats hurting dogs, but I've yet not heard of a cat killing a dog, so in general, depending on what it did, when and how much the "mean" cat was mean, I doubt that I would worry too much about one of the cats being too mean.


Has the dog e.g. at some point visited a home with cats? Does the dog have a high prey drive? If it likes to hunt, can your friend stop the dog?


When I bought my first puppy many years ago, we had three adult cats, two ex. abandoned summer cats from a rescue and one Persian cat, who really disliked dogs. We bought several compost nets, of a type that I suspect might be used almost as much for puppy pens in Sweden, as it is actually used as compost nets, so we could separate e.g. our living room into two, puppy on one side and cats on the other.
That way, the cats could walk around almost as they where used to while being able to see this horrible thing that we had dragged into their home and during, perhaps 5 to 6 weeks or something, they gradually became used to her being in different rooms in the house.


So, why not take the dog indoors, keep it on the leash and see how it acts? Is it interested of the cat smell? If so, how interested and in which way, does it whine etc.?
Perhaps you can combine JVB and LHS's advices, don't allow the cats to leave the house for some days and e.g. give them a chance to see the dog in a crate indoors in the evening, for a few days and see what happens. But if that doesn't work, you could always choose the outdoor kennel + run option instead, correctly built, it would then be completely safe for both your cats and her dog.

I think that this is just one of those situations, where nobody knows how it will work, without trying.

:)
 
Keep the cats in for a while until they accept the dog. (A bit like when you rehome a cat, you keep it inside so it doesnt go awol). The cats will win! The dog may get scratched but it will soon learn.

Another thing you can do is make sure there is some higher furniture in each room so the cats can jump up out of the way ( and tease the dog! They like to do that:D) We had a timid cat who could go all around the downstairs without actually stepping on the floor! She was ok with the dog but never a good friend. She hissed and spat at her. But we have had other cats who have curled up with the dogs.
 
Your mean cat will I'm sure put the dog in his place pretty quickly. Hopefully this will bolster your more timid cat. I've just taken on a rescue lurcher 2 wks ago and my cat has the upper hand! I was really worried about introducing them. My cat was a stray and we've had him for two years and would have hated to upset him. We checked prior to adopting the dog that she showed no agression towards our cat. In fact it is probably more the other way round! The cat stalks the dog and watches her every move. The dog is very sensible, tries to ignore him as much as poss and climbs on the settee out of his way!
 
We have 5 old house cats and a 3 month old GSD puppy!

Crate the dog when out, make it a nice bed, with treats, kong etc, so its not a punishment. (never leave a dog in a crate, with a collar! I heard only a few months ago about a pup getting a collar caught and strangling itself to death in a panic)

Always have a lead on the dog when loose in the house (obviously supervised) we use a puppy lead and take the loop out, so if the dog, does chase the cats, you simply step on the lead, saying a firm 'LEAVE' so cat can get away, and dog can calm down. Training with treats is a great distraction, to learn that when the cats are about, he gets fuss, attantion and treats

If the dog is particularly snappy, I'd use a baskerville muzzle, as he can still drink, pant, etc but the cats will lean they are safe. I had to do this with my last GSD a resue 18month old. She could exibt the behaviour she needed to by telling the cats and other dog to keep a distance. But couldn't harm them. They then relaxed around her, and she stopped being so aggressive as her stress levels decreased, and the muzzle could come off.

With a plan of action, and safe guards it'll be fine
 
Move the cats in first and place their beds on the landing area and feed them on the stairs (as in on the strps of the stairs), and place a baby gate on the bottom of the stairs, this will create a safe place and deny access to the dog from the start, if the cats choose to come down the stairs when the dog is moved in, then hopefully the dogs will be well used to them as he/she has seen them in a calm manor eating and lulling around the stair area, I would as suggested get a crate for the dog for extra back up for when u go out of the house, but whilst u are in, reprimand any over selous beaviour or fixation with a "LEAVE IT" in a menacing voice and follow it up with a little cesar style jab in the side to snap it out of the fixation, until u can jsut say "LEAVE IT" without the little jab.
don't make a grab for the cats if a situation occurs, always make a grab for the dog, if u grab the cat u are likely to get scratched and the cat then becomes more interesting prey in the struggle:rolleyes:
Never pick a cat up and show it to the dog, just be around for when the dog notices there is a cat around and watch closely for a reaction and the amount of focus the dog gives.
Terriers are obs a little more fiesty and have a high prey drive for fluffies but she may literally ignore them, I board and rehome plenty of terriers and they dont even look at the cats, outside may be very different to indoors as the cat moves quicker, and the dogs chase instinct kicks in (this goes for most dogs), so be aware and always supervise and use your reprimand and maybe a longline in the garden, just till u can set a balance.
 
If it's any help I brought two JRTs into a house of 8 cats. They have had their skirmishes but the cats know they are in charge. Our dogs were crated when we went out for the first year or so. Now they have the run of one room whilst the cats have the rest of the house. They have really been fine. The worst problem I have is stopping the damn dogs eating cat biscuits - which of course if we put in their bowls they would turn their noses up and ignore.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
I've heard of cats hurting dogs, but I've yet not heard of a cat killing a dog, so in general, depending on what it did, when and how much the "mean" cat was mean, I doubt that I would worry too much about one of the cats being too mean.
Click to expand...

I've actually met a husky who had lost an eye due to a cat having a swipe at him! :eek:
 
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