Bringing a dog into a home with cats?

Embo

Embo

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Hi all, am looking for some advice please.

Without going into too much detail (massive family dramas), how difficult is it to bring an older dog into a home which already has 2 cats?

The dog is a bull mastiff, she is around 7 years old and currently lives with an older cat (but they don't spend any time together, cat is mainly outdoors). The dog is good natured in general. Has never shown aggression but will chase squirrels etc.

My cats are indoor only, with some supervised access to the garden. One is very outgoing and active who I think would eventually be OK but the other is more nervous and quite sensitive to change anyway (although she coped better than the outgoing one when we moved house!).

I just need some advice to let me know if this is an awful idea or is it possible to integrate the dog into the household?

The dog is very special to me, and it's breaking my heart that 1) she is being neglected and 2) that ultimately she may need to be rehomed with strangers.

If you're wondering why I don't already have this dog with me if she's so special, I got her as a present for my dad for his 50th birthday and he suddenly died 3 years ago. A family member begged me to let them have the dog but it's come to light that she is being neglected. This is a person whom I thought would always look after the dog very well. My poor dad would be heartbroken.

Sorry for rambling, I'm feeling very emotional about the situation. I just don't know what to do.

Please, has anyone any advice? Thank you.
 
give it a go and see how it works. we took in a massive bouncy retriever with our cats, and the cats put manners on him in a day or two! so they could be no issues, however my dad took in a little terrier and it terrorised his cats and it didnt worked out.

a friend had a similar issue and sorted out catflaps in indoor doors and safe areas where the cats could go up higher in rooms to escape, and they controlled access etc and it worked out fine.
 
yep, its possible, much depends on the individuals though-just always let the cat have an 'out' (some dog gates even have cat holes in them now for instance) and be prepared to put some time in if needed-ie with my last rescue, she was kept on a line initially and rewarded for ignoring the cat. I never completely trusted her but she was still a work in progress when we lost her.

I now have a 7 month old kitten who's afraid of nothing and has put both young bouncy dogs in their places (we still have the original cat who is much more wary of the dogs).
 
Watching this with interest. Have had my rescue pup a month now, he's 7 months. Have the lounge separated from the hall with a stairgate, pup stays in lounge and has garden until bedtime, cats have rest of house plus garden when pup not there all day and at night.

have read all the expert advise and followed instructions but things don't really seem to be coming along as I thought they would so I am interested to know how others did it.
 
We got Aled last September after my OH's uncle passed away. My cats are oldies, and never lived with dogs, whereas Aled lived with a cat. Rosie is absolutely fine with him, other than when she's asleep on the sofa and he flops down on top of her. Ozzie isn't so keen, and spends most of his time upstairs (Aled won't go up there), but will give a hiss as he walks past to go outside, or when he sits like lord muck at feeding time.

When he gets hissed at, Aled goes and sits in the corner looking like his world has ended.
 
I would have her on a long line( you can get very long light training leads in any pet shop) whenever you are around so you can correct her immediately. If you are busy or go out I would crate her or shut her away so she has no access to the cats. The advantage with crating her ( if you have one strong enough to hold if she takes against the cats) is that the cats could check her out and she can see them and smell them without being able to chase.

I have done it the other way round ( kittens into a house with resident dogs) and shut the kittens into a spare bedroom when we weren't there. We had the dogs on the leads and let the stray kitten out to do their own thing. The smallest kitten walked up to my Dalmatian and smacked him so hard she drew blood and he screamed, the other dog noped as far away as possible and the kitten sauntered off looking for her next conquest! The dogs were very respectful ever after. So what you really need is an attack cat!
 
Crate train the dog, then when he/she is happy to be shut in (normally only takes a few days) allow the cats into the room where the crate is. Dog will learn to cope with the presence of cats, and cats will learn not to leg it (it is often movement which triggers the chase reflex, not being a cat). I did it years ago with my very feisty rescued JRT, she even learned to share the sofa with the cat. It took no more than a couple of weeks max
 
Thank you thank you thank you for the advice and suggestions so far, it's really helped calm me down and I've managed to stop blubbering sitting here at work!!

Need to have a long chat with the OH and brother, who is the one in contact with family member, to see what is to be done.

OH is most concerned about the cats so I will show him this thread and hopefully put his mind at ease. Thank you x
 
My cats and dog have never got on but we manage with the cats living upstairs (and sometimes at my neighbours or in their garden) and the dog downstairs separated by a gate. Its not an ideal situation but its tolerable, just so to let you know even if they don't get on you could probably manage. Our dog is very high energy and loves to chase, if she was more chilled out then I think the cats would have tolerated her better, i'm hoping it improves as she gets older.
 
BentleyBelly said:
My cats and dog have never got on but we manage with the cats living upstairs (and sometimes at my neighbours or in their garden) and the dog downstairs separated by a gate. Its not an ideal situation but its tolerable, just so to let you know even if they don't get on you could probably manage. Our dog is very high energy and loves to chase, if she was more chilled out then I think the cats would have tolerated her better, i'm hoping it improves as she gets older.
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How long has this been? How old is your dog?
I'm 6 weeks in and sick of living with stairgates but needs must.
 
Emma_H said:
How long has this been? How old is your dog?
I'm 6 weeks in and sick of living with stairgates but needs must.
Click to expand...

You have to make a concerted effort, it is unlikely just to happen because the cats learn to run and the dog learns to chase. If you follow the guidelines in my post above you should be able to desensitise both parties in a few days or a couple of weeks
 
We have also managed it in the past with a rescue greyhound who was 5yrs old and a rescued border terrier who was about 4 or 5 when he came. Both managed by keeping a long line on them and correcting them if they went towards the cats and rewarding when they ignored. With the greyhound it only took a couple of days, the terrier a bit longer as he was pretty determined but both did learn to ignore the cats. It was a while before we would leave them on their own but in the end they would all sleep on the same bed and were fine. The terrier was never great about not chasing other cats on walks but learned that these were "his" cats. So definitely it is possible but will take a bit of work and consistency. Good luck.
 
Personally I wouldn't. Not worth the risk.

It isn't the kind of dog which won't do much damage. One incident and curtains pussy cat. I've seen it both work and not work with different breeds/in different circs. But with a breed like that, I'd probably consider other options first.

Doesn't mean that I disagree with any of the advice above. Just that personally, for me, it wouldn't be a risk I'd take with my existing pets (inc dogs), or, if the potential dog in question has been having a hard time especially, kids.

Mind you, I've recently experienced what they can do to a 'not much bigger than cat' sized dog - and how dangerous they were around me during the incident. (And I'm not the pregnant lady who got bitten trying to protect her chi with her military OH the other day...)
 
I've experienced the other way round. We have 3 active lively dogs who I do t think have ever seen cats and will give chase to things that run.
We introduced two cats, one adult one kitten. The cats can get upstairs if need be, the dogs have never been upstairs so know they are not allowed to follow.
It was surprisingly ok. We have had moments where they have maybe entered the room in the evening and been chased out but few and far between and now they are all fine!
The biggest issue is the cats getting all their food before a lab swipes it!
 
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