Cats and Dogs - new puppy, need advice!

Serephin

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I have two cats, one is 10, the other 5, have had them since kittens. The 10 year old is a bit neurotic, and runs from the other cat (he does chase her, he is a little bugger sometimes!). The 5 year old is my baby, he is half egyptian mau and I love him to bits and he knows it!

OH has wanted a dog ever since I have known him (10 years) and at the weekend we finally got one. A mini schnauzer who is very sweet, 12 weeks old. Adjusting to a puppy is a learning curve and is making me feel tense as I am worrying about my cats. My boy is quite freaked by the presence of the puppy and is avoiding her by staying upstairs, although at night dog is in her crate, so cats can come and go through their flap and eat etc. The 10 year old cat runs away too, but seems a bit braver which really surprised us.

I guess I am just hoping for people telling me that it will all be okay and they will live along together. I am not expecting them to curl up by the fire or anything, but the thought of my baby being upset is stressing me out and I think it is stopping me from enjoying the puppy as much as I should be.

Any advice is welcome, thank you.

ETA: puppy whines and barks from about 5:30 am intermittently - we have read that you have to ignore this as they will go it to get attention. OH has been up at 6am the past two mornings to settle her down again. Will the whining and barking stop as she gets more confident and happy with her home/routine, we have only had her since sunday and she has taken a good while to come out of her shell and is still quite quiet.
 
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splashgirl45

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first of all, lucky you to have a puppy..your cats will prob settle down and co exist with the dog once she has grown up a bit, its very early days and will take some time. you cant expect a puppy to last all night and 5.30 is pretty good, they cant hold their bladder when they are very young. you may also find she is waking up as it is light and is feeling lonely. i will prob get shot down in flames but i would have the crate in the bedroom for the first couple of weeks till she feels more relaxed and gradually move her to where you want her to sleep as a adult. above all enjoy her!!!! they are onky puppies for a short time..:D
 

Murphs_Mum

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Hi, my JRT Is now 15 weeks and is still establishing order with my cats. The older one is almost playing with him now but my baby cat is not overly impressed at the new addition. I just make sure he still gets time apart for attention.

Can't really answer re the crate thing - Humbug never cried, he seems happy to amuse himself! We tend to go to bed about 11 and let him out about 6 when he will sleep for a couple more hours.

I guess I should change my user name now as strictly speaking I am no longer murphs mum!! We must meet up with the puppies!
 

Serephin

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first of all, lucky you to have a puppy..your cats will prob settle down and co exist with the dog once she has grown up a bit, its very early days and will take some time. you cant expect a puppy to last all night and 5.30 is pretty good, they cant hold their bladder when they are very young. you may also find she is waking up as it is light and is feeling lonely. i will prob get shot down in flames but i would have the crate in the bedroom for the first couple of weeks till she feels more relaxed and gradually move her to where you want her to sleep as a adult. above all enjoy her!!!! they are onky puppies for a short time..:D

We did think about having the crate in the bedroom, but my cat sleeps with us on the bed and I think that would push him over the edge!

I also think it is the light and her getting lonely - lots of early mornings for the OH then! lol
 

Serephin

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Hi, my JRT Is now 15 weeks and is still establishing order with my cats. The older one is almost playing with him now but my baby cat is not overly impressed at the new addition. I just make sure he still gets time apart for attention.

Can't really answer re the crate thing - Humbug never cried, he seems happy to amuse himself! We tend to go to bed about 11 and let him out about 6 when he will sleep for a couple more hours.

I would dearly love for my cats to take to her, my boy cat is quite bold but is not taking the puppy too well, I think he is most put out, so I am making sure I give him plenty of attention!

I think she is just lonely in her crate - she went in at 11ish last night and was let out at 6am - she did quiet down for a bit after the initial howling at 5am - we make sure we don't go to her until she is quiet, and then once we are in the room she doesn't make any noise at all.

I guess I should change my user name now as strictly speaking I am no longer murphs mum!! We must meet up with the puppies!

You could be Murphy's GodMum! - I am looking forward to going out on Murph and the OH taking the dog out with us, should be fun! And yes, that would be good to meet up and introduce the puppies! :D

ETA: Humbug is an excellent name!
 
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Kaylum

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We did think about having the crate in the bedroom, but my cat sleeps with us on the bed and I think that would push him over the edge!

I also think it is the light and her getting lonely - lots of early mornings for the OH then! lol

No dont put the crate in the bedroom its the worst thing you could ever do. Your pup needs to learn that your not always going to be round, and you will soon be able to leave her out of the crate at night and in her own bed. 6.00 is when I take the dogs out in the morning and they are adults.

Never used the crate method as I dont like them tobehonest, prefer dogs to have their own beds.
 
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CorvusCorax

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Try stairgates and room gates so the cat can get away and have it's own space.
Agree that's a pretty good length of time for a young pup to stay dry and quiet overnight, think of how many times a human baby needs to be lifted and laid. My pup is seven months and will still need to toilet about 6am some mornings.
 

CAYLA

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Agreed, thats a good time for baby k9 to wake, just pop out for quick bog break and place back to bed.
You are doing fab re cats, allow them to hide out upstairs, I would usually agree with crate in bedroom but I would give your cats their space and leave pup down, the cats will come round.
 

devonlass

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My cat is 9 yrs and I know is never going to take to our new puppy.I think he will 'tolerate' him but I will be very surprised if he ever loses that snooty air and actually views the pup with anything other than contempt.

Probably not what you want to hear,but I am sure yours (and hopefully mine but my cat is a funny so and so when he minds to be so not holding my breath!!) situation will improve.Cats are funny creatures and I don't think they like the disruption of something new,especially something as lowly as a dog;)

In regards to the puppy making a noise in the mornings,I am guessing she is just missing her litter mates and can only spend so long in her own company,that and maybe the urge for the loo if she's generally clean at night??

Sounds daft but after hours of whining on my pups 3rd night home (was fine the first two nights!!) I left a light on and a radio on low nearby (the bbc channels are best as have lot's of talking lol),seemed to do the trick and got rid of the radio after couple of nights and has been fine ever since.He stays in his crate from around midnight until 7-8am now and is approx 13 weeks now.Make sure your girl has a warm bed as will be missing the other warm bodies she has been used to in a litter.I personally wouldn't take her in the bedroom,she will have to learn how to be in her own company and should be fine in her crate wherever she is in the house.

Anyway just my opinions of course and not necessarily much help or correct,but hope you work things out so can start enjoying your puppy and stop worrying about your feline friends:)
 
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Serephin

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Thank you for all your replies.

She was on form last night, yowling and whining - so we put her out in the utility room in her crate and she was quiet all night, with the exception on a whine or two about 6am. She was in the kitchen previously to that so I am not sure why she felt better in the utility room. We shall see how tonight goes. I put a big teddy in there with her and the OH set up the radio to come on about 6am, but I might suggest putting it on low all night.

We are getting baby gates today - at the moment cats are coming in through the upstairs bedroom window, which entails me getting up at 4am to let them in! Who needs sleep anyway!

I have never used a crate before, but because of the cats I felt that it was essential. She seems to feel safe in there and will sit in there for hours watching whats going on (we take her to work with us) and will sometimes be brave and venture out for water/food or to trot about before diving back in again. She is quite shy at the moment, but seems to forget herself when she is out in the back garden and gallops about sideways like a right nutter! lol

I don't think the cats will ever take to her, but I think I can get a system going where everyone is happy, its just going to take a bit of time. When OH take pup to work I have some time to make sure cats are settled and fed and then they sleep for the rest of the day in a peaceful house.

Phew!
 

Murphs_Mum

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I should have added .. Humbugs cage is in the Sun Room with floor to ceiling glass so he can see out over the paddocks. We have hardly ever shut him in - he has his door wedged open so he can wander round the room - nothing really he can damage in there, but he always sleeps in the crate by choice. He has classic fm on overnight and the hall light is left on too. Not sure how relaxing classic fm is as when I got up at 3am to let him out when he was tiny he was listening to a battle proms concert!!!! There are double glass full height doors from the sun room and my older cat likes to roll on his back and tease Humbug just the other side of the door! It took time but they are ok until Humbug tries to play bite him now then he gets a whack! Bear my little cat who I dote on still looks at me pleadingly "why mummy" though!! He likes to sit just out of reach on the window seat and rain down blows as puppy passes! Hope you have great fun and let me know when yours is settled and ready for a walk and I'll pop over :) x
 

CorvusCorax

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The utility room is probably smaller, darker and more 'den link' if your kitchen is a large open type - don't forget the fridge and freezer will probably be whirring as well.
Lots of dogs prefer smaller, darker conditions to sleep/hide in :)

Don't rule out the fact that like us, dogs get woken up by the sun rising! I have all curtains drawn and both doors to the living room closed at night so no extra light leaks in.
 

amy_b

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In my experience once the cats have trained the dog not to do anything without their permission they tend to live happily alongside each other. my old cat used to curl up with my dog regularly, as does my mums cat with her dog. The cat I have now is a little more neurotic about dogs (I think she has been chased 1 too many times) so dispised dogs. however like I said she has spent about three months training mums new puppy not to so much as look at her and now she will sit next to her... (dont expect toooo much!!:eek:)
 

millimoo

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Well I have 4 cats. 2 if them were here before my lab.
My oldest cat pretty much hates everything with 4 legs and fur.
When she was a pup, both cats were quite horrified, but I made sure they and a route to get in and upstairs without having to run the gauntlet. After a couple of weeks, they started to sit and watch at the baby gate. Eventually they'd come and have a nosy when puppy was asleep. Chasing the cats was also disallowed.
Needless to say all my cats now adore the dog, and get in her bed, rub their fads all over her and generally harass her.
One of my cats has become somattached to her, we have to sneak out last thing at night or he insists on coming round the block with us. Hes a nightmare as I can hear him shouting from streets away if he spots us in the distance. I've had a few surprised looks when people see the dog off the lead with the cat trotting along beside her shoulder.
I think I've also been very lucky with my dog and she doesn't chase cats, hens or anything else.... She dies however tell the cats off if they claw the carpets (she picked this up if I shouted at them, now she just does it and I don't have to say a word)
I love my dog, she's so good.
So in relation to your lot, I'm sure theyll come round and be friends with your pup eventually. Just give them their space and set some ground rules about being calm and quiet in the presence if the cats. Goodluck
 
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