Cats and dogs !

[Princess16]

We have recently had a new puppy but my cat will have nothing to do with him, she runs off - didnt think she would come back the first night but she has, mainly just to eat. She is now sleeping upstairs in our room instead of her own bed downstairs while he is in his crate. At the moment I am having to juggle feeding and keeping them apart.

Any ideas what to do? Would love them to live in harmony

 

[AmyMay]

We just allowed the cat to find her own way through the whole new situation. She stayed upstais mainly for the first week, and then started coming down stairs more and more, gradually starting to interact more and more.

They are now pretty good friends and are a good hunting tag team.

 

[pippixox]

the only thing you can do is give it time. you can't push cats! when we got a dog the cat was not pleased, although she had plenty of space that he as not allowed in, and despite being way bigger than her (GSD!) he will get told off by her- she will stand on the stairs and wack his nose through the rails! but he will never go up the stairs as knows he is not allowed. in our old place- ground floor flat- they were both allowed in our bedroom and she would sleep on the bed and after a few months he was allowed on! they have never snuggled together, despite 2.5 years together now, but get along just fine. It did take a good 4-5 months for them to settle into living together

 

[HoneyMonster1]

Completely agree with the above. We got a puppy after 4 years of our cats being the sole house pets. Needless to say they were not pleased. They stayed upstairs, and only sat on the stairs if they wanted to go outside. I was convinced they would never come back one day! However, as pippixox says, you can't push cats! We left them to do as they pleased, and it did take time. One of them got used to the puppy much more quickly than the other, but it still took up to a year before he would come and sleep in the lounge (it wasn't helped by the fact she was highly excitable and jumped on them). Sadly we just lost that dog at 4 years old to canine meningitis, but at the end of her life they were both comfortable with her. We have just got a new puppy and they are much less frightened. It takes time. Just make sure that they always have a safe place to go where the puppy is not allowed and give them extra cuddles! Good luck