Question:
Hi
I have just registered and introduced myself. Now I'm coming here and hope someone went trough this experience and can give me a few pointers.
Up to last friday I had a full house of pets already. I have 2 budgies, a 13 year old dog, and a 1year old cat. - I also have tropical fish, but I don't think those ones will create a problem -. ANyway last friday we picked up a black lab puppy. He's 8 weeks old.
We went straight to our trailer for the weekend and also took our other dog. There were no problems whatsoever with the two of them.
However when we came back last night, we faced a small problem that we forgot about : Our cat didn't seem too thrilled with the new "roomate". WHich is understandable I guess.
We had our cat on her leash - she's used to it, she has it all the time when she goes to the campground for the weekends so it wasn't anything strange to her. And we also had the puppy on his leash. We left them on opposite sides, able to see each other but not close enough to touch each other.AT first the cat seemed very upset with the intrusion, after a while observing the puppy, seeing him eating, and playing and even sleeping she dropped the upset and seemed only curious.
During the night we had the puppy close to our room, with a gate onthe doorway, and leftthe cat free. She came to take a look at the puppy a few times but mostly she kept to her usual routine. Same thing is happening today.
However, although he's a 8 week old puppy is already bigger than her, and very playful as all the puppies. I don't feel safe leaving him free in the house yet because he might scare her trying to play with her or even barking loud. LIke all puppies he's also very curious.
I just want to make sure that there will be no wounded coming out of a confrontation. ANybody went trough the same experience? ANd if so, what did you do? HOw did it work? WOuld you share some pointers?
Thanks
smilecan


Answer:
With my cat when I brought my puppies home she just looked at them, but if they bothered her, she would just hiss and walk away and if that wasn't enough she would swat her hand at them but not really touch them and then the puppies would get the idea. So I'm sure if the puppy upsets her she will do something like my cat did and the puppy will leave her alone. Best of luck


Answer:
I had a similar experience when I brought home my second cat Sydney, to my first cat, Max. He would either ignore her or try to hurt her. We never let them stay unsupervised and when we weren't home, they were in seperate rooms. Your cat probably feels as though her space has been invaded and also a little scared of the puppy. When I was taking care of a kitten I found, I would take her home to my cats at night and they were really scared of her. She wanted to play and would chase them and bat at them but they were too frightened to do anything. It took a good week even to be able to leave them in the same room. With Max and Sydney, it was more like 2-3 weeks. I would give them both some time to adjust and hopefully they will sort it out themselves.


Answer:
Thank you for your responses.
I"m sure that she might be able to jump to a higher place if the puppy bothers her, and I guess he's as scared of her as she might be of him, but I can't help to worry a bit
Ghost desire how do your dogs and cat deal with each other now? Any problems?
And candice I just saw the names on the bottom of your message, guess what ? The new puppy is called Taz
Thanks again for your answers
smilecan


Answer:
Oh they get along great, now my dogs are still puppies but big puppies lol, if she doesn't want to play she leaves the room or jumps up to a higher place where they can't get her.


Answer:
Hehe, great name smilecan. Actually, it's my golden retriever that is named Taz.


Answer:
Hi Smilecan:
I think you should keep the separated while you aren't home. Two reasons why I feel this way:
1. Two weeks ago I spoke to a real nice man, who came into the shelter looking for his friend's lost cat. His 8-month old pug puppy needed $2000 worth of eye surgery, after his cat swiped it with a claw. Ouch!
2. I wouldn't give such a young puppy free range of your home while you aren't there. It's usally recommended to puppy-proof a room (or part of a room) and leave the puppy there when you can't watch him or be there. This way, he's not peeing/pooping everywhere, not chewing electrical cords, not chewing anything else important, won't get stuck/lost in weird places, eat garbage or plastic bags or what-have-you.
Just my two cents! Good luck, and congrats on the new puppy!


Answer:
I did as greencolander suggested. For a week (until Spencer was completely potty trained) my puppy lived in the kitchen. We put baby gates up so he couldn't get into the rest of the house. Kitty (my cat) avoided the kitchen like the plague.
Then we removed one of the baby gates to allow Spencer access to the family room as well. Kitty would stand at one of the gates and stare in at Spencer, but quickly run away if he got near.
Once Spence had free range of the house Kitty moved 'up'. We allow her on the tables and furniture. She started spending all of her time off the floor. If Spencer came near she would just swat his nose (Kitty is declawed, thank goodness) and he would wander away.
Now they tolerate each other. If Spencer is 'really' in a hyper mood Kitty just disappears and hides somewhere. When Spencer is sleepy then Kitty will walk around and he doesn't even open his eyes.
They get along fine. I suggest keeping them apart for at least a week until they have both adjusted to having a new 'roommate'. Then you can slowly introduce the cat when they puppy is extremely tired. When you introduce them put the puppy on a leash and let the cat have free range. You can always pull the pup away if things get out of hand.
Whenever I have seen introductions of cats and puppies it seems the puppies are scared the most. They are trying to figure out 'who' is in charge and the cat usually makes it quite clear that they are
They will learn to co-exist but I doubt if they will ever become 'friends'.


Answer:
Great advice How are they doing now, smilecan?


Answer:

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I did more or less what was suggested except that I don't have my kid's gates anymore - they grew out of them and can't afford them just now.
Still, taz- our new puppy - has one room for himself and we covered the entrance with an old chest. He'll soon be able to go over it , but not yet.
Fluffy - our cat - seems to be doing exactly what rincewind said.. she's more up than down hehehehe
Sheba, our other dog, is allowed free where she wants and she couldn't care less about what's around LOL she's 13 and not very playful anymore which puzzles the puppy to no end!
Our budgiesdidn't even notice there's a new presence in the house, they're too busy playing to even look LOL
So far it doesn't look too bad, however as green colander says I"m still making sure they're not together if I'm not there, just as a precaution.
I wonder if I should declaw fluffy. I never really thought about it, and felt maybe it wasn't that nice for the cat, but it is true that she can really cause damage with those sharp weapons.
What are the opinions on this????
HOpe everyone is having a great week. I know I am
smilecan