Bringing a puppy into a home with a cat...?!

Hi,

In the next couple of months my mum is planning on getting a puppy. She only wants a small dog. The only problem is we have a cat, he has been with us for three years now and he is a rescue. He is very placid and has a very loving and gentle nature but we have no idea how he is around dogs. All our family friends have told us that we should get a puppy as this then wont be much of a problem for the cat. Is this right? And if so how do we introduce a puppy to a cat safely? And what small dog breed/breeds are best with cats?
As you can probably tell from the above i dont know too much about dogs/puppies but my mum is a lot more experienced than me, I just want to make sure that i wont lose my cat (like him running away) because of the puppy etc. I love him way to much for that :)

Thanks,
Heartlandgurl

If you ask at a shelter, they will usually have already checked which dogs they have are good with cats! It is more of an individual thing than a breed thing, I have found. And it doesn't need to be a puppy, in fact a slightly older dog may be less likely to harass the cat. As you said your cat is fairly placid, you needn't worry about whether a sight hound would be a problem necessarily, they do like to chase things that run, but ...

If you search for a dog on Petfinder.com, they have a little symbol for whether a dog is good with cats or not for each dog.

I have a dog and cat that are best of friends. My dog Koko is large at 100 lbs and Rascal my cat less than 10. I have found with MY past experience that smaller dogs are more aggressive toward other dogs or cats and are less adaptive. The real key is the cat and it's reaction to having a dog in the house. When Rascal and Koko were put together Rascal was fearless so they adapted very quickly. Koko is a Golden/Lab mix, and both breeds are easy going and not proned to Jealousy. Both Koko and Rascal were grown when they were introduced. You can see pictures of them together in my albums in my profile.

I went through the same thing last year when we brought a puppy home to live with us and our 4 year old cat. He had been an "only child" for a couple years, so he knew he ruled the roost. The timing working out well for us though- we were also moving into our first house at the time, so when we moved in, noone had established territories- it was new to both of them. At first, Jinx stayed up on the counters and anywhere else the dog couldn't reach him at and avoided him at all costs. When there was a confrontation then and still now, Jinx bops Kody in the nose, and the dog backs off. Jinx still rules the roost, but now, almost a year later, the two of them do get along and can lay in the same room without picking on each other. They play together sometimes- you'll see one chase the other through the house, then they turn around and the second one chases the first one. It's really cute. But all I can say is it depends on the cat, and usually gets better in time. Jinx is very laid back and calm- I think that's why he was able to accept Kody. We're bringing a second Golden into our family the week after next, so hopefully he accepts that too. But I don't anticipate problems- kitty can hold his own against the big pansies. :-)

Some breeds have a high prey drive; and yet an individual dog in that breed "may' be OK with cats.

Some breeds like bichons have little or no prey drive. And yet, my first fosters thought cats were edible! :rolleyes: LOL we relocated them to another foster home within 48 hours, ha haa.

So you should consider the breed type, IMO.

A shelter, a rescue: they can temperament test a dog for you, let you know if it is OK with cats. This may be more difficult to do with a puppy, as they are still developing; so you go more by the breed type. Yes, a puppy growing up with a cat is going to adjust to that cat very easily.

And by the way, the CAT will be the boss! Here, even the smallest cat at 6 pounds can easily boss the big 22 pound bichon around, lol. The cat will swat the nose once, nails retracted. With my crew, depending on the cat, the 2d time, the nails may or may not be retracted. Any dog fool hardy enough to get too close when the cat has made it clear she doesn't want to play gets the nails out on the 3rd swat and believe me, that is the END of the dog trying to be boss, ha haa.

Don't get me wrong. I have pics of my cats and dogs snuggled together sleeping. They do get along here. But as to who is in charge? I have a video of my Marlin whining, he wants to drink at the water bowl. My RB Vita was at the bowl, and when she finished, she sat and . . . stared at the ceiling, roomed every hair in to place, just a real tease. Marlin would NOT approach that water bowl until I moved her, ha haaa.

A few thins, which you mom may or may not know:
1. The dog should never be allowed to eat cat food; it is too high in protein.
2. The dog should never be allowed to eat from the cat's litter box; even cat "waste" is too high in protein for a dog
3. Use a baby gate or some other obstacle and set up a place the cat can go and be in a "dog free" zone. Often, this is also where the cat's food bowl and litter box are. I have one spare bedroom gated off, and I keep the cellar stairs blocked from the dogs. The cats can come and go at will.

You will want to clip the cat's nails. A cat can unintentionally scratch the cornea of the dog's eye. This will be expensive, as it typically happens late at night requiring a trip to the ER vet (of course it does!). A scratched cornea will heal, but is very painful and the dog needs to be seen by the vet right away.

I am curious why you think your cat will run away -- is this an indoor / outdoor cat? Mine are indoor only cats, so running away was never the concern for me.

I brought an 8 year old Border Collie/Retriever mix in w/my two cats who were 9 and 10 at the time. Mickey (the dog) could have cared less. The cats did spend a little time higher up on the cat condo for a bit until they figured out the dog wasn't interested in them. Now my dog had been around cats before she also does try to chase other cats if she is outside but inside the house, they're just a piece of moving furniture to her.

Yes its true. I would reccoment a Chihuahuah, you can socialize thhem with anything as a small puppy, and you won't have to worry.

It's honestly a crap shoot. If she wants a small breed tell her to stay away from Jack Russell terriers, any kind of terrier because they do have a high prey drive and will kil her cat even if they are pups. I would have her look into maybe a poodle or a pug or something like that. :) But that doesn't mean they won't hurt the cats in the future.

Most shelters don't test pups with cats, mine didn't it depends how old they are really and they can't say oh he/she will be with cats especially if they are young there is NO way of knowing. Why doesn't she adopt one that has been in a foster home? Then they should know but if they are young like 8 weeks there is no way of knowing how they will be when they mature. How old was she looking for in the age range?

Dixie is a schnauzer/terrier mix and our family adopted her at 9 weeks in December. She is almost 11 months now and great with the cats. She chases them but I get on her about it. I have 3 cats mind you and she is great with them. :)

I'm glad she is adopting and make sure the pup and cat are NEVER alone together.

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Originally Posted by luvofallhorses

It's honestly a crap shoot. If she wants a small breed tell her to stay away from Jack Russell terriers, any kind of terrier because they do have a high prey drive and will kil her cat even if they are pups.

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Eh, I don't think that's very likely. JRTs have high prey drive and all, but saying a puppy Jack Russell will kill a fullgrown cat, is taking it a bit too far.

And Jack Russells are perfectly capable of living peacefully with cats without any problems. Tiki and Leo are a good example of that. Leo adores Tiki... and she politely puts up with him. Hehe.


Anyway, I think it relies a lot more on the cat than the dog. At least when you're getting a puppy. Some cats accept a dog in the house without any problems, while others never really fully accept it. *shrug* It's impossible to say really.

If the cat generally is curious about new things and so on, instead of reacting to anything new in fear and by running away and hiding.. Then I'd say it's more likely to work out, since he'll most likely be scared and careful around the dog but his curiosity will cause him to still seek him out and sooner or later he'll realize that there isn't anything to fear, since a cat can easily put a puppy in it's place. And once the cat knows that, he'll relax around the dog and go on with his life.
When cats are more withdrawn and is the kind of type who just hides... then it's really difficult to get them used to each other. And the chance of the cat running away from home is way more likely.

My cat is a very laid back cat and practically nothing phases him. Maybe that's partially because he grew up with dogs.

My best friend had a cat who had a very different personality. For example; that cat didn't go into the living room for WEEKS because there was a new chair in there... so needless to say, even though my friend would have liked to, he never got a dog or a second cat while he had that cat, since it was more than likely that the cat wouldn't have liked that very much.

So yeah. Taking a look at how the cat reacts to unusual things in his life, might help you get an idea how he'll react to a puppy. Like how he behaves when you have guests in the house for example.