How fair is it?

[kittycats_delight]

It does take time for them to 'get along'. Do the cats physically hurt the dogs? What kinds of dogs are we talking about? If the cats are just hissing and growling but never do injury to the dogs then I would say to do some short 10 - 15 minute supervised visits 2-4 times a day. You can also try introducing one at a time. Introduce one cat to one dog and once they are comfortable bring in another dog until kitty is comfortable with all the doggies then start all over with another kitty. It can be time consuming but it will be worth it if they can all be friends.

I have 5 cats and a border collie x and they all live together peacefully. In fact the cats will even cuddle with the dog and play with her. My most spoiled kitty was the hardest to get to get along with the dog but they are all pretty well perfectly fine now and we have never ever had any serious fighting or injury. Actually we have never had as much as a scratch between the cats and dog.

[Freedom]

The problem is the cats??? What do they do?

I have 10 cats and 4 dogs. SMALL dogs. (Two of my cats weigh more than 3 of the dogs.) The dogs are afraid of the cats, they have all be swatter on the nose a number of times so they learned to give a cat a wide berth. A cat can approach a dog, snuggle up and sleep with it; a dog can not approach a cat. They worked all this out themselves.

Like the others, I'm wondering what happens, how each species and individual responds? What makes you feel they can't be together? If it were the DOGS that I could understand. Some breeds, and some individual dogs, have a high prey drive and never really be trusted around a cat. But you seem to feel the dogs are OK and the cats are the problem, which raised a lot of questions.

Oh, even though all is fine in the house, I can not trust my dogs outside with a cat even my own cat (if one gets out). The dogs instantly chase the cat and I wouldn't want to know how that ended.

[mruffruff]

I have 12 cats and 2 dogs. They had to learn to get along because I have a small house. The cats have a room of their own and a gate that they can get through but the dogs can't. This way the cats have a safe haven to run to if they get scared.

My dogs are not small; one is a chow/Belgian shepherd and the other is a Polish sheepdog. At first, the dogs wanted to chase the cats, but after a couple of hisses and swats, decided it wasn't a good idea. The dogs ignore the cats, except when the cats decide to rub against them. Then its just a sniff or two and they all go their separate ways.

Your cats are understandably afraid of the dogs. If your dogs are young and hyper, the cats are even more scared. Give the cats a way to come downstairs when they are ready. And help them by teaching your dogs that these are not toys to chase.