Getting a cat and a dog.......
- Thread starter Gypsydals
- Start date
Well I suppose the first step is to see how Ivan feels. Has he ever shown strong prey drive?
First step would be to allow the kitty to settle into a "safe" room and feel comfortable in there. That'll take a couple of days usually (if it's a kitten then perhaps faster). Then I'd get a baby gate in the doorway and let Ivan see the cat through the gate. Gage his reaction. If he simply seems curious then try leashing him and bringing him in. I'd personally work on a really solid sit or down so that the cat can come sniff him without the dog's big head getting shoved into his back end, that would likely result in a face slap or bite on Ivan's face. if he wants to eat the kitty through the gate (or seems that way) then you'll have to go a different route but don't worry about that unless you have to.
If the cat is way too scared to meet Ivan up close you can start with swapping scent on blankets, then put on in a crate and let the other sniff, then put the other in a crate and let sniff.
You really need to judge how fast the intro can go based on their reactions, it's hard to put a solid plan in place without knowing if anyone is petrified or wants to eat the other. For my dog and cats it was as simple as several meetings in the cat's safe room. Max was very excited but he layed down when I asked and I fed him treats to distract him while the cat sniffed him all over. Then I let him sniff the cat while still laying, started feeding treats again if the cat got irritated. Once I felt Max was perfectly safe I let him up and he followed the cat around for a while but eventually got over the novelty and they were best buds.
Oh and a word of caution, don't let anyone hold the cat when he sees the dog for the first few times, if the cat freaks out it could be very painful for the person.
First step would be to allow the kitty to settle into a "safe" room and feel comfortable in there. That'll take a couple of days usually (if it's a kitten then perhaps faster). Then I'd get a baby gate in the doorway and let Ivan see the cat through the gate. Gage his reaction. If he simply seems curious then try leashing him and bringing him in. I'd personally work on a really solid sit or down so that the cat can come sniff him without the dog's big head getting shoved into his back end, that would likely result in a face slap or bite on Ivan's face. if he wants to eat the kitty through the gate (or seems that way) then you'll have to go a different route but don't worry about that unless you have to.
If the cat is way too scared to meet Ivan up close you can start with swapping scent on blankets, then put on in a crate and let the other sniff, then put the other in a crate and let sniff.
You really need to judge how fast the intro can go based on their reactions, it's hard to put a solid plan in place without knowing if anyone is petrified or wants to eat the other. For my dog and cats it was as simple as several meetings in the cat's safe room. Max was very excited but he layed down when I asked and I fed him treats to distract him while the cat sniffed him all over. Then I let him sniff the cat while still laying, started feeding treats again if the cat got irritated. Once I felt Max was perfectly safe I let him up and he followed the cat around for a while but eventually got over the novelty and they were best buds.
Oh and a word of caution, don't let anyone hold the cat when he sees the dog for the first few times, if the cat freaks out it could be very painful for the person.
He does have a prey drive, hes just not sure how to do anything with it other than chase/bark and paw at. It took him about a month to stop trying to get to the guinea pig when we had one. He does get quite worked up when he does see her.
Hazel isn't scared of the dogs, but neither does she like them. She will be locked up in a crate in my room for alteast a week upto 2 weeks.
Oddly enough the dog(Peewee) with the know how to kill the cat wont even look at her IF she is in the house. He understands that if they are in the house they are off limits.
Hazel isn't scared of the dogs, but neither does she like them. She will be locked up in a crate in my room for alteast a week upto 2 weeks.
Oddly enough the dog(Peewee) with the know how to kill the cat wont even look at her IF she is in the house. He understands that if they are in the house they are off limits.
Don't even let them see each other for a couple of weeks if possible. Rotate their time out in the common area, you'll pprobably have to designate a bedroom or something as "the cat room" for a little while. If he's never been around cats, (and depending on the cat's past experiences with dogs) this will give them a chance to hear/smell each other first.
Our old DDR shepherd Anko literally wanted to kill and eat our cat when we brought her home. We did the two weeks. They would spend an hour at a time sniffing each other through the door without being able to see each other. Then we began letting Sammy out with Anko. We had Anko on leash for the safety of the cat. And during those two weeks had been reinforcing a very strong "leave it" and "watch me".
She still really wanted to eat Sammy at first, but giving her "leave its" and then rewarding heavily (I'm talking about a slice of bacon here) when she looked away or simply observed without getting that psycho predatory gleam in her eye went a LONG way toward them getting along. After a month-2 months of them having on leash interactions, they got to where they could lay in the same bed together. We never trusted them unsupervised because Anko wanted to eat her so badly at first.
Our old DDR shepherd Anko literally wanted to kill and eat our cat when we brought her home. We did the two weeks. They would spend an hour at a time sniffing each other through the door without being able to see each other. Then we began letting Sammy out with Anko. We had Anko on leash for the safety of the cat. And during those two weeks had been reinforcing a very strong "leave it" and "watch me".
She still really wanted to eat Sammy at first, but giving her "leave its" and then rewarding heavily (I'm talking about a slice of bacon here) when she looked away or simply observed without getting that psycho predatory gleam in her eye went a LONG way toward them getting along. After a month-2 months of them having on leash interactions, they got to where they could lay in the same bed together. We never trusted them unsupervised because Anko wanted to eat her so badly at first.
All our dogs were raised with a cat so when we lost Panda and got Elliot I assumed Buster would be okay with him... wrong. Buster was intent on killing him and having him for lunch to the point where he actually tried to jump up and grab him out of our arms a couple of times.
The first few days they didn't even see each other, we set up the spare room as the cat room and rotated them. After a week or so of that we started having Buster out onleash and supervised and under strict control while Elliot was in the room. The rule was he had to lie down at my feet and wasn;t to move.
Elliot handled it really well, at first he stayed right out of the way and then over time he would come closer and closer.
Over time I gave Buster more freedom, he'd sneak off and I'd find him in Elliot's room, staring intently at this poor sleeping cat.
it was about 4 months work to get him safe inside with Elliot and another month or 2 after that to trust him offleash with Elliot in the backyard. It was just a long desensitization process. It paid off though.
2 years on... Elliot scares the crap out of Buster. One fierce Siamese look and Buster jumps out of the way to let him pass, its hilarious. Elliots never even had a go at the dogs but he intimidates the crap out of all of them. lol.
The first few days they didn't even see each other, we set up the spare room as the cat room and rotated them. After a week or so of that we started having Buster out onleash and supervised and under strict control while Elliot was in the room. The rule was he had to lie down at my feet and wasn;t to move.
Elliot handled it really well, at first he stayed right out of the way and then over time he would come closer and closer.
Over time I gave Buster more freedom, he'd sneak off and I'd find him in Elliot's room, staring intently at this poor sleeping cat.
it was about 4 months work to get him safe inside with Elliot and another month or 2 after that to trust him offleash with Elliot in the backyard. It was just a long desensitization process. It paid off though.
2 years on... Elliot scares the crap out of Buster. One fierce Siamese look and Buster jumps out of the way to let him pass, its hilarious. Elliots never even had a go at the dogs but he intimidates the crap out of all of them. lol.
lol Elliot is a special, he was 9 when we got him from the shelter and he's just what we needed.
He is so reliant on his family I don't know how someone left him but its their loss I suppose.
Thismorning I was sitting on the back verendah, Buster did his usual thing and came and sat on my lap. Elliot decided it was time for cuddles, forced himself onto my knee and then curled up half on my chest, half on Buster's back, he's a sweetheart.
He is so reliant on his family I don't know how someone left him but its their loss I suppose.
Thismorning I was sitting on the back verendah, Buster did his usual thing and came and sat on my lap. Elliot decided it was time for cuddles, forced himself onto my knee and then curled up half on my chest, half on Buster's back, he's a sweetheart.