When can a dog and cat be left alone?

StillandSilent

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#1
I know it depends on both the dog and the cat, but I need some general advice.
I have had Cheshire for almost two weeks. She is 13 weeks old and weighs 3lbs. Obviously, she is too small to be left alone with Argon, so I put her in the bathroom when I leave.
Argon has almost totally ignored her since she came home, though he did make an effort to play with her today. He pranced around and tried to swat her with a paw (Sadly, he does think that this is an appropriate invitation to play). She hissed and went under the bed, he got bored and wandered off.
Argon has hunted outside, and killed both birds and baby rabbits, so he does have a prey drive. When I adopted him, Angry Puss was still living, and there was never an issue there, but Angry Puss was large and evil, and pretty much put Argon in his place from day one.
How do you know when they can be left together? Chesh is kind of sad alone in the bathroom, but it is the only room with a door, and Argon can jump a baby gate.
 

milos_mommy

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#2
Honestly if he's got a prey drive like that I would wait until she's quite a bit older. He might be fine most of the time, but if she bolts or makes a squeaky kitty noise that sounds like a chew toy to Argon, that might not go well.

I'd wait until you see how reacts with her running around manically or making funny noises, then go from there...and also until she's probably twice as big as she is now.
 

mjb

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#3
Would the kitty feel less lonely if you left her in a crate where Argon and she could see each other, but she would be safe?

I don't know when it's safe to leave them alone, but for us it has taken a long time. It eventually happened over time, but it wasn't quick.
 

Fran101

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#4
I've waited until the cats are like.. 9 months. they've been around the dogs, know how they are, know the house and usually have outsmarted them a few times

A dog who is always trying to kill the cat? Never.

but a dog who once in a while is like "hey! I wanna play!" or "omg ur so furry, lemme chase you for a sec!" ehh.. 9 months-1 year lol its kind of annoying for the cats. but they learn to deal. we make "safe zones" all over the house. they have a perch on the window, etc.. where the dogs cant go and they can have PEACE. i think thats important for a cats health

Usually, if there are some high spots in the house, cats have an easy time getting away from pesky dogs.
and usually, dogs wait about 5 seconds of "HEyyyy come down!!" and then lose interest lol
 

Maxy24

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#5
With the first cat we got him at 4 months and he was alone with Max by like 6 months, maybe less. We got Willie at 8 weeks and he was lone with Max by 9 weeks, and it would have been earlier except we were worried Neko might not like him. However Max didn't have a huge prey drive. He would chase rabbits and cats outside and was very interested in Neko when we brought him home but showed no interest in chasing or playing with him, just liked sniffing. Max was absolutely fantastic with the cats.

Since Argon tries to play with the kitten I'd wait until he's quite a bit bigger. Even if Argon isn't trying he could injure the kitten by slapping or crushing him. It's really going to be up to you, there is no set time or size. Just monitor how they interact, maybe when the kitten is big enough for her slaps to make Argon think before he gets into her personal space lol.
 

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