Ok, Now I am stressed about the new puppy and my cats

[rms78645]

We are getting a puppy in a few weeks and I have 2 cats that are my babies.
I just read the story about the rotti killing the cats and I am worried. My cats are indoor cats, not declawed and they are about 16 months old. I guess I just figured they'd get along, or at least tolerate each other. I am planning on baby gating an area off so the cats can get away from the new puppy. I would die if he hurt my cats. So would my 9 year old. What can we do so that he won't hurt them?

[GinaG]

Hi
We have just gotten a new puppy and have a cat. Harry is quite old, but tolerates our puppy quite well. We spent a fair bit of time with the both of them togethor trying to get them used to each other. Is good to do it when both are having quiet time and relaxed. In our puppies UP times, she gets way overexcited whenever Harry is around, but Harry bats her with his paw every now and then and she backs off. She knows Harry's name and therefore we can tell her to leave Harry alone, leave his biscuits alone etc
If our experience is anything to go by, the cats will dominate the puppy to start with and then as your puppy grows will learn to keep away from her.

[Mojave's Mom]

I found this article to be quite helpful once I moved in with my now-husband who came with a cat, after we got engaged:

Introducing a dog to your cat
Champaign County Humane Society


Cat to Dog Introductions
The key to successful cat-dog introductions is to expose them to one another gradually under controlled conditions. You want to avoid creating situations where the cat runs away and the dog's prey-chase instinct is activated. If your dog has previously lived with a cat, and your new cat has previously had positive experiences with dogs, they may progress quickly to tolerating one another. However, if you have an adult dog who has never been socialized to cats, the introduction should be a very gradual process lasting up to 30 days. In either case, train your dog to sit and stay reliably before bringing your new cat home. This may give you somewhat greater control once the introductions have been made. Remember that these steps are progressive, so go on to the next step only when you feel your dog and cat have "mastered" the previous one.
1. On day 1, confine your new cat to his or her own room at first. After a few hours, confine the dog in a fenced-in yard or basement or separate room, and allow the cat to explore the rest of the house. Then put the cat back in his or her own room, so the dog has an opportunity to become familiar with the cat's scent. Put a baby gate up but leave the door closed.
2. On day 2, crack open the door to the cat's room a couple inches and allow the dog to sniff and see through the opening for 30 seconds. Reward the dog for appropriate behavior. Repeat this step a couple more times during the day. Continue to give the cat the opportunity to explore the house when the dog is securely confined out of sight.
3. On day 3 and subsequently, increase the "viewing intervals" by short increments until the dog can watch the cat quietly for a few minutes. Reward good behavior.
4. Allow the dog to view the cat with the door completely open, with the baby gate still in place, for a few minutes at a time. If the dog is tolerating the cat, go into another room. Call the dog to you and play a game with him or her. Then ignore both animals (but keep attuned to them!) and engage in some other activity. The dog will start to lose interest in the cat.
5. Eventually work up to leaving the door to the cat's room open, with the baby gate still up, whenever you are at home. Always close the door when you are not present! Some pet owners will always need to keep the dog and cat separated when they aren't around to supervise, but others will find that after a couple months' probation, the dog and cat are OK together by themselves. It's far better to err on the side of caution, however, to prevent tragedy. Even after your dog and cat are peacefully co-existing, make sure that the cat's food bowl and litter box are out of the dog's reach. Keep the cat from approaching the dog when the dog is eating or chewing on a bone.

[Judi W]

Please keep in mind (mentioned above). Dog and cat relationships are two sided. Everyone seems to focus on the dog, but the cat's behavior is also critical to the situation. A dog savvy cat makes all the difference in the world if you are bringing in a puppy or even older dog. A cat that is not dog savvy tends to make a target of itself by hissing, running and generally making itself something to be chased. If your cats are not dog savvy, things will likely not be easy at all. Sandy's dogs were introduced to cats in the home that were used to living with dogs.

Are your cats dog savvy? If they've never been around dogs and are older, I'm not sure why you just assumed they would get along. Problems are often instigated by the cat(s) some of whom tease, make a spectical of themselves by hissing, puffing up and racing around and then the owner blames the dog for responding.

[rms78645]

I guess I figured, since they were young, that they would eventually learn to tolerate each other at least. No, my cats have had zero experience with dogs. They've never met one, that I know of.

[Mojave's Mom]

Originally Posted by Judi W

Sandy's dogs were introduced to cats in the home that were used to living with dogs.

Yes. Alexis (the cat) is VERY dog savvy. She learned long ago not to run around, rather sit still and the dogs will ignore her. This helped immensely, especially with my older dog as he is very high prey drive. I follwed the article but also had the fact that the cat knew what she was doing going for me. So I'm glad Judi chimed in. You'll need to make sure to supervise all interactions and don't allow the dog and cats alone time unless you are there. Even though Mojave understands "leave the cat alone" I still do not trust him alone with her. Therefore one of them gets put up if I'm not around.

[Canula2000]

I think as long as you don't overdo introduction and let your cats rule the roost you shouldn't have any problems. When my dog was a tiny pup she would follow the cat everywhere even under the bed. I never got involved and let the cat discipline as she saw fit. Now they get along fine. In fact my dogs hardly notice her. Sometimes my cat will taunt them and intice the dogs into a chase but it has never been a vicious thing. The dogs always stop when the cat stops running. When you can have your cat run up and attack the dog I think you have a pretty safe enviroment for the cat.

[c andras]

As people have told me,not all rotts like cats,i have 2 cats now.The indoor cat is sleeping on the back of the couch and Lanee is on the couch.They are both asleep.I am looking for a home for my other cat so nothing happens to him.All my other rotts were fine w/ cats.Even the one i got at 6 yrs old.She didn't like them at her dish that was her only condition w/ cats.Lanee is the first that didn't like cats all of the sudden.I think the gates would be a great thing,i have 2 right now and plan on getting a few more tomorrow.

[LavenderRott]

For every story you hear about a dog killing a cat, there are plenty of dog/cat homes that are quite peaceful. In 7 years, Chase has never gone after a cat. I have some wonderful pictures of her sharing breakfast with Sassy, in fact.

[kjohnson724]

I have 2 cats and one Rott (16 months) and the cats try to avoid the dog at all cost. Once we brought Niila home as a puppy we put a gate at the bottom of the stairs so that the cats would have a safe haven. One of the cats hangs out in the basement and the other one primarily stays upstairs. They come out when they know the dog is not in the house or when they know that she is fast asleep, but for the most part they keep their distance. Everyone manages to get along well enough to all sleep on the bed at night though.

[Zacky]

We introduced to kittens when Zack was 1 1/2 years old and Tyrone was 6 years old. We had them in one of the dog crates at night and during the day we had them in their own room. The dogs was very good to accept the kittens, it didn't take long until we could let them out in the house at the same time. At first the cats were scared but we had the dogs in a down stay.
And know the cats roles the house and if they are laying on the dogs beds, the dogs will just lay beside the bed instead.
We can even have the cats outside together with the dogs and the will not chase them at all.

[Denise L.]

I had an old cat, Babe, when I babysat Richard the Rott and they got along very well. Most of the time the cat ignored Richard but he would snuggle up with him at bedtime.

After my Babe went to the Bridge, I fostered a kitten who was a hellion! This time Richard and the kitty played a lot, with the kitten teaching Richard a thing or two about batting kibble around the house. The little tyke even stole kibble out of Richard's bowl while he was eating and very often I found the two of them drinking out of the same water bowl.

But Richard is the most laid back dog! The best behaved dog of any breed I have ever known.

I would love to get another cat...and Cyrus did live with a cat in his previous home...and he does not chase squirrels or go after cats when we are out...but he is so darn playful and still has a tendency to "play rough" I won't get a cat. I am afraid he could hurt a kitty while playing.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Julius never really bothers Poof. Like Judi said, it's usually Poof that tries to instigate Julius.

Julius got to a stage where he wanted to chase Poof around the house (around 6 months old) & we just put a leash on him & corrected him whenever he tried. It seemed to solve the problem....


Brooke

[Canadianrotti]

Every situation is going to be different. Some dogs have a higher prey drive than others, some cats will be more defensive then than others. It is impossible to tell how each animal will react untill you get them together. That being said, throwing them all in a room on the first meeting would be a bad idea. It is going to take time and a lot of work on your part to stabalize the household, being consistent will be critical.
Nothing is impossible if you are willing to work for it. At our school one of the instructors has a great dane and a pig in the same house!! We got to watch the pig do the entire agility course, ramps, jumps and all!

[rottnelmo]

my household is the perfect example of non-cat savy dog and non-dog savy cat.

Elmo had seen cats at the farm on worked on, but never given the opportunity to interact with them. Zoey had NEVER seen a dog. Elmo is 4 and Zoey is about a year.

We followed pretty much the steps that Mojave's Mom posted and it worked GREAT. I brought her home in a cat carrier and set the carrier down. I let Elmo come out and sniff it. Zoey puffed up to twice her size and growled something fierce. Then I look her up to a back bedroom with the gate up and closed the door. Let Zoey loose and followed the steps. I moved things a long a bit faster and opened the door on day two. She has a collar with a bell on it, so we went down stairs and listened for her to move about. We kept Elmo with us. It took probably about a month to get them really comfortable with each other, but now Zoey chases Elmo around a beats him up.

She swiped him twice good across the nose and that kinda of taught Elmo to respect her (she is NOT declawed)....we havent had a problem.

Just take it slow and keep your eye on them!!!

Good luck!!!
Beth