Posted on 05/30/2010 7:40:28 AM PDT by kaylar
My DBF's nephew is living with us as he's accepted a job in this area. He may be living with us for some weeks/months/who knows.
Last night he found an abandoned or lost cat/half grown kitten and brought it home (after asking us if that's OK.)
It's a sweet lady cat and I'm delighted she's here, BUT we have two elderly dogs, both teenagers : A miniature spayed female long haired dachshund and an unneutered male smooth chihuahua. (Combined tonnage=about 15-16 lbs.)
We tried to introduce them this AM with DBF holding cat and letting the dogs sniff her. The chihuahua didn't seem to care , but the dachshund (an elderly, lethargic dog) went berserk! She is a rescue dog who lived on a farm for almost 6 years before I got her, and I am certain she had 'cat friends' there. I really do think she just wanted to play with the cat.
However, this NOT declawed cat hissed, raised her hackels and arched her back, lashed out-no one got scratched-I am afraid she might try to claw their eyes. (The cat is in no real danger from either tiny dog-both are pretty much toothles. It's the dogs I am worried about , though I certainly don't want to traumatize the cat and I hope they'll become friends.
I am googling stuff on introducing adult dogs to new cats, but I am sure FReepers have run into this before, so please post or PM whatever advice you have . FReepers, trolls, lurkers from DU, ANYONE-!@!!! Tell me what you would do to make the next attempt at introducing the animals go smoothly.
Right now, the cat is in lockdown in her human's room and the dogs are comatose on the sofa in the living room.
Keep them separated for a while and let them get to know each other through the door. After a week or so they MIGHT tolerate each other a little better face to face but there’s probably still going to be some hissing and barking at first.
take the cat and the dogs to the pound. Problem solved
You need a pet carrier, or some sort of protected space for the cat that can be in the area with you and the dogs. The dogs can sniff and such and the cat can hiss but still feel some protection.
It will take some time. They’re getting to know each other and setting some initial boundaries.
The nephew can then take the cat out in his room or whatever when he’s in there so as to let the cat know it’s safe and he will take care of it.
But it needs to be with the family in a protected space until it feels comfotable enough to come out.
Oh, my goodness. The cat was already stressed from being lost/abandoned and then taken into a strange environment. Most likely, what you saw as "holding" was construed by the cat, faced with two strange dogs sniffing her, as "restraining" -- meaning her "flee or fight" instinct was limited to fighting.
All of my animals but one over the years were strays or rescues. And they all seemed to realize that they'd found their way into a good situation, so much so in fact that none of them ever fought with each other. Oh, there'd be the occasional glare, but never anything involving snarling, blood or flying fur. (Well, let me amend that. The goat did seem to take an unholy glee in sneaking up on the dogs and giving them a swift butt.)
Best bet would be to just let them get used to each other without pushing it. The feral kitten I tamed made friends with the dogs in no time; but she started the process looking down from a perch too high for the dogs to reach, ready to bolt at any sign of aggression. The dogs soon got bored with the novelty of a new cat in the house, stopped staring at her and went back to doing their usual doggie things. Took about two weeks for them all to be sleeping on the couch together, the dogs on one end on the seat part and the cat at the other end on the top of it.
Might want to keep a .22 (short-!) handy for any eventuality. Decide which one(s) you like best ahead of time. A sponge mop might prove handy also.
Sometimes, the only good answer is stir fry.
Or tacos.
You have your choice of ethnicity.
FYI, concerning this thread, I think cat to cat is MUCH harder than dog to cat. Eventually the cat will rule in dog to cat.
The only way to deal with it is to let them go at each other. And that may or may not work given their age. A stray cat probably already has its opinions concerning dogs formed. The dog will probably learn to deal with it.
We had four dogs—lab mix, Newfoundland mix, chow mix, and pointer-setter mix—combined tonnage 300#. The pointer-setter kept finding litters of kittens and pointing at them obsessively for long periods of time. He was with them more than the mama cat, and the kittens had no fear of him and kept moving nearer and nearer to the dogs. (The litter lived on the other side of the fence [divided garden]). Two of the dogs disliked cats and one of them actually killed a kitten once. (Found it in yard with what looked like lung puncture.)
Since the kittens imprinted Scooby, we brought the girl cat in and put her in the largest kennel we could find in my husband’s office so that he could constantly supervise. (Throughout the day, he’d periodically bellow, “QUIT TEASING THE DOG! QUIT STALKING THE CAT!” Constant supervision and correction of unwanted behavior (especially rewarding good behavior) eventually led to a harmonious environment. At one point, we had four dogs and five cats (no confinement—all had free run of the house). Now we have one dog and four cats, and a peaceful home environment. Maybe these particular animals were especially flexible socially.... Hope this helps.
Oh no, this is nothing that mean. You toss them in, they sort things out, then emerge as friends. It’s just a method speeding up the process.
Get rid of the cat.
Go away!
Remove the cat. Lock it away or take it to a shelter.
“Your two dogs deserve peace and quiet in their senior years and are more important than causing chaos with a strange cat.
Take the cat to the shelter and give the dogs a break.”
Believe me, you will feel very guilty when your older dogs pass that they had to put up with a cat in their final days. Been there done that and the guilt I feel will never pass. The cat used my ole guy as a springboard, etc. I did get rid of the cat shortly after my grey passed.
I’ve had 20 or so cats and 4 dogs, not all at the same time, in my house.
Whenever we’ve brought in a new one, we open the door, let the critter in, and they all sort it out.
We’ve had a few spats that we’ve broken up, but for the most part, everyone gets along.
There’s a pecking order they all know, and we do not. As soon as they figure it out, there’s harmony.
Get rid of the cat.
The cat stays in "her" private room for most of the foreseeable future. She has a litter box and feeding/watering dishes in there, plus toys and bedding. She should be perfectly comfortable.
We are going to get a large pet carrier (we need one anyway), hard sides not cloth.When all humans are upstairs together, we'll put the cat in the carrier, and let the animals investigate each other through the slats. We will do that for longer periods of time till the dogs get used to her presence. This may take some time-days, perhaps weeks.
When the dogs no longer seem terribly interested in her, we'll let her out of the carrier. The dogs will be on leashes so if they chase her, they can be stopped.
It may be that she will scratch them on the nose to convey the message, "Back off!" Dogs aren't dumb-they should get the message very quickly. At any rate, it will be a loooooong time (if ever) before all three animals are alone unsupervised.
The dogs from Day One have had a 'dog room' in the basement : A big living space with linoleum floors, their feeding dishes, blankets, toys , puppy pads, etc. They sleep there at night and we put them in lock down there while we're gone. We can use this to give the cat more of an opportunity than she's had to explore the house while the dogs are in lock down. This will also get the dogs used to her as her scent will become familiar through all the areas she and they roam(I hope...).
This may all be for naught as she may yet be claimed by her people, or one of DN's cat owning co workers may get her. Plus DN is looking for his own place. But if not-if the cat is here for awhile-I think given what I've read on this threads plus per what I've googled, this has a pretty decent chance of success.
Wish us all luck! (Man, this is *not* how I expected this AM to start : They found the cat while I was asleep...It was a major surprise to find a cat in the house! DN is 23 and he grew up with cats, DBF had at least one cat while he was growing up. Me, I have never had cats because my mother hates them. :-( Hopefully having 2 people familiar with cats will help.) Again , thanks to everyone who has offered advice.
Give kitty a manicure. That way she won’t be able to do any serious damage to your dogs. Then let them adjust gradually, by only allowing togetherness for short periods with supervision. In due course, everybody will settle down.
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