Posted on 05/30/2010 7:40:28 AM PDT by kaylar
Getting use to each other’s smell is important.
Have you had the cat checked out to see if she has been neutered yet? Those hormones may be making a difference, too.
I have 2 cats, one is part ferel, but loves being near us as long as we don’t try to pick her up. She shadows us all the time. The two get along just fine. But when DD comes with her 2 cats, there are my 2 cats on one side of the room and her 2 cats on the other sde of the room! It is funny! The growls and hisses all go away when there is a squirrel by the window! There are the cats with tails whacking back and forth, side by side, looking at their common prey! When the squirrel goes away, they are back on opposite sides of the room, quietly growling and hissing. Too funny!
No no,no,you've got it all wrong. The rule of thumb for eating in the Phillipines is new dog...old cat.Y'see new cat meat stinks too much and old dogs are tough and stringy...wait a minute,you were talking about Olongapo restaurant fare weren't you??
Be careful about keeping a cat with claws in a carpeted room with the door closed. The cat might rip the carpet to shreds at the door, trying to get out of the room.
I speak from experience...:)
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.
Just let them alone and they'll work it out. The cat will probably claw the dog[s] in the nose a few times, they'll yelp loudly and back off and then they won't bother the cat. Maybe they'll become friends and maybe not, but the dog won't be chasing the cat around -- and -- the cat won't be chasing the dogs around, as that's not what cats do ... :-)
If no one claims the cat and your DN is there for a while and things work out (which I’m sure it will), you’re going to have a VERY hard time letting DN take the cat w/ him!!!
THAT is what I wish you luck in doing.....letting the cat “go”. It probably seems far fetched at the moment, but, just prepare yourself for letting kitty “go” when the time comes.
I've had a dachshund that was “raised” by 2 adult cats, one of which was a mean old tom cat. The dog learned real quick to leave plenty of room when passing the old tom, but I've also seen them on the sofa sleeping together in the winter.
Generally, a kitten will play with dogs, but ignore them as the cat gets older. I doubt the dogs will be as playful as a kitten. Should be good exercise for all of them, plus some good entertainment for you. Many times I've seen my cat slap the dog on the nose w/o using the claws.
Unless one of the animals is psychotic, you shouldn't have a problem. Just keep an eye on them for a few days, looking for signs of unusual aggression or stress. Cats don't seem intent on blinding their opponent, either playing or hunting. The dogs will learn quick about those claws. The cat will find a spot out of reach of the dogs when it wants to be left alone.
The food bowls are the biggest danger area. Put the cat's food somewhere the dogs cannot get to it & the cat can eat in peace. The cat box is a tootsie roll wonderland for the dogs, so you have to isolate that too from the dogs.
Dogs and cats will work it out for themselves. I have had both living with me for years and they do get used to each other.
If your dogs were bigger, I would say not to worry as some minor scoldings will let them know (for the most part) that the cat is family and is under your protection. This is typically because a larger dogs bite/propensity to attack is curtailed by training of some consistency over the course of its life with its master.
But smaller dogs present a problem since their masters take their aggression less seriously (due to their size) and therefore give them less training and MUCH more spoiling, making them unstable. The dogs must know who the boss is, no matter what the size of the dog.
The dogs MUST know that the cat is off limits as far as unstable and aggressive behavior is concerned. Once they accept that (typically) after a few days an order is achieved and many times the cat and dog will get along just fine and sometimes even friendly. If you have spent the dogs’ lifetimes spoiling them it is likely that you will have to go the extra mile exerting your dominance over him and make him realize that his unstable behavior is unacceptable. If thats the case, good luck, you will need it...
Dachsunds kill small animals without hesistation....please find the cat a new home!!
Notice I didn’t say ‘likely’ eventuality, but ‘any’ eventuality-! You must have a MUCH more tame life than I-!
We have a new chihuahua (after years of just bassets), who has recently discovered there are fish in our little pond. It has become the funniest thing to watch. Unless he is in snuggling on one of us sleeping, he is glued to that pond, hours on end.
Okay, that didn’t work, but here’s how to make it work
First of all, my bona-fides - I do Siamese Rescue successfully and have for a while
Step 1 - the cat MUST have a place to be for 10 days with ZERO contact with anyone else. She needs her box, food, water, and a variety of places to hide and watch. Spend as much time as you can with her, holding, petting, etc. You will carry this scent back to the others. Give the dog tons of attention, treats, etc, If you notice the cat sleeps on a certain piece of material, bring it up occasionally and just leave it lying around. Don’t make a big deal of it and see what the dog does.
Step 2 - after 10 days or so, put a baby gate up so that they can both see each other. You may have to put up two baby gates to keep the cat from jumping, but that’s okay. You will know the cat is ready when she starts being outside her hidey holes.
Step 3 - every now and then toss a few treats for both the dog and cat so that they are a few feet away from each other, but with the gate still in place. Let them associate food with each other.
Step 4 - after about 2 weeks, you should notice that the dog and cat at least tolerate each other. Now take the baby gate and raise it a few inches off the ground so the cat can get out and the dog cannot get in. This creates a safe zone for each
Step 5 - If by this time (14-17 days) the cat and dog are not successfully tolerant of each other, you have a dog and/or cat that will not tolerate the other under any circumstances. And you will have to make a choice.
Good luck! And from my experience, about 1 dog in 50 will not tolerate a cat and about 3 cats in 20 or so will not. So, luck is on your side with the dog, not so much with the cat. But the odds are good!
I’m sorry!
Your vanity really made me laugh.
I have one new dog
One old dog one old cat
doing well
thank the Lord
she’s a nice animal
ummm, sorry if not related
but maybe you’ll like the music, the poetry
or maybe you’re an animal lover
The silence and solitude of animals
http://blessedistruth.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/the-silence-and-solitude-of-animals/
Here's how it went:
I really meant to follow the steps outlined in my post 39, which I distilled from advice on this thread and from what I read via googling info. But the cat seemed so relaxed to the point boredom and the dogs were also pretty laid back, so the three human consensus was, just get it over with and let them work it out . So we put the dogs outside and placed the cat on the kitchen table (no one ever eats there anyway, and the cat can easily jump up there from the chairs-we thought that could be her "safety zone" if she felt overwhelmed by the dogs.) Then we let the dogs in. They were excited about the cat, bouncing around, whining...The cat looked down at them briefly and with disinterest, then she jumped down to walk with them. The dogs sniffed, she ignored them. She walked around slowly exploring, the dogs following at a wary distance...Eventually we all wound up on the sofa-humans, cat, and dogs. The cat hissed maybe 2-3 times when a dog got too close, but otherwise there was no batting, much less clawing.
It appears the ex farm dog dachshund has had lots of contact with cats before : She seems to read cat body language better than the chihuahua, and has shown a lot of respect for the cat's boundaries from the beginning. The chihuahua pestered the cat a bit, but while macho and convinced he's alpha, he's not *totally* stupid....He gave the cat a reasonably wide berth after the first hiss.
No one has been scratched, they all slept together on the sofa yesterday, and while the dogs wanted to play with the cat from Day One, I've seen some tentative signs of the CAT initiating play with the dogs.
It appears that my fear that cats become Lethal Eye-Clawing Machines if frightened *may* have been a little bit overblown.
In any case, the cat isn't at all afraid of the dogs and in retrospect never showed any signs of fear, just mild curiosity. The dogs never showed signs of aggression towards the cat, just intense curiosity and a desire to play with her.Probably even cats that have never met dogs before, and vice versa, can sense from scent whether an animal is hostile or just interested.
We have left the door of "her" room ajar and barrier blocked, so she can easily get in to eat, drink, and use her litter box, but the less agile dogs can't follow. If she were at all intimidated, she could go in there and get up on the bed or dresser while the dogs were behind the barricade...But so far, she's only gone back in there briefly and then came back to spend time with the humans and the dogs.
We are checking the paper daily for a 'lost cat' ad, as well as the bulletin board at a local grocery store which is where lost pet flyers are mainly posted in this town. We also sent an email to the local radio station : They will announce things like items wanted or for sale , etc, for free on the air for 2 weeks. So if this is a lost pet, we have done pretty much all that I can think of to locate the owner and will continue to do so for at least two weeks. If the cat's people don't love her enough to post a Missing Cat notice, then I have to conclude she was more likely abandoned. :-( Sadly, the rate of pet abandonment in my county has quadrupled just this year alone, per the local shelter manager.
Yeah, if this cat is claimed by an owner, or DN moves out , we probably will find out that we've given our heart not just to dogs to tear, but to a cat as well. So be it. And for the person who mentioned cats and clawing the carpet, I googled Soft Paws and gave the info to DN. Sounds like a good product and definitely preferable to declawing (even though this is strictly an indoor cat, if she stays with DN).
Anyhow, that's how things have worked out to date. I won't leave them alone together for quite some time to come (and we've never allowed animals to have the run of the house without humans around anyway) but so far I've seen no sign of fear or hostility from dogs or cats. And the dachshie especially seems happier and perkier than I've seen her in some years (she's 14 going on 15). I really think she must have had cat friends on the farm, and so she's delighted to have one around again. And the cat has tried to play with her a bit as well as sleeping with her , so....So far so good!
Thanks again for all the advice, encouragement, and reassurance. :-)
It sounds like things have worked out!
Enjoy your new addition :)
BTW, what did you name her?
Glad to hear things are going well.
I’m assuming you’ve provided the local shelter(s) with a photo of the cat? Shelters are usually the first place people look for a lost pet. Placing ads is a long shot, and costs money which a lot of people can’t spare these days.
What is a DBF?
That’s a good idea !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.