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The doghouse

Rescue dog to get on with cat

6 replies

hillyhilly · 23/08/2016 16:58

We're hoping to get a dog, would ideally like it to have been fostered with cats and kids so it is known to be ok in that environment.
I know of EGLR and Many Tears which both have advice re cats in their homing sections online - does anyone know of any other rescues which do this?
I want to get it right, the cat takes no shit off a dog and does not run away she stays and hisses but ideally we'd like a dog that ignored her - is that even possible?
In all other aspects we are ready for a dog, kids are 9&11, I'm here most of the time, I just want to find the right one for us and not risk it coming from a puppy farm

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CMOTDibbler · 23/08/2016 17:09

My dogs both came from EGLR and we have 3 cats Smile. My older dog was fostered in a home with 15 cats (they fostered those and some rabbits as well), so was known to be cat friendly! The younger was born in foster

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TrionicLettuce · 23/08/2016 20:11

It's worth looking around to see if you've any local rescues who use fosterers rather than kennels. A lot of smaller rescues rely entirely on fosterers and often will have ones who have other dogs/cats/kids/small animals/etc.

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chough · 26/08/2016 14:18

Dogs Trust state whether their dogs are suitable to live with cats.
Have a look on their website.

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honeyroar · 27/08/2016 19:28

Even without a test, it doesn't have to be a problem. All three of my dogs are rescues and we have always had cats. The first and biggest dog was scared of the cats (still is) so it wasn't an issue. The second would chase at every opportunity, as would the third (who was an untrained street dog from Romania). But they both learned. We always put a stairgate on the stairs so the cats can go upstairs but the dogs can't. We feed the cats in a different room to the dogs and they sleep there, so have their own space. Other than that, time usually sorts it. A good old log fire usually brings the whole lot into the living room and you can then tell the dogs to leave the cats if they look like they're going to bother them, and praise them when they do. I'm lucky in that one of my cats is so laid back and not afraid of the dogs, so he doesn't run if they bounce towards him and tolerates some bum sniffing! But even the more timid cat will sit on my knee and trust me to keep the dogs away until she builds up confidence. It's probably taken a good six months with each new dog, and the cats lurk upstairs or outside a lot at first, but they get there. Nowadays the whole lot will snuggle up together.

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MrsWooster · 27/08/2016 19:32

I've had lurchers, from eglr and Tia, and both were fine with a (fairly confident) cat. Advice, because they're sight hounds, is to muzzle on first meeting just in case of any Unfortunate Incidents.

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WatchingFromTheWings · 27/08/2016 19:37

We had a dog from Many Tears a few months ago. We already had a 2yo dog and a 7yo cat. We refused the cat test on the grounds that we'd hate the dog to fail that test if she may get on with/completely ignore our cat. The dog was with us 2 weeks before she even noticed the cat but have pretty much ignored each other since!

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