New puppy and kitten?!

[Britchic]

Hi everyone

We are soon (I hope) to move house and then will at long last be in a position to get pets. We have longed for a dog for years, and my son is really keen to have a cat too. I had dogs when I was growing up, but never had a cat (apart for a stray that adopted us for a while), so I feel extremely clueless about what to do with a cat.

My question is, do we get a dog first and wait till it has got used to us and we've got used to him, and then get a cat? Or would it be better to get them at the same time so that they get used to eachother from the start? Or would that drive me completely crazy?!

To add to the issue, we really want chickens too.... but they might have to wait a bit!!

Thanks so much for any advice

[Fluffycloudland77]

Depends on the breed, I wouldn't put a terrier in with a cat but lots do.

You could get them together as puppies/kittens. I would have thought its better than introducing adults or adult/infant animal.

[SpandexBallet]

I'd also think that getting them together would be easiest then there's no jealousy between them or anything. If you get the pup first and then the kitten then the puppy may feel left out when the new kit is getting all the attention

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I would always get the cat first for several reasons.

1. Cat ownership is a gentler and generally cheaper introduction to pet ownership.

1. Cat ownership is much less of a tie than dog ownership.

1. An adult cat will always assert itself over a puppy. It is not unheard of for an adult dog to seriously injure a kitten.

1. Getting two young animals together is rarely successful,

[cozietoesie]

I can only speak from personal experience here - albeit quite lengthy. We've never introduced a kitten and pup into the house at the same time. It's always been pup coming into house with established cat, even if the cat was relatively young (ie a year or two old.)

This may have been happenstance in some cases but it's always seemed to work fairly well. I suspect that having two young animals together, with concurrent training and socialization, would drive me round the twist. That's just personal, however - other people might have been more successful.

[Britchic]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I'm really torn now, as my husband and I are desperate to get a dog as soon as we can (Lonecatwithkitten - I'm fully aware of the costs/ties/work of owning a dog).... so we really don't want to wait.

But yes, I can see that training them both at the same time might drive me crazy, plus they might not get on. As I said I'm a bit clueless when it comes to cats - can someone briefly fill me in on what a new kitten entails in terms of training, socialisation etc...

Thanks so much for all your input.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Does it need to be a kitten? What about an adult rescue cat who is dog friendly & has got over its accident prone kitten stage?

[cozietoesie]

Good thought, Fluffy - and a decent rescue should have a fair idea of an adult cat's disposition and its likelihood of getting on with a dog.

[EddieVeddersfoxymop]

New kittens and training?!??! Our cats (14/13 now) just settled in, we have had them since 9 and 13 weeks respectively and we really didn't train them bar litter training. They more trained us to attend to their every whim! Kittens just need playtime, snoozetime, food and litter and of course lots of cuddles. No tie, we can go away for a weekend and just get our neighbour or my in laws to pop in the check them, put out food, empty tray etc. They're a completely different pet to a dog (sorry to state the obvious!!), they're independent and can look after themselves to an extent.

[cozietoesie]

Oh Yes. Training. (Or perhaps 'The Cozietowers Rules and how to get on in this house' would be best.) Even Seniorboy, when he arrived at 13 years old, had to learn some things.

But they've all been very happy cats.

[Britchic]

Thanks again for all the input. I have to say, I hadn't thought about getting an adult rescue cat, was going to go for a rescue kitten, but I'll look into that.

So if we do get a cat first.. How long is long enough before introducing a dog?!

Thanks very much

[cozietoesie]

Start thinking about it once the cat has settled properly is my thought. Sorry to be a bit indeterminate but I reckon much depends on the nature of the cat and the nature of the puppy. A mature and confident cat who has settled would take a relatively (!) quiet puppy in its stride whereas a wibbly cat and a rambunctious puppy might be more problematic.

Once you're closer, there's loads of guidance around (including from posters here) about introducing and the first few days/weeks of living together.