Dog staying for the weekend, how can I make it calm for cat?!

[Jenda]

We have a lovely 7 year old cat who is a bit of a wimp! He has had other dogs pop in before and tends to put himself under a bed until they've gone, even a tiny puppy!

Our friend has an emergency and has asked me to pick up his lab cross today and look after until Monday. No one else can help and she's an easy dog so we don't mind but I don't want to traumatise the cat too much. Dog won't chase, is indifferent to all species!

So far plan is this- put cat food up in the room he will hide in, take dog out several times a day so cat has time to wander outside and feel safe and then keep the dog in the bedroom with us so cat has all night to have house to himself. I will of course be going to our spare room to find cat and pull him out of his hiding space for cuddles and reassurance.

Anything else I can do? feel awful!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Sounds like a plan to me. At least it's a Lab and not a terrier breed.

[summerconfusion]

Sounds perfect! My mum's cat comes to stay with us quite a lot and could not be bothered with our annoying dog. We do exactly what you've described except we leave window open for cat in his hiding room and give him the run of the house as soon as we are in for the evening. He is happy as Larry!