Need help to decide if kitten a good idea or not??? Vallhala, Midori????

[magnolia74]

We have a cat (age 6 and like a kitten still) and a dog who is a lovely staffy cross BUT she doesn't like other dogs. Last year she got a bit shitty with the cat and pinned her to the floor over food in the kitchen. No damage done at all and now she isok but the cat is wary.

I want a kitten...... but slightly worried what the dog will be like?

What do you think?

I have to admit I wouldn't as it's a bit different to a case of merely training a dog which is unused to cats to accept them. A dog with issues around food and other animals is always going to need watching, especially in a family home where children might drop food/wander around with biscuits etc. An adult cat stands a chance but a kitten hasn't a hope should she suddenly get the hump with him. Equally a kitten won't know and follow the "unspoken rules" laid down by your dog as your adult cat does and is going to persist in trying to put his nose in pooch's food.

If I were to put my rescuer's hat on and speak as a rep of the one I help out at, I am 99.9% sure that they wouldn't offer such a dog to a home with cats or kittens so I guess that sort of confirms my personal reservations.

Sorry. :(

(I feel rotten now!).

I know that when we tried to rescue in the past we were turned down because we had cats .

We were left with no option but to get a puppy (who we love to bits) but there is a big difference in the way my adult cat gets on with him and the way my kitten gets on with him.

Mummy cat stands her ground and will tell him in no uncertain terms to "bugger off" but the kitten thinks it is all a game and we are constantly removing her head from the puppy's mouth (playful biting I can assure you so far!!)

Difference is that our cats were here first and pup has had to learn to be with them but there is no way I would get another cat or kitten now that we have him. Sorry to be a buzz kill

I'd agree. I have an 8 month old puppy who has had to have lots of training not to chase our cat - and she still forgets at times. It was tough on our cat at first to adjust to her. Difference is as cat was here first (and puppy was initially smaller than him) he will swipe her round the head if she oversteps the mark (no claws, bless him, he's basically warning her), and she backs off. Also, we provided lots of safe high up places where the cat could go and she couldn't - but a kitten wouldn't have the climbing and jumping skills to get to those places that were out of the way.

Our older dog is very calm and would be fine with a kitten, but if you have one like our younger one, or like your dog, I would say it really wouldn't be fair to the kitten.

"I know that when we tried to rescue in the past we were turned down because we had cats"

That's not how I meant it Molly. I wouldn't home the OP's dog to a house with cats because of her issues with food but that in no way means that I or any rescue I know would refuse to home ANY dog to a house with cats.

I have 4 cats and 3 large breed dogs - one of whom I am fostering long-term (think forever!) for a rescue.

Rescue's view on rehoming to cat owning households is, in every case I have met/dealt with, dependent purely on the nature of the dog which the individual wants to offer a home to with no blanket ban on cat owners whatsoever.

It's very odd that you found a rescue which acted differently.

i have two cats and a 6 month old puppy. both cats were here before the puppy but one of them runs at first sight of him and the other will sleep with him. the one that runs causes him to run after it but the one that is relaxed around him, he doesn't try to play with at all. so even if the dof is ok with one cat, it mightn't be with a different cat. considering you have already had an issue, i wouldn't suggest getting another one. sorry.