Dogs and cats?

[Eliza22]

I'm the owner of a beautiful Mackeral tabby girl. Had her as a kitten and she's now 4. She's a law unto herself, comes and goes but can be sooooo affectionate, when she wants. In short, love her to pieces.

I've debated for years on wether to get a dog. As a child we had a golden retriever who ate the arm of the sofa and my mum (I was about 6) said she had to go. I'm 50 now and still want a "Heidi" dog (the retriever). I'm really worried though that my cat might leave home. That's it, really. Any advice? Is it "do-able"? If I don't do it now, ill be too bloody old to walk it!

Its fine so long as that cat has a means of escape. Stairs from behind a stairgate, back of sofa, top of cupboard where it can look down on it with an air of superiority and disdain. The cat will soon find new and inventive ways to taunt its new minion.

Let cat and dog discover each other on their own. Don't carry the dog in to meet the cat and don't carry the cat in to wave it at the dog (bad things will happen, mainly to you ). They'll soon work out that the cat is queen of all she surveys and any and all dog beds are hers.
Praise the dog for any posiotive interactions with the cat ie recognition of cats regal status. Your cat will also be pleased you are indoctinating the dog into the religion of cat is king

Perhaps also look for a dog from a good rescue which will help you find a suitable match for you and your cat?

FWIW ddog was bullied something rotten from day 1 by all three of our cats, we had to shut him away from the cats to eat otherwise he didn't get any dinner. But having said that the cats were hard-as-nails semi domesticated strays, so perhaps not quite the same! He did make friends with them in the end and used to curl up in the sun with the youngest & least feral of them.

Nice

My rescue dog was labelled as fine with cats. From what I gather the test consisted of placing a cat in a cat basket in front of the dog to see the reaction. That's very different from the reaction to a moving cat, as I found out once we got Gymdog home. If it is essential to you, my advice would be to use a rescue that fosters so the cat reaction can be really tested

I have a beautiful long haired, very old male cat. We have had him years but not from a kitten. Around 2 years ago we took on a 10 year old toy poodle who had never even seen a cat! The dog now uses the cat flap and follows the cat all over the place.

My last dog was a border collie. When I introduced her to the 4 cats I had at the time I sat in the arm chair and kept the lead on the dog. After a while when the cats had entered the room I took the lead off but just made sure she didnt chase the cats because I know cats and knew that they would have held a grudge against the dog for life!!!!

Have you got any friends with a dog that is used to cats that you could test the cats reaction on.

Good luck.

Just to add that the stakes can be higher than some are indicating! My 'cat friendly' rescue had the cat in his jaws shortly after arrival, the cat had to go to the vet and she then left home for 6 weeks. Eventually found her weighing absolutely nothing and had to nurse her back to health shut in a bedroom for a month. We then spent hours and hours sitting with them, dog fixated and cat out of reach. 7 months later, amazingly, they do now co-habit just about, but I'd not have put money on it last year!

Ah, some sobering stories there. Thanks.

Thing is, it would be a golden retriever pup. Was going to adopt a rescue retriever in 2011 and at the last minute, it all fell through so, would start from scratch, with a puppy.

Does that change anyone's opinions/advice?

My friend got a working cocker pup and all 3 of her cats either moved out or moved upstairs and 18 months on that's not changed as when they go anywhere near the dog he chases them .

My very energetic GSP pup was brought home last year to my ten year old cats. They sleep together on the sofa at night. My FIL's dog (part-Collie) sees my cats and her pupils dilate like a sharks smelling blood. Unhelpfully I don't know how you could tell beforehand. My guess is a pup would be easier to train (by the cat itself) not to see a cat as prey but that's a guess.

Oh

We have a 15 year old cat and just got a puppy, he's now 11 weeks. He wants to befriend the cat and barks at her and wags his tail to play, she looks at him like he's scum, then hisses and walks off! This is much better than I thought it would be, she really has stood her ground which is what cats need to do, it helps that she has her own space, she has her bed and food in the utility room where the cat flap is, he is in another part of the house where he can go in and out of our French doors so we can keep them separate, so think about where each would go. She is allowed upstairs and pup isn't, so as long as he doesn't bother her she's been fine. The other thing we did was have a friend bring her dog round once a week for a couple of months as our cat had never seen a dog before, as she didn't run or attack this dog it gave us an indication she'd probably be ok. So I guess think about trying that and also think about the layout of your house, where they would both eat, sleep, go out etc. Don't think ours will be pals but it's early days and gone better than expected. Puppies are exhausting though, my cat is sooo easy in comparison!!

Thanks ILike. I'm giving this much thought. Our house is open plan downstairs so, I have a feeling puss would live entirely in the top of the house. Makes me sad to think that, cause I love her (rare) cuddles when she deigns to show me some affection!

Thinking....thinking....

Glad it's going Ok for you, though!

We thought for a year, not just about the cat but all aspects of puppy ownership! Really depends on how feisty your cat is, I didn't think mine would be as she's so affectionate, but boy does she let him know who's boss! Can you try her out with a friend's dog?

Possibly. As I say, more thought