If you have dogs and cats...

[MagpieCursedTea]

How did that happen? As in, who came first? How did you know they'd be okay with each other?

I wasn't sure whether I should put this in the dog section or the cat section. I decided to put it in the dog section because I love dogs but never get to post here.

I had the most amazing dog growing up, she was my best friend and I loved her dearly. She died three years ago (at the grand old age of 18!)

When I moved in with DH, he wanted a cat and I wanted a dog. It was decided that because we both worked full time we'd get a cat.

Our circumstances have changed now, DH works from home and I work part time. However with two cats and a toddler, it's pretty unlikely we'll adopt a dog anytime soon

I'm just curious though, so would love to hear how it works when dogs and cats live together so I can eventually talk DH into it

Cat first then dog from puppy.

Cat treats the dog with the utmost disdain

Dog adores the cat. It is enormously funny to watch the cat strut across the room desperately trying to ignore the dog who has his nose glued to the cat's bum.

Sometimes the cat will let the dog lick him but not if anyone else is around to see this loss of dignity!

When we first moved here we inherited a couple of cats and then acquired two dogs with no problems at all. They rubbed along fine, each pretending the other didn't exist. Our current cat was hand reared and is utterly fearless, assumes he's in charge of everything and rules the place with an iron paw. Our dogs are wary of him, he terrorises my pony, keeps my big horse (16.2, so big) in order with a wave of said paw and intimidates any visiting dog just by looking at them.

He won't run and is happy to chase dogs so they may start out by thinking he's fair game (and he's quite small really) but soon change their minds. I have to warn visitors who bring dogs that they need to watch out, "really" they say? "Just you wait" say I!

Growing up I had a dog and a two cats (they were all there before me so I don't know how it went down) then when they all died we got two cats and it stayed like that for 5 years or so, then we got a puppy. There was a lot of hissing but the puppy got to know where her place was. A couple of years later we got an old rescue dog (she was thrust on us, not a choice) and it didn't go so well. Constant and stressful dog vs cat battles over food, plus she had an undiagniosed brain tumour. So old dog and old cats is a big no no.

Now I have two cats and a dog, the dog came first by 3 weeks and they are all 7 months old. That's saved any hassle. One of the cats and the dog are best buddies and the other cat is a handful, so she puts the dog in his place.

I think cats first and then puppy. A puppy can be taught how the world of home life works better than an old dog and a kitten is just too vulnerable.