Dogs and cats

[Ronnyhotdog]

My partner and I have been together all most a year, we would like to move in together. The problem we have is he has 2 cats and I have a dog. When I stay at his house my dog comes with me, it’s very stressful for us all. We are giving them time together slowly, a cat in the room and me trying to distract the dog from the cat. Things are getting better but slowly. If the dog sees one of the cats walking around he wants to chase.
We don’t want them to be best friends but to be able to live in a house and not be growling and hissing at each other.
My dog is 3 and the cats are approx 6 (rescue cats).

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

We have a dog and three cats and they get on just fine. We had two cats before we got the dog, and then got a kitten when the dog was two :)

It's perfectly manageable but you'll need to give it time. Make sure the cats have plenty of space up high to get away from the dog, and make sure their food and litter trays are in a private area where the dog can't access them. Our dog will eat out of the litter trays given the chance lol.

And don't let the dog chase the cat - use an indoor lead if necessary and reward the dog for settling around the cats. Eventually you should be able to redirect the dog away from the cat every time, even without a lead on. Our cats will stand up for themselves though and will smack at the dog if he bothers them - he respects that and will leave them alone if they make it clear they don't want to play.

We also use baby gates so the cats food is in a separate room and the dog sleeps upstairs with us at night so the cats have their own space and some peace and quiet!

Your dog is adorable fairy

If your dog has a prey drive (“wants to chase”) then it’s much harder to introduce them. We have a dog we got after 2 cats - in terms of harmony the dog was always unbothered by the cats (no interest) but the cats took a while to come around.

When we got the dog we had stair gates and the dog stays downstairs, litter trays upstairs and fed upstairs for months for one cat who took 4 months or so to adjust. She sits next to the dog in the kitchen begging for food now! The other cat took 4 days to smack the dog and stand up for himself and they’ve been buddies since.

If your dog is very interested though you need to do a lot of distract and treat, a lot of calm work, and probably a house lead.

The cats need to be the bosses, basically.

I think it’s harder for them to adjust to visiting dogs, to be honest, than to a full-time live-in dog.

Aw thank you @NoSquirrels :) he certainly thinks he is

Thank you for your replies.

I definitely think it’s not helping that my dog visits every couple of weeks. I think the cats need to know the dog is there for the long haul so they have to go about their lives with him there.
On Tuesday evening I had a tub of chicken, one of the cats was on a tall cat tower thing, every time the dog looked at the cat and didn’t bark he got a bit of chicken. There were 2 occasions over the next couple of days when the cats were in the room and the dog didn’t react, I didn’t even have to hold on to him. Then after feeling a bit smug about how well behaved he was being a cat came in through the cat flap and the dog chased her back out.
I’m of the opinion we need to have them in the room together for a couple of hours and the cats needs a chance the bat the dog so he knows to back off. My partner feels this might be too much stress for the cats.

I’m of the opinion we need to have them in the room together for a couple of hours and the cats needs a chance the bat the dog so he knows to back off. My partner feels this might be too much stress for the cats

As it stands, I'm afraid I agree with your partner - that's too much, too soon.

If the dog is prone to chasing, he needs to be temporarily kept on a lead so that the cats aren't chased and frightened out of their own home.

Then after feeling a bit smug about how well behaved he was being a cat came in through the cat flap and the dog chased her back out.
I’m of the opinion we need to have them in the room together for a couple of hours and the cats needs a chance the bat the dog so he knows to back off. My partner feels this might be too much stress for the cats.

Too much, too quickly.

Chasing is a self rewarding behaviour so dog needs to be onlead for a lot longer - until recall is bombproof around the cats ideally.

Our dog is 18 months old & we still use stairgates. It's great that you have a cat tree - try and give the cats as many high points as possible.

Older cat pretty much lives upstairs, she will come down and hiss at him occasional but mostly chooses to avoid him (she's quite happy ruling the roost upstairs though). Younger cat steals the dogs bed...

Consider using a pheromone diffuser like Pet Remedy to relax them all a bit, but this is a longhaul process, not overnight.

I would recommend having a safe space for the cats to retreat to where the dog can’t go. In my experience, after the initial excitement and being ignored by the cats, your dog will lose interest. It takes time though and forcing them to be together is the wrong approach. If your dog has a high prey drive however , the above does not apply.

Also, when they are actually living together, it will be different and most likely they will get used to each other. It’s different when the dog and cats don’t know the house is shared space. I say this from having inherited a cat , already having a dog. Only my experience but it quickly settled down, after we gave them both separate spaces, with opportunity to interact but escape when they needed.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

We have a dog and three cats and they get on just fine. We had two cats before we got the dog, and then got a kitten when the dog was two :)

It's perfectly manageable but you'll need to give it time. Make sure the cats have plenty of space up high to get away from the dog, and make sure their food and litter trays are in a private area where the dog can't access them. Our dog will eat out of the litter trays given the chance lol.

And don't let the dog chase the cat - use an indoor lead if necessary and reward the dog for settling around the cats. Eventually you should be able to redirect the dog away from the cat every time, even without a lead on. Our cats will stand up for themselves though and will smack at the dog if he bothers them - he respects that and will leave them alone if they make it clear they don't want to play.

We also use baby gates so the cats food is in a separate room and the dog sleeps upstairs with us at night so the cats have their own space and some peace and quiet!

Our dog will eat out of the litter tray.

Haha, it’s a race to the litter tray every morning in our house.

@Nevercloser same in ours - they are so gross

If the dog is only visiting, then he needs to be on lead in the house when the cats are around and not given the chance to rehearse the behaviour.

A dog and 2 cats here.
Have had a cat chasing dog stay for 2 months and no chasing but as the first sign of interest in the cat there was an "ah a" noise to let it know that chasing the cat is not ok.

Thank you, I’ve ordered a training lead and a pet remedy plug in. I don’t want him chasing the cats but I feel them being introduced for a few minutes at a time while I’m holding on to him is the wrong approach. The lead is a perfect remedy to this. I definitely don’t want any animal traumatised.
I’m not sure how I’ll cope with the animals the cats insist on bringing in to the house, I had a mouse on my handbag on Tuesday. Maybe that will be a topic for a few months down the line and we live together.
Thanks again, it’s been helpful

I’m not sure how I’ll cope with the animals the cats insist on bringing in to the house, I had a mouse on my handbag on Tuesday.

Ha! Feline equivalent of the Godfather’s horse’s head

You need to train your dog to within an inch of its life. Failure to do so could result in horrific and/or fatal injuries to the cat. Your dog needs to sit and stay, to lie down immediately, and leave. This is the only way. However if your dog has greyhound or lurcher in it then its doubtful you could ever train it enough.

I had a cat who hated dogs, chased an Afghan hound and an Alsatian, once gave a beagle a slipped disc. When I got my first dog she wasn't allowed upstairs so that the cat could have it's own territory. Cat still went fir the dog a couple of times though, dog never chased cats!

Thos group had a good guide on cats and dogs - www.facebook.com/groups/dogtrainingadviceandsupport/?ref=share

It's not really about forced formal introductions - far too exciting - but making the cats a "non-event".

Forced introductions are way too full on for cats, cats don’t adjust like dogs do, they’re very slow to accept new things.

My cat has always lived with dogs and is used to new dogs arriving and departing (fostered, not just randomly) it takes her a good 6 weeks to adjust to a new dog being in the house.