Introducing puppy to a cat

[Orangebadger]

So we are getting a puppy in a few weeks. We have a 6 yr old cat here.

I have previously had dogs and cats however we had them as puppy and kitten together which was absolutely amazing and worked really well as they grew up together.

Just looking for any tips and advice about the introduction. We already have the cat eating high up, we live in a house and will have a stair gate at the bottom of the stairs so that puppy cannot go upstairs without us carrying her but the cat can escape. The cat has a cat flap so other than night can get out of the house. Any tips or suggestions about what worked for you??

Choose a word to train your dpuppy it's a def no.... We use a sharp 'a'. Dcat on a chair and dpuppy in the same room. Any approach a sharp a and stand between them. Our ddogs all love dcats. Well ours anyway! Good luck

Ive had my puppy about three months and her and the cat still don’t get along. The cat has her safe space upstairs, she used to spend most of her time upstairs before we got the dog, and we have a baby gate on the stairs so puppy can’t get up. We bought a strap thing so the gate can be opened a bit so the cat can slip though should she wish to come downstairs.

Had two adult cats when our puppy arrived 13 years ago - all the precautions you’ve taken are really all you need , my pup/ dog always obeyed the no word when it came to other animals . Tbh cats rule in my opinion and pups/dogs realise not to mess with a cat with its claws and hissy potential - always smiled when friends brought their dogs around and as dog trotted off to investigate the cat they always did an about turn

3 weeks in with 12 week old pup and 14 year old cat. Cat has lived with a dog. Very chilled. Not scared of pup. Will walk up to her but then pup wants to play. So we’re doing lots of rewarding calm and not allowing pup to play. If she does she gets removed gently. We’ve taught her a good leave which she gets 90% of the time but she’s young. Cat has safe passage through the house with a divider and all his stuff in our spare room. He’s getting less interesting with time but we’re expecting to referee for some time yet and whilst she’s too young to be left yet they will be separated when we do. Note cat on sofa.

We had two cats when we got our beagle, then when he was two and a half we got another kitten.

Honestly, we never did any specific training or any special introductions. We brought the puppy in and let them all sniff each other and just made sure they were never left unattended and that the cats had plenty of space away from the dog. I happily leave them altogether now - they nap together, play together, share water bowls and even give each other baths.

The main thing was to keep the cats' food and litter trays somewhere safe so that they could eat and toilet in peace, and also so that the dog didn't eat out the litter trays 😂

Thank you everyone.

Everything I am reading says to keep them separate for a few days first and give them both towels with the others scent. Then do a gradual intro through glass. That's all very well and good if you have a glass door but we don't. I was thinking of after a few days letting the cat come and see the puppy while she's sleeping in her crate initially, just for a few minutes then letting them meet after than with the pup on a lead. I know my cat, like most will not appreciate a puppy jumping all over him it sniffing his butt! My car defiantly will need time to process the new arrival! My only issue is how realistic is this with toilet training? That makes it pretty challenging to keep them apart. So was thinking should I just do the newspaper toilet training to start with? Not sure if any of you did any of that or did you just let your puppy meet the cat?

@Newpeep gorgeous pup!!

I’ve introduced 2 different cats to 7 different dogs, only 2 were puppies right enough.

This is what works with the current cat who is used to dogs but quite a timid cat, as in she’d run and hide rather than fight a dog harassing her.

Just let the cat do what she wants and control the puppy... as in the cat gets free run of wherever she wants to go and the puppy only gets to meet her up close if the cat initiated it.

I leave doors open if they’re rooms the cat usually spends time in, but the puppy would be on a house line if the cat is up and and likely to come in, so I can refocus the puppy before it goes... OMG, friend!! The cat doesn’t spend a huge amount of time in the living room (she prefers the dining room) so that door is mostly closed if we’re in there till the puppy/dog is reliably going to ignore the cat - just because it gives time without having to watch for the cat.

Food, water and litter trays are all places the dog can’t get to.

Loads of treats for focusing on me when the cat is around, I train leave and recalling to their name pretty much immediately.

Once the dog is reliably ignoring the cat doing cat things and I know I can tell it to leave or call it away and it will, I pretty much leave them to it, with the odd, look mate, I know she rubbed against you purring, but she’s not a dog, it didn’t mean she wanted to wrestle, leave her alone.

I find for the first few weeks the cat likes to sit somewhere she can see the dog, but it either won’t notice she’s there or can’t get to her, so you see her peering round doorways a lot or sitting halfway up the stairs watching it. Once she’s happy it’s not going to chase her she gets more interactive.

It was a long time ago but when we got our puppy just left them to their own devices straight away - we live in a 2bed ground floor garden flat

Thank you for this. Trying to figure out where to put the cat litter! It may well have to go upstairs for a short time.

What do you mean by the dog is on the house line? Do you mean lead?

My biggest and most important tip is that you don't introduce them, show them to each other or give the puppy any chance at all to harass the cat. My cats have a babygate on the kitchen (which is where their cat flap goes in and out of) so they can eat in peace, come and go as necessary and would have a fast over the gate to safety if needed.
When I have a puppy (I foster) there is a babygate on the sitting room as well so the cats could choose to see the puppy and come in if they wish, but puppy can never chase them as they are always with a human in the rest of the house. For house training, you take the puppy out on a lead (I use a slip lead for toilet trips for ease) so there is no danger there either.
Its a very long process, but worth it in the end

I think the Cats Protection website has a video on how to slowly introduce a cat and a dog to each other. The first time they just allow the animal to see each other with a gate or a window in between them.

Then you can introduce in the same room with the puppy on a leash.

Probably easier to introduce a puppy than a full grown dog but even when they get used to each other expect the cat to swat at the puppy now and then when it gets a little too boisterous/too close...

Longer than a lead, thinner and lighter than a normal longline you’d use outside.

I can’t recommend one because the last one I bought actually broke 😂 but it doesn’t need to be heavy duty tbh. It was a 4m one, tied it round my waist and that way the puppy had free rein over the room we were in, but I can instantly get it back if I need to.

Also useful for, oops, no... that’s not chewable!! 😳 and interrupting mouthing and what have you.

Not all the time, just if it was likely the cat might appear or sometimes for chewy witching hour.

So the cat has his food on a table in the utility room and has done for a year or so to get him use to it before the future dog arrives. So that's ok. There's not much else in there that would interest a puppy so I am hoping the pup stays away from there. The cat kind of goes everywhere but mostly upstairs, thus the stair gate at the bottom of the stairs and to save puppies young joints to avoid stairs. The room the cat goes in least is the sitting room, so I had planned to put the crate in there and having read "easy peasy doggie squeezing" planned on feeding pup in the crate etc initially. Would you then recommend a baby gate into the sitting room so the cat can observe from afar with no actual threat from the puppy going for him? I had thought of shutting the door but my worry with that would be the cat smelling something new but not actually seeing it could cause more distress to the cat. At least if he can see the pup from afar then the cat is in control?

And then when puppy goes to the garden use a lead and I guess initially the same for the rest of the downstairs of the house. I'll probably hold off taking puppy upstairs for a while, at least until I know the cat is more relaxed with the puppy and the puppy won't want to maul the cat!

That’s what we’re doing. We’re expecting it to take a while but have long term results. We’ve actually cat trained an older terrier cross sight hound not to chase and it took a few weeks. Pup will take longer as she needs to mature.

it’s not fair on a cat to harass to the point of swiping. That said, management has failed a couple of times for us but puppy just gets gently removed. She’s getting better at recalling from him now and will choose to look at us for treats.

letting them get on with it is a risk. It may work but it may end I’m really stress and upset.

For my cat to swipe at an unknown dog, she’d have to be terrified... so the whole cat will tell it off thing very much depends on the cat.

current dog has been here about 18 months, she’ll tell he’s being too rough now, but that’s because she goes and interacts with him first and he’s a lot bigger than her.

I prefer the house line over a stair gate because I’ve still got control if I need it once the cat comes in the room, but I’d shut the door for a bit if I didn’t want to supervise 😂 as in, puppies are full on and sometimes you just want a bit of down time - but you could do that with a stair gate too, it’s just personal preference I reckon. As long as you’ve got some way of making sure the cat can get places a puppy can’t then it’s whatever suits really.

We just made sure dog never chased cat, and was rewarded for calm behaviour. And we think the cat gave her a swipe at some point as pup is wary still 3 years on. Won’t go through a door if cat is sitting tin the doorway. Or cross on the stairs.

the cat is the boss.

hardest thing was keepin pup out of litter tray when we briefly had to keep cat in.

dog is v cat reactive when out…hey ho.

The crucial times for us were always early morning and post dinner when puppy was really excited or had the crazy zoomies as that’s when he was more likely to try and chase our cat. We would either put him on a lead and try and do some calming games, treats etc to distract. The cat typically would always choose those moments to parade around the kitchen where he was 🙄😂 we had a stair gate so she had whole upstairs, food up high etc. She’s a feisty old girl though so was never scared of him and even now he’s nearly one she’ll sometimes walk up to him and give him a whack just to remind him who’s boss. He will always walk the long way around her now!

We are interested in getting a puppy, but have been put off by the behaviour of our cat... she can be loving, but it has to be on her terms. Generally she's a bit of a meany who sometimes swipes at us or pounces at us for fun 😬 She's 12 years old and in good health. Do you think there's any possibility she would tolerate a new member of the family, or is it sometimes unworkable?

Ours is 14. He is totally unphased and life for him is normal. He is not a lap cat though and has lived with a dog previously.

it’s a bit suck it and see. Most adjust as long as the pup is never allowed to bother the cat. High spaces are fine but a lot of cats mine included can’t outpace a puppy so they need to be separate. Also high spaces can create frustration. So we have a mix.

if you are willing to reconfigure your house for a bit and put the early work in it should be fine long term.

So we have had our pup now for 4 days now and so far so good. I took a lot of advice from you all here so thank you so much for your words of wisdom!

The pup has had free reign in the living room with a gate at the door, cat initially looked in from the hallway and slowly, a little more each day has come into the living room to investigate. Probably the biggest stroke of luck is the the puppy is really not that bothered by the cat, I did not realise that the breeder has 4 cats, so I think pup was very use to them! This has helped enormously! This afternoon we had the pup roam the back of the house and the cat and him said a tentative hello to each other. So working out way better than I thought!

Just as a warning to others we had two cats and we got a puppy. We’ve had the puppy for two years now, followed all the advice and one of the cats and him get on really well, the other cat is still terrified of him and won’t go anywhere near him (he hasn’t done anything to warrant this, she’s just a very timid cat). We therefore have to keep them separate all of the time so she doesn’t get stressed which can be hard work. So just a warning for others reading this that sometimes they don’t learn to get on (although I’m still hopeful that in time she’ll learn to be ok to be near him).