Older cat and puppy

[Roadhouse111]

Hi there, hoping for some advice.
After years of wanting a dog, we have decided to get a cocker spaniel puppy, we both WFH and will be around pretty much all day, also have older DCs.
We have the most loving and beautiful 12 year old dCat, he is the joy of my life and I am feeling incredibly guilty about how this will affect him, but he might live for another 5 years and we may not get this opportunity again when we're all at home to help train a puppy.
How can we make the transition smoother? He is an indoor and outdoor Cat, we live in a 1 level bungalow so he won't be able to run upstairs and hide from the pup.
The puppy will be crate trained and in utility room so dCat wont have to share his space at night as he likes to stay indoors in the kitchen, bit we I'll have to move his food and his litter tray out of the utility and into the kitchen/diner, to accommodate the dog.
Any top tips for making sure he doesn't run off and never forgive us?
He's a well loved and petted on wee thing, so I think it will come as a shock for him to have to share his evening sofa time with us (he spends the day outdoors mainly).

I have got myself so upset but DH is of the opinion that he is resilient and will just have to come to terms with it, plenty of people have dogs and cats living in harmony, or tolerance anyway.
DH is clearly a cat novice 😂

TIA

Anyone?

Is he ok with dogs? It’s a bit like someone bringing their pet tiger round “he’s friendly” I’d still be scared of it.

Thanks for the reply @Fluffycloudland77 he has never been round dogs really, our neighbour used to have a dog but they didn't really bother with eachother!

An older cat can usually put a puppy in its place quite quickly. He knows his own place (head of the household) and won't give that up.

However there is a very real possibility of your cat becoming stressed and start spraying, toileting in the wrong places, over grooming etc. And he may just up and leave. If you can't deal with that I wouldn't get a dog, especially not something as in your face as a cocker spaniel.

The cat will hate it and be prepared for him to stay outside .. it's just the way it is if you choose to get a dog . Make sure it has space though so get stair gates that he can't stay behind but view what is going on rather than shut doors .

I know it's not what you want to hear but I think you need to be prepared for the cat to absolutely hate it.

Working cockers are gorgeous but they are also absolutely mad as a box of frogs and very very energetic. You will need to work from day one to stop the puppy chasing and terrorising your cat.

I have a dog and three cats - but our oldest cat was only three at the time so not really comparable to your situation. He still hates the dog almost three years on and will hiss at him and swipe at him daily

The other two cats are fine but they're younger and more tolerant - both were also raised with dogs before they came to us. Our puppy also lived with cats at the breeders.

Don't allow the puppy to chase - keep them separate or keep the puppy on a lead.

Be prepared for your cat to show signs of stress - they could include toileting inappropriately, over-grooming, spraying, not wanting to eat and not wanting to come back home at all.

I hope it turns out okay but you need to be prepared for the real possibility that it won't.

I think 12 is a bit old to have to tolerate an energetic puppy. Your cat will need plenty of safe spaces to escape the attentions of the puppy. An older cat friendly dog might have been a better fit.

Thanks for your advice everyone, well update is the cat seems to be dealing with the puppy ok, we've moved his food and bed into the utility and he seems content to be in there, lots of purring and brrping and he let me run his belly this morning. His eyes go like saucers when he sees the pup, but they came face to face yesterday and the puppy actually ran away scared, I think he gave off the 'dont eff with me" signals.
We are taking it very slow.

In my experience which is fairly extensive the puppy will over step the mark, the cat will twat the puppy, the puppy will run away screaming and a lifelong healthy respect will start.
Three dogs and five cats over 20 years. Even a tiny cat against a stupid cockerpoo wins.

I've got an older cat and i would love a dog. I've been driving myself crazy looking at rescue puppies. But my first responsibility is to my cat. The way i see it is there's plenty of time to get a dog when she's gone. I know that the cat will be upset and displaced if i get a dog so im not going to do that to her.

Oh right i missed the update that you've already gone and got the dog. Hopefully the can't won't decide in his twilight years to find himself a dog free home.