So worried about puppy’s effect on cats.

[LaBelleSauvage123]

Hence awake and posting! We got a Lab puppy four days ago. We already have two rescue cats who are 14 months old. On the first day we got the puppy our male cat seemed wary but interested - he came into the room and approached the puppy, sitting and staring at her from a few feet away. The puppy was interested but didn’t make a sound or try to get to the cat. She’s a very chilled pup! We thought this was a positive start but since then he hasn’t been near her at all. We’ve designated upstairs as the cats’ safe space - the puppy will never be allowed up there - and they have food and water up there. Their cat flap is in the kitchen and the puppy’s crate is in the sitting room down the hall. At the moment the puppy is spending most of her time in the sitting room and only comes into the kitchen if she’s following us.
Our female cat has been pretty much absent the whole time. We’ve seen her occasionally but she hasn’t been in for any length of time or approached the puppy.

The situation is complicated by the fact the cats spend a lot of time next door anyway. Our neighbour is a huge cat lover and has always looked after them when we’re away. She has two cats of her own and her cat flap is open all day. There’s food down all the time, lots of cat treats, fuss and her house is very warm and quiet. She has said that our female cat has been there pretty much constantly since the puppy arrived.

My biggest fear when we got the puppy is that the cats would move next door. Is there anything I can do, other than what we’ve already done?

How long have you had the rescue cats? Potentially you’ve got a dog too soon and they’re not properly settled - it can take years with rescue pets. Especially if the puppy is loud / smelly, cats will go where they want to and away from the dog. It sounds potentially as if the female cat has chosen your neighbour? Does your neighbour look after the cats in her own home? Because that might have blurred the lines for the cats! They do love warm, quiet and treats especially if the alternative is a puppy (new smells, new sounds etc).

It also doesn’t sound like there was much managed interaction to introduce them? How often is the puppy in the crate? The cats might feel like they can’t come and go whilst it’s out and about.

You might be better off keeping the cats inside and upstairs while they get used to the puppy or it sounds like one in particular will move out. I have a puppy and two house cats (and an older dog). One cat is not happy at all about the puppy and is spending most of the time upstairs. But two weeks on and she’s coming downstairs more and more. Starting to realise that the puppy isn’t going to eat her.

I have an old boy rescue. He was 'stray' for years, although having had him for five years now I know that he was just moving from person/house/takeaway to get his needs met as he is a charming little bugger.

Anyway, he was microchipped when the rescue picked him up and so they could trace the original owners. Turned out they had him since a kitten and he started to spend less time at home when they got a puppy. Then they had a baby and he left the day after they brought the baby home. Some cats do very much pick their home and so think one of yours is headed out the door to next door already.

Why did you get a puppy?

DH has wanted a dog for ages. We’ve had the cats since they were 5 month old kittens, but they spent their first months in a household with dogs. They haven’t seemed particularly scared of dogs that they’ve seen out and about, and the female has shown real interest in a Westie that walks past our house every day, going up to the railings to look at him, no fluffed up tail or signs of nerves. Which is why we thought getting a puppy would be ok. However, they’ve always spent a portion of each day next door ( my neighbour really encourages it), hence my only worry was that they’d start to choose her more. Which looks like it’s happening with the female. I think I’ll ask her to dial back on the attention and treats for a while to see if that makes a difference.

As for managed introductions, we thought it was definitely best to let the cats lead the way and choose when they interacted. This is the advice we’ve been given by many people.

Oh and as to the crate question. The puppy is in the crate whenever she sleeps, which is many hours a day at the moment - she’s asleep more often than she’s awake. We’ve been shutting the sitting room door though - maybe we need to leave it open?

It sounds like the cat is voting with her feet. I don’t know that I would stop her going somewhere she feels safe. Sad though it is.

We got a puppy when our cats were three years old. Very hostile and wary at first, even as the puppy grew bigger than them, they began to realise they could scare her too and then an armed truce emerged. After a few months pup was respectful and cats relaxed around her so all good.

Dog was crated at night when we couldn’t supervise and cats slept in the utility room with the warm boiler.

Not very encouraging but this is how we got our first cat. The original owner got a puppy and the cat moved out.

Poor cats

the cats have dumped you!

I agree it can take years

I have 2 rescue cats, I've had them for 8 years now,

Almost 4 years ago I got a labrador puppy, one of my cats was wary at first but soon became friends with him

The other cat hated him, took to basically living on his cat tree 😭. Would slap the puppy if the puppy sniffed at him ect.

It's been almost 4 years and he will still give a warning meow and slap the dog if he's too excitable around him, does his best to avoid the dog but very occasionally will rub his face against the dog 😅

He will happily sit with us if the dog is calm but if the dog is giddy he will quickly retreat to another room and if I'm stroking the cat and the dog comes over the cat will meow at him and slap him 🙈

I have a younger cat that I got 2 years ago and the cats behaved the same, one took to him immediately and the other cat only likes him if he's calm,

Have you tried feliway? That will make the cats feel more relaxed whilst their in your house

Thank you - I hadn’t thought of Felliway. Ironically they’ve both been in this morning, eaten and wanting fuss from me, which I gave them of course! Perhaps it just needs time. My neighbour is on board with not making her house too inviting.

Many years ago, we purchased a Labrador puppy, while we had 2 rescue cats aged about 2.

They just ignored him for a couple of weeks, then realised that he was both harmless and incompetent.

So they took him in hand. Took him in the garden, showed him how to use the cat flap (he got stuck one day as a bit chubby), showed him how to hunt shrews and the best spots to lie in order to be very annoying.

As I said, he was incompetent in cat terms, so they just treated him like an annoying but lovable younger brother. It’ll work out, animals are very forgiving of us and each other.

Thank you Sminty - that’s a lovely story and very reassuring.