Introducing puppy to cat

Fran27

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#2
Carefully :D

I went slowly with mine, mostly you need to supervize them and keep them apart as much as possible, through a baby gate for example. I've got Boris for almost 4 months now, and the cats are still not used to him. They will stay in the same room, but out of range, and run away if he gets too close. I guess it depends on your dog though. Our cats are really good (they got used to each other when already adults in a couple weeks), but Boris just loves going after them to play when he sees them so it's not good. The cats will stay with him as long as he doesn't get too close though, when at first they just refused to be in the same room.

I guess it takes lots of patience.
 
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#3
When I got my kitty cat, my first dog was so excited and the cat was not happy at all to be near the dog, so I kept my cat in my bedroom with all of his necessities, and kept the door shut. During feeding time, I would crack the door open and feed them on opposite sides of the door, so that they could see each other, and be comforted by their food. Eventually my cat warmed up to the dog and they became best friends, when I got my puppy four months ago, my cat stayed far away from him, but eventually came closer and closer on his own, and now they romp a roo like they have been friends for their whole lives. It was defintley a slow process introducing the dogs to the cat, but we took it slow and let them go about it their own ways, but their meetings at first were always supervised, and were numerous and short, try not to keep their initial meetings too long so that one or the other doesn't get stressed out. At first signs of stress we would back off, shut the door, and try it again later. Good luck!
 

Barb04

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#4
Have patience. My cats know when there's a new member in the family and will keep their distance. Do supervise them and be sure to keep your cats nails clipped. My one cat takes a long time to check out the new dog; the other cat comes around sooner and is more daring. Sometimes, I have to scoop the cat up and out of the way of the puppies big paws coming down. It will take some time and each dog/cat is different, but in the end I bet they will have a great friendship.
 
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#5
I've had interesting luck introducing cats and dogs. When I brought Bear home - full grown and 110 pounds - Gonzo sauntered up to him, stood up on his hind legs and (without using claws) boxed Bear's nose. Gonzo gave poor Bear a bloody nose - and Bear had plenty of respect for him from that moment forward. They ended up being fast friends.

When I brought Gomez home as a teeny kitten, he skittered up to Bear, head butted Bear's ankle and started winding around Bear's big legs. Bear was enchanted.
 

becca_4321

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We didnt do anything special. We brought in an adult cat who was terrified of dogs, Princess was a year old. The only thing we did do was put up a babygate to a bedroom to give the cat a safe place with her food, water and literbox. Like the others, if it starting looking like the cat was getting stressed we would remove one or the other. It's been 6 months and the two now will take naps next to each other. Gracie doesnt chase the cat for some reason, she walks behind her sniffing her, or just sits and watches.
 
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#7
My old cat, Orville, had my last dog Gus so terrified of him it was insane, but when King and Molly came along, he found out that King wasn't scared of him, but he actually enjoyed the cat's tantrums he had when King tried to play, or just sleep with him. When we first got the pups, they were almost exactly half the size and weight of the cat, who was very large at 24 pounds, and a real handful when he was angry. We kept them totally apart for a few days then put the pups in their crate and let Orville see them. He seemed fine with it, and just laid there in front of the crate, toughing their noses with his foot. We the pups out, and the fun began.

Molly almost totally ignored him, but King made it his "job" to watch the cat at all times, and he was very dedicated to that job. He would crawl under the bed and pull Orville out. Orville would be very angry about it, and would hiss and spit and howl about being pulled out, and King though it was great and would play bow to Orville who would scream like he was being killed anytime King approached. King loved it! Slowly, Orville realized that King wasn't out to hurt him, and as King approached 30 pounds, he began to try to play with him. Sometimes. One day I caught them sleeping together on my bed. I don't think Orville knew King was there, as soon as he woke up, he looked at King and screamed and took off.

Just about the time that Orville actually could be near King without being nervous about it, he went sour and had to be put down. He probably had cancer. He was about 17, so it wasn't a surprise. King was very upset and looked for the cat for a couple of weeks.
 

Saje

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#8
Neutral territory is really great if you can do it. Mini met Maverick at the pet shop. We were adopting him through the SPCA (Petcetera uses shelter animals) and that SPCA wants all other house animals to meet on neutral territory first. It wasn't love at first sight. More like curiousity at first sight. Plus Mini went in the car to a pet store which is highly unusual for her.
 

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