Help introducing dog to cat...

[Bettacreek]

Well, I moved in with the boyfriend, and it's now time to move Miss Kitty up here. Raven (the pitbull) is an extremely well-behaved dog, but we're not sure how she'll react to a cat in the house. Any tips or tricks to bringing a new cat into the home? Thanks in advance guys!

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
best tip I have is keep the dog under control. Cat will learn to tolerate or even like the dog, if the dog does not chase/ harrass. . . most dogs scare cats by trying to be friendly. Best advice is to train dog to ignore cat. . . it's a process, but it works. When introducing stange animals, the largest / strongest always needs to know that the smaller critter is "boss"!

 

[teach1rusl]

My advice...do it slowly, and only under supervision for several days. You might put up a baby gate (if the dog is one who will honor a baby gate) so that the cat has "safe" place to escape to if needed. That room would be where I would keep the cat box and food too.

 

[Bettacreek]

The catbox is probably going to have to go in the basement, so that'll probably be the cat's headquarters until she feels safe. We don't just have the dog here, but the boyfriend's neice (6) and nephew (2.5) live here as well, and they don't exactly understand when to leave animals alone (we're always telling them to leave the dog alone). So I have the feeling that she'll be either in hiding or up our butts (if she gets used to the dog).

 

[cafarmgirl]

It's probably more a matter of the dog getting used to the kitty. When I introduced a new kitten to my 1 year old rottweiler I kept them separate at first but would bring them both into the living room with her in her crate/carrier and the dog doing his usual thing. He was very interested and sniffed her alot but got used to her very quickly. This went on for about a week. We then graduated to letting her out of the carrier with him on a leash. However this dog grew up around cats, he just has a fairly high prey drive for small, furry things that run. He is fine with her now and even shares his bed with her. Just go slow, keep your dog under control at all times and watch her behaviour closely. And I would not leave them alone together at all for a long time. Leave kitty in a separate room when you need to leave the house.