A couple of days ago, my son brought home a stray kitten. The problem is that my GSDmix, Keiba, does not like cats. There are many feral cats in this area and she chases them off when they get near our chickens.
As soon as we brought the kitten out, Keiba went alert and grew very stiff. Her focus was on the new pet to the point that it was scary.
So, we have been rotating our pets. Keiba goes in her kennel for a couple of hours and the kitten is out. Then we switch pets. Once Keiba figured out that we kept the cat in my bedroom, she would keep her nose against the door, humphing and shaking. Keiba didn't even want to eat. She just wanted to sniff the space beneath the door. The kitten managed to stick her paw out from under the door and slap the poop out of Keiba a couple of times.
We tried to put Keiba on a leash and let the kitten, Ninja, walk around. We hoped that this would get the two used to one another. Keiba still had that intent, I am going to eat you, stare.
This morning my husband accidentally left the door open. The cat got out with Keiba. Beyond following the kitten around like an insane dog, Keiba is not really bothering her. The kitten even let the dog smell her ears and lick her face at one point. I wouldn't trust Keiba alone with the cat, but she seems to be merely interested. At one point, they even seemed to be playing.
This is a huge improvement and almost seems like a miracle. I was afraid that we would have to find Ninja a good home, but now I am pretty certain that we can keep him.
As soon as we brought the kitten out, Keiba went alert and grew very stiff. Her focus was on the new pet to the point that it was scary.
So, we have been rotating our pets. Keiba goes in her kennel for a couple of hours and the kitten is out. Then we switch pets. Once Keiba figured out that we kept the cat in my bedroom, she would keep her nose against the door, humphing and shaking. Keiba didn't even want to eat. She just wanted to sniff the space beneath the door. The kitten managed to stick her paw out from under the door and slap the poop out of Keiba a couple of times.
We tried to put Keiba on a leash and let the kitten, Ninja, walk around. We hoped that this would get the two used to one another. Keiba still had that intent, I am going to eat you, stare.
This morning my husband accidentally left the door open. The cat got out with Keiba. Beyond following the kitten around like an insane dog, Keiba is not really bothering her. The kitten even let the dog smell her ears and lick her face at one point. I wouldn't trust Keiba alone with the cat, but she seems to be merely interested. At one point, they even seemed to be playing.
This is a huge improvement and almost seems like a miracle. I was afraid that we would have to find Ninja a good home, but now I am pretty certain that we can keep him.
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