Cat (lord and master) meets Dog... how to manage the introduction?

dizziblonde

Spoke to the dog wardens today and got some ideas about how to broach the great meeting of Mog and Dog - just after a few more.

Dog was apparently cat-tested by the kennels and wasn't particularly interested in them, cat is most definitely the boss who I anticipate will hiss, spit, have a tail like a bog brush and then realize mutt's a bit boring and go to sleep... just terrified in case we end up with a dog-cat chase situation! Probably worrying more than I need to but wondered if anyone else had ideas of how to broach things before we collect doggy from the kennels after the New Year?

Freddie_Snowbits

You must appreciate that the Cat will rule the roost, ours justs laps it up, and is everywhere. As for the b1tche5, they just ignore him now, though it was tense when he first appeared, then disappeared!

BitterAndTwisted

Make absolutely certain that there are parts of the house which are out of bounds to the dog so pusscat has some refuge somewhere. Also shelves up high where the dog can't reach are ideal glaring-spots for His Highness to growl and fester. I'd also ensure HRH's food bowl is also inaccessible to the dog.

Good luck with this, as a stressed moglet spraying to announce his territory is only marginally worse that one decamping with a hankie on the end of a stick like !!!!!! Wittington.

dizziblonde

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Good luck with this, as a stressed moglet spraying to announce his territory is only marginally worse that one decamping with a hankie on the end of a stick like !!!!!! Wittington.

Hah she'd have trouble with that one - hard to be a Puss in Boots with only one back leg... mind you - it's hard to flounce on three legs and she manages that one just fine.

She can get up onto our bookshelves and has a nice high cat tree to glare at the world imperiously from anyway (although for some reason only between 7am and 8am is usually tree glaring time).

spike7451

Maybe a Feliway defuser would be useful.
Good luck with the purrball!

gettingready

How did it go?
Have they met yet?

When I got Zara at 4 months and brought her home to 4 cats - she thought she was in heaven with those furballs flyng around.

Cats were very interested "what is THAT" though and after a week they were all eating with bowls on the floor next to each other - apart from my old boy Tiget who took about 2 years (yup) to finally ALLOW Zara to be friends with him, and she was trying so hard with Tiger....

When other cats were taken (ex took them when we separated, would not let me keep them grrrrr) and Tiger had to be put to sleep (kidney cancer) I brought 4 kittens home and they are all the best pals with Zara, she is now 4.5.

I am not sure about that checking for reaction for cats in kennels to be honest as a lot depends on individual cat and dog. Zara loves HER cats but will chase cats met on the street. Once even managed to get one, deep in the woods, I nearly got a heart attack - she was off the lead as we were deep in the woods, no idea what that cat was doing there but.. she managed to get it and flattened the poor thing to the ground and started licking it... cat got up and started... puuuuuring and not running away any more. Zara was over the moon to make a new friend (????) and my blood pressure went back to normal....

Hope your intruduction goes well....

dizziblonde

Hah - dog wasn't very bothered, he had a couple of clocking the cat moments but his brain's in his stomach so he's easily diverted (he doesn't seem to go for cats on walks either - but I think from some of his other habits like his attempts at poo burying which is hilarious to see with him being so gangly - that he's lived with cats and been trained by the feline overlords anyway)... cat however has wound the situation up no end... dog relaxes - cat growls - dog gets wound up! It's all been coming from one side of the equation - but she's a sulky primadonna type anyway!

We did get as far as the dog being asleep at one end of the rug by my husband on his lead (the dog not the husband) in case he lunged and the cat sat glowering on the sofa by the end of yesterday though. Dog's had to be in the kitchen overnight (which I felt guilty about) but you haven't heard a peep from him all night and I got greeted by an enormous waggy tail when I went in for the first thing this morning visit - so he's obviously not bearing a grudge (unlike the mog!)

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The Supreme Leader spent 3 days in the wardrobe after I had the temerity to bring a human baby home 11 1/2 years ago.

Since then she has endured 2 dogs, next door's discarded MC, various boyfriends, workmen, moving to a house with a garden from a flat and assorted small children visiting and asking to stroke the kitty.

She still glowers for an hour a day - top of the freezer nowdays, so she gets her extra special snacks unmolested.

But even she adjusted to a cat-schooled staffy within a couple of weeks. Mainly because she liked the taste of his mixer biccies.

Lirin

Dogs met Moggy and weren't impressed. Neither was Moggy. Cue a couple of weeks of chasing eachother, hissing, swiping noses (the look of pure astonishment on the Lab's face the first time this happened still makes me laugh.)
Finally had enough. Left Rough Collie, grumpy Lab and suspicious Cat in kitchen for a couple of hours (after first removing anything breakable.) Cat could get out if she wanted, nobody was trapped. Maybe not the recommended solution, but came home and couldn't find cat...curled up asleep in Collie's fur, perfectly content.
They were best friends for the remainder of the cat's life, though the Lab and cat merely tolerated eachother.