My cat is depressed and hiding from a new dog. What can I do?

Adding a new pet to the house is often stressful for the existing pet. I would make sure you continue to provide her with plenty of love and attention. Do not force her to interact with the new dog, and let her hide from it as that is how she is dealing with the stress. She will adjust to the dog over time, but if she starts shows signs of aggression to you or the dog, some behavioral modifications will have to be done as she isn't adjusting well. Give her treats, play with her, and continue to show the same amount of love and attention you had given her previously so she doesn't feel replaced.

So sorry to hear this happened. It is best to ignore her behavior. If you give her any attention you are rewarding an inappropriate behavior. I suggest you leave her be, put some Feliway diffusers in the house (especially in the room she is in) and try to act as normal as possible. You will cause her more stress if you are constantly checking in on her. I suggest you leave the door open to the room and she can come in/out if and when she pleases. I think she is waiting to make sure the dog is not going to return. https://www.feliway.com/us/Products/FELIWAY-CLASSIC-Diffuser

The key is with slow introductions. Adding in barriers or baby gates that your cat can get over but your dog can't can also make it easier for your cat to get away if they need. It is also a good idea to make sure your cat has access to their own access to food, water, litterboxes, and bedding/hiding places without your dog being able to harass them. Adding in a pheromone diffuser such as Comfort Zone in shared spaces can also help with stress. You also only want to let them interact when you are home to supervise as even the best behaved dog can still accidentally injure a smaller cat. Otherwise, giving them time to observe and interact, and separating them if they become too stressed can help during the adjustment period.

Cat-dog introduction can definitely be tricky particularly when the kitty is somewhat shy or aloof. Cats are usually pretty picky in terms of who they choose to like and dislike at first, so I would not be surprised if you see some swatting and hissing in the very beginning. The best thing you can do to up your odds of a pleasant coexistence if a very slow introduction under supervised settings. I would first have your dog and cat completely separate, but in adjacent rooms so they can hear and smell each other through the door. Once this has happened for a day or two, you can place the dog in a crate and allow the cat to mosy into the dog's area. This will allow you to gauge the dog's reaction as well as the cat's in a safe way. Any positive interaction between the two should be rewarded (both the cat and dog). Once you feel comfortable, you can begin to let the dog out but only on a leash. You need to be convinced that the dog is not going to try to harm Shadow in any way. The dog should be rewarded for any good behavior (in this case, even leaving Shadow alone or ignoring completely should be considered good). If Shadow tries to approach this is fine as long as you have a solid hold on your dog. If this goes well after several supervised sessions, you can try off-the-leash supervision. Keep at this, for a while until you feel completely comfortable that they aren't going to try and kill each other! Hopefully they can have a peaceful coexistence or even be friends if your lucky!

Cats can be very sensitive to changes in their environment and will often display this behavior during times of stress. Considering that Kylie is nine years old and your pit was 14, it would be a major change (assuming they lived together this whole time) for the dog to suddenly be missing from the environment; not to mention how stressful this must have been to you and your family. This could be causing her a fair amount of anxiety/stress. As a vet, I always worry about a medical condition causing this, so the best thing that you can do is take her for a vet exam to ensure there is nothing else wrong with her. If it happens to be stress that's causing her to act like this, then it will take some time before she gets back to normal - sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months. One thing that may help reduce stress is a Feliway pheramone diffuser (can get this at the pet store). These create calming pheramones in the environment, that may help her relax and start acting more normal again. I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your dog and hope you and Kylie feel better soon.

It can take quite awhile for cats to get used to new pets in the family. I would continue to let them see and smell each other through the door but would wait at least a week before they are in the same room. Make sure Luna has plenty of escape routes - safe spaces that are up high are ideal. You could also try using a pheromone spray or diffuser like Feliway wherever Luna can see the dog to help her relax.

Hello, thank you for your question. This is not uncommon after a traumatic event, especially since cats are very sensitive to stressful events. I would allow your cat time to recover from this event and recommend allowing her to come out from under the bed at her own pace. She may be more likely to come out sooner if the dog is not in a similar location, so you could try confining your dog for a brief period of time. If you have any concerns that she may be injured I would recommend having her evaluated by a veterinarian. Hope this helps!