How can I safely introduce a new cat to my senior dog who hates cats?

Great question! I can give you a method of introducing Junior to this dog that will hopefully allow them to live together in peace. Introducing them should be done slowly. When you first move into your new home, I would keep them in rooms separated by a door. This way, they can get used to the smells and sounds of each other without contact. Make sure Junior has a litter box, food, and water in their room. You can also place a blanket with the dog's smell in his room, and a blanket with theJunior's smell in the dog's room. I would also consider get a Feliway for your cat and a DAP for the dog. These are pheromone diffusers that help with anxiety and should also help ease the transition. Once both pets seem relaxed with the current situation, swap rooms placing Junior in the dog's room and vice versa. You can do this switch several times over the course of the introductions. Once they are both comfortable with the smells of each other, it's time for them to meet face to face. I would introduce the dog on a leash to Junior while he is in a cat carrier or on the other side of a baby gate. Reward the dog for being calm and quiet near your cat. Once they seem comfortable with each other, the baby gate can be taken away. Make sure Junior has a cat tree where he can escape from the dog as needed, and don't allow the dog to chase Junior. Good luck, I hope this helps!

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!

Great question! Introducing them should be done slowly. When you first bring Mousewhisker (I love his name!) home, I would keep them in rooms separated by a door. This way, they can get used to the smells and sounds of each other without contact. Make sure your cat has a litter box, food, and water in their room. You can also place a blanket with the dogs's smell in the cat's room, and a blanket with the cat's smell in the dogs's room. I would also consider get a Feliway for your cat and a DAP for your dogs. These are pheromone diffusers that help with anxiety and should also help ease the transition. Once all the pets seem relaxed with the current situation, swap rooms placing the cat in the dogs's room and vice versa. You can do this switch several times over the course of the introductions. Once they are all comfortable with the smells of each other, it's time for them to meet face to face. I would introduce the dogs on a leash to the cat while he is in a cat carrier or on the other side of a baby gate. Reward the puppy for being calm and quiet near the cat. Once they seem comfortable with each other, the baby gate can be taken away. Make sure your cat has a cat tree where he can escape from the dogs as needed, and don't allow the dogs to chase the cat. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using PetCoach! Charley and your dog are very cute! It is going to be very hard to make this happen. Since they are never inside together there is no way to train either of them or desensitize them to each other. Ideally the dog should have been trained with the cat when she was a puppy. At that time allowed to play with her and learned not to attack the cat with your help and by Charley smacking her. Now your dog is fully grown and can easily hurt Charley and may think she is prey when she runs. The only way to safely do this is to bring the dog in the house with a leash and a basket muzzle on and allow them to spend time together in the same room. Teach the dog to not chase the cat when it runs away. This will take a long time and I don't know if I would ever feel fully comfortable with them alone together. You may be surprised though and find that the dog doesn't chase the cat maliciously. Cats over all take a long time to adjust to change but most of the time they do. She likely despises the dog now because she's never interacted with him. You can try using the Feliway diffusers to calm her a bit. Overall I think this is going to be very difficult to accomplish I hope this helps and I wish you all the best! http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?w=feliway%20for%20cats

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would allow the cats to safely sniff and see the puppy through a baby gate for 2 weeks. Then when you let them interact the puppy should be on a leash 100% of the time so you can control him. The cats should have a safe place (cat tree, a room with a cat door only then can fit through) to be able to escape from the puppy. If the puppy shows any form of aggression towards the cats he should never be allowed to be alone with the cats and off a leash in the house. That means he is crated when you are not home. Hopefully since Moose is young the will be easy to teach and the cats will put him in his place! Good luck!

I would be glad to help you! I'm very sorry Coco was attacked by the cat. It could be that at night, Coco is trying to play with the cat, and the cat (who isn't used to dogs) is reacting with aggression. It could also be that the cat simply doesn't like dogs and doesn't want to share her home. Depending on how long you have to live with your daughter, I can suggest a method to make them more comfortable with each other so Coco doesn't have to go to the kennels. Introducing them should be done slowly. I would keep them in rooms separated by a door. Make sure the cat has a litter box, food, and water in her room. This way, they can get used to the smells and sounds of each other without contact. You can also place a blanket with Coco's smell in the cat's room, and a blanket with the cat's smell in Coco's room. I would also consider get a Feliway for the cat and a DAP for your dog. These are pheromone diffusers that help with anxiety and should also help ease the transition. Once both pets seem relaxed with the current situation, swap rooms placing the cat in the Coco's room and vice versa. You can do this switch several times over the course of the introductions. Once they are both comfortable with the smells of each other, it's time for them to meet face to face. I would introduce Coco on a leash to the cat while she is in a cat carrier or on the other side of a baby gate. Reward the dog for being calm and quiet near the cat. Once they seem comfortable with each other, the baby gate can be taken away. Make sure the cat has a cat tree where she can escape from the dog as needed, and I would keep them separated at night until they are getting along better. Hope this helps :-)

Yes there is something you can do to help Brandy and the cat get along. I will give you suggestions I make for when bringing a new puppy into the home, but it will work for your dog and cat. I would re-introduce them, which should be done slowly. For now, I would keep them in rooms separated by a door. Make sure your cat has a litter box, food, and water in it's room. This way, they can get used to the smells and sounds of each other without contact. You can also place a blanket with the Brandy's smell in the cat's room, and a blanket with the cat's smell in the Brandy's room. I would also consider get a Feliway for your cat and a DAP for your dog. These are pheromone diffusers that help with anxiety and should also help ease the transition. Once both pets seem relaxed with the current situation, swap rooms placing the cat in the dog's room and vice versa. You can do this switch several times over the course of the introductions. Once they are both comfortable with the smells of each other, it's time for them to meet face to face. I would introduce Brandy on a leash to the cat while he is in a cat carrier or on the other side of a baby gate. Reward her for being calm and quiet near the cat. Once they seem comfortable with each other, the baby gate can be taken away. Make sure your cat has a cat tree where he can escape from the dog as needed, and don't allow Brandy to chase the cat.