Hey everyone!
I have 3 dogs and an 8 year old female cat. The dogs are 2 German Shepherds and a Beagle.
One of my cats passed away and I have been missing him so much that I decided to go out and adopt a kitten. I wanted a baby baby kitty so we went to the shelter to find one.
Well I connected with a kitten. Yay! I always let my rescues choose me only this time it just happened to be an 8 year old kitten. lol Not exactly what I was expecting to come home with, but we love him anyways!
He had spent 5 months in this tiny shelter cage. I felt so incredibly bad for him and he is so sweet I had to take him home.
Anyways, it's been 4 days since we adopted him. He has never been around dogs and am unsure about other cats. I have him set up with his own bedroom and bathroom (yea, he took over my room) so he doesn't have to leave to do his business or to eat. I have a baby gate put up with a cat door in it so if he feels he wants to venture out he can, but the dogs cannot access him.
My existing cat could not care any less that he is hear as long as he does not intrude the 5 foot diameter of her comfort zone. Then she *might* throw out a growl, but there is no fighting. He doesn't seem to care about her and has not hissed or made any aggressive gestures. I don't think they are going to be an issue.
The dogs however are. My dogs are young and while not dangerous to kitty, they can be overwhelming when they are all together. They are house dogs only, and only go outside to do their business. They mostly want to sniff kitty and inhale him up their noses, but have shown no aggression. Funny thing is, kitty has shown no aggression to them either when they have come up to sniff him with me being there. He seems indifferent to them. The first night he even demanded to be let out of the bedroom by pawing and trying to open the door. When i showed him there were two German Shepherds on the other side, by cracking the door, he pushed his way through the door and through the sheps to go check out the house. The dogs were disinterested as he didn't seem afraid. An unafraid cat is no fun. He even got stepped on by one of the dogs and acted like it has been happening for years. That was the first night. I thought that's great!
However, since then he mostly stays under my bed. He comes out to eat, potty and if I am in there alone he will come out to be petted and brushed. He will lay with me in the bed sometimes, but his comfort zone is under it.
Twice the dogs caught sight of him and chased him briefly before I got control of them. I'm afraid that scared him back under the bed for today. Since then I have placed a baby gate up in the hall leading to my doorway. Now they cannot access any part of it.
I'm sorry this is becomming so long, but is it possible that he may ever want to come out and integrate himself into the general population around here? The dogs listen pretty well when it comes to me stopping the chase, but it is not 100%.
I don't understand it as one of my dogs is a chicken and her safety zone is under my bed. The other day something freaked her out (prior to baby gate) and I found her under the bed next to kitty. Kitty seemed unaffected. However, he will just not come out into the rest of the house and I'm almost sure it's because of the dogs. Could be wrong though.
So what I'm wondering is if there is hope for kitty. How should we proceed. I know it's only been 4 days and he's an older cat that has spent 5 previous months cramped up in a little cage and it will take time. I just want him to have a quality of life. Right now his room is set up like the kitty Hilton, but he prefers under the bed.
What else could we be doing (if anything) to get him use to us? Do we just leave it like it is? I believe he wants to explore the rest of the house but is afraid.
I was thinking of locking the dogs in my bedroom tonight and locking him out so he could have the whole house to himself to explore. Does that sound like a bad idea?
Is it even possible to acclimate an 8 year old cat to a bunch of dogs if he has never been around them? Was this a mistake?
Feedback is much appreciated!
Thanks so much everyone!
I have 3 dogs and an 8 year old female cat. The dogs are 2 German Shepherds and a Beagle.
One of my cats passed away and I have been missing him so much that I decided to go out and adopt a kitten. I wanted a baby baby kitty so we went to the shelter to find one.
Well I connected with a kitten. Yay! I always let my rescues choose me only this time it just happened to be an 8 year old kitten. lol Not exactly what I was expecting to come home with, but we love him anyways!
He had spent 5 months in this tiny shelter cage. I felt so incredibly bad for him and he is so sweet I had to take him home.
Anyways, it's been 4 days since we adopted him. He has never been around dogs and am unsure about other cats. I have him set up with his own bedroom and bathroom (yea, he took over my room) so he doesn't have to leave to do his business or to eat. I have a baby gate put up with a cat door in it so if he feels he wants to venture out he can, but the dogs cannot access him.
My existing cat could not care any less that he is hear as long as he does not intrude the 5 foot diameter of her comfort zone. Then she *might* throw out a growl, but there is no fighting. He doesn't seem to care about her and has not hissed or made any aggressive gestures. I don't think they are going to be an issue.
The dogs however are. My dogs are young and while not dangerous to kitty, they can be overwhelming when they are all together. They are house dogs only, and only go outside to do their business. They mostly want to sniff kitty and inhale him up their noses, but have shown no aggression. Funny thing is, kitty has shown no aggression to them either when they have come up to sniff him with me being there. He seems indifferent to them. The first night he even demanded to be let out of the bedroom by pawing and trying to open the door. When i showed him there were two German Shepherds on the other side, by cracking the door, he pushed his way through the door and through the sheps to go check out the house. The dogs were disinterested as he didn't seem afraid. An unafraid cat is no fun. He even got stepped on by one of the dogs and acted like it has been happening for years. That was the first night. I thought that's great!
However, since then he mostly stays under my bed. He comes out to eat, potty and if I am in there alone he will come out to be petted and brushed. He will lay with me in the bed sometimes, but his comfort zone is under it.
Twice the dogs caught sight of him and chased him briefly before I got control of them. I'm afraid that scared him back under the bed for today. Since then I have placed a baby gate up in the hall leading to my doorway. Now they cannot access any part of it.
I'm sorry this is becomming so long, but is it possible that he may ever want to come out and integrate himself into the general population around here? The dogs listen pretty well when it comes to me stopping the chase, but it is not 100%.
I don't understand it as one of my dogs is a chicken and her safety zone is under my bed. The other day something freaked her out (prior to baby gate) and I found her under the bed next to kitty. Kitty seemed unaffected. However, he will just not come out into the rest of the house and I'm almost sure it's because of the dogs. Could be wrong though.
So what I'm wondering is if there is hope for kitty. How should we proceed. I know it's only been 4 days and he's an older cat that has spent 5 previous months cramped up in a little cage and it will take time. I just want him to have a quality of life. Right now his room is set up like the kitty Hilton, but he prefers under the bed.
What else could we be doing (if anything) to get him use to us? Do we just leave it like it is? I believe he wants to explore the rest of the house but is afraid.
I was thinking of locking the dogs in my bedroom tonight and locking him out so he could have the whole house to himself to explore. Does that sound like a bad idea?
Is it even possible to acclimate an 8 year old cat to a bunch of dogs if he has never been around them? Was this a mistake?
Feedback is much appreciated!
Thanks so much everyone!
