I'm facing a new problem. I've had my 3 year old cat for about 3-4 months now and he's been doing really well in his new house
But about a month ago my fiance decided to get a dog. This is a problem because my cat has never lived in a house with other animals. We decided we would try to introduce them very slowly (I don't want to have to deal with this when we're dealing with all the other stresses of moving in together after the wedding) so we started bringing them together.
The first attempt I had my fiance bring his dog into the living room and get him all calmed down (while still on the leash). Bishop (the dog) was doing fine and was just enjoying being pet. I brought Mystery (the cat) into the room, holding him the whole time and kept standing up (while the dog was laying on the ground and totally unaware of a cat in the room). As soon as Mystery saw the dog he hissed and tried to bolt. I took him back upstairs and left him in my bedroom.
The second attempt we put the cat in his cage and set him up on the table while the dog was laying on the ground, totally unaware of a cat being in the room. Mystery just sat there looking at the dog and soon lost interest. He actaully fell asleep. I thought this was a good sign and took the cat into my bedroom again (the bedroom is his favorite place where he feels most comfortable).
The third time we decided to have them in the same room for a while. We watched a movie with the dog on the couch with us and the cat stayed under another piece of furniture, he came out for a bit and smelled around. It was this attempt that we realized the dog didn't care anything about the cat. The cat, however, hates the dog. And he actually hates most people but me.
The forth attempt we did the same thing again. Only this time Mystery didnt' seem as scared of the dog as before. I thought this was a very good sign because i wanted them to get used to each other without causing any stress on my cat. But then out of the blue the cat tried to attack the dog. And the dog did nothing to provoke him, the dog was just laying on the couch with us. We gave up after that. I don't want my cat attacking a dog and I most certainly don't want to stress him out.
What should I do to introduce them properly? I thought I was taking it nice and slow since my cat can be a little scared of new things. But I'm not sure what steps I should take from here. We're gonna be getting married in about 10 months so we have some time to do it slowly. I'm just not sure what the best thing for the cat is (because it's odviouls the dog doesn't care about anything hehe).
The first attempt I had my fiance bring his dog into the living room and get him all calmed down (while still on the leash). Bishop (the dog) was doing fine and was just enjoying being pet. I brought Mystery (the cat) into the room, holding him the whole time and kept standing up (while the dog was laying on the ground and totally unaware of a cat in the room). As soon as Mystery saw the dog he hissed and tried to bolt. I took him back upstairs and left him in my bedroom.
The second attempt we put the cat in his cage and set him up on the table while the dog was laying on the ground, totally unaware of a cat being in the room. Mystery just sat there looking at the dog and soon lost interest. He actaully fell asleep. I thought this was a good sign and took the cat into my bedroom again (the bedroom is his favorite place where he feels most comfortable).
The third time we decided to have them in the same room for a while. We watched a movie with the dog on the couch with us and the cat stayed under another piece of furniture, he came out for a bit and smelled around. It was this attempt that we realized the dog didn't care anything about the cat. The cat, however, hates the dog. And he actually hates most people but me.
The forth attempt we did the same thing again. Only this time Mystery didnt' seem as scared of the dog as before. I thought this was a very good sign because i wanted them to get used to each other without causing any stress on my cat. But then out of the blue the cat tried to attack the dog. And the dog did nothing to provoke him, the dog was just laying on the couch with us. We gave up after that. I don't want my cat attacking a dog and I most certainly don't want to stress him out.
What should I do to introduce them properly? I thought I was taking it nice and slow since my cat can be a little scared of new things. But I'm not sure what steps I should take from here. We're gonna be getting married in about 10 months so we have some time to do it slowly. I'm just not sure what the best thing for the cat is (because it's odviouls the dog doesn't care about anything hehe).
