In solitary

I have no idea how long this solitary confinement will take. I have two cats and they have put themselves in the cellar. The reason is
my mom's dog. She came to live with me and is 92 years young and has a dog that is 12. Will get along with cats, as it has before, just not mine. The problem is my cats, one is 9 yrs. and the other 10, they have never been around dogs till now. It has been a week. The other night when dog is in my mom's room for the night, one comes up and the minute she hears the door open in morning she goes back down to cellar and won't come up all day. The other one won't even try. I wonder how long it will take to get them up with us. The dog is old and sleeps a lot like them. I go down to be with them certain times of the day till bedtime, I don't know what else to do. I have no idea what to do to help situation. Does anyone have any ideas???
Thanks for listening.

Not to freak you out but it could take as long as 6 months. I've never had your particular situation but I did have something a little similar about a year ago. We adopted 2 males cats from the shelter a little over a year ago. At the shleter, both cats were very friendly. When we brought them home, one instantly became very intimidating to the other and the "sissy" cat chose to stay for the most part isolated from all of us. He found a little safe spot in our sunroom and basically stayed there for 6 months(we had his food and litter box out there as well). Any attempts we made to include him with the family were short lived because he was so afraid of the other cat. Then one day it's like he just decided he wasn't going to take being the cat always looking in, he then became bolder and was quick to put the other cat in his place. They still aren't the best of friends but they've learned to co-exist better than we ever thoguht. We even catch them sleeping side by side on occassion.

I think your cats will eventually warm up to the dog, or at least reclaim their home.

You want to do 2 things: 1. get them used to the dog's smell, and 2. make them associate good things with the dog.

For #1., take a blanket that the dog has been sleeping on and put it with the cats, or rub the dog with a towel and put it near them. Don't make a big deal of it. Put it near their food dish so it helps with item #2.

For #2, for example, only give them treats when the dog is around. Praise them a lot when they don't react to the dog.

It may take some time and patience but they will probably all learn to get along, especially if the dog is old and inert

good luck!

Thanks for the help. I know it will take time, I guess I get in hurry to see
companionship and peace in my house. The idea of putting the dog blanket by food bowl might help. Good idea. I know I have to be patient. The dog is a calm dog, thank the Lord for that. My basement is large and so far the dog will not go down. Lucky at that. Thanks for all the tips.