Hi all - SUMMARY: My wife and I have a 4 year old tabby, indoor cat, NO other pets. She is the princess of the house without a doubt (although my wife would say the cat is queen, not the princess). We have both wanted a dog for years and are finally able to get one. We will be receiving an English Bulldog from a reputable breeder friend of ours in early December. I am worried (my wife isn't) at how our cat will react.
MY CAT: She is a female named Chopper (for her purr that sounds like a Harley it's so loud) and she is 4 years old. She is spayed and is NOT declawed. We found her out in the cold 4 years ago and she used her litterbox the very first day we found her, even though she was only about 2 weeks old and tiny (and by "litterbox" I mean an egg carton we filled with litter so she could get in it). She also has NEVER scratched our furniture, carpet, people, etc. She loves her scratch pads and we've never had a scratching problem with her. She lets us cut both her front and back claws (as long as there is a treat involved). Sometimes she swats/bites at us when she's in a bad mood, but it's usually a pretty weak warning "Im not in the mood to be touched" (although we dont "let" her do that). She likes to play for short periods of time, but she is mostly a "chill" cat that would prefer to sleep or lay beside me on the arm of the chair while I read. She has been a really good cat. She is and always has been an indoor cat.
She has a weird personality with people. She always has to "be around", but she doesnt like to be touched by anyone other than my wife and I (and sometimes not my wife and I, either!). If the doorbell rings she will come to the door to greet the person, but WONT let them pet her. If we have people over she will always be with us in the same room, but she wont let anyone touch her. I dont know if this is weird or not, but its just the way she is (I dont like strangers touching me either, so I kind of dont blame her). One thing that set of alarms about getting a dog has been that Chopper is VERY scared of my 3 year old niece, and always has been. Seeing a small mammal (my niece) run around and make lots of noise really freaks the cat out. And if my niece tries to pet her, Chopper will run and hide. If she is cornered whatsoever, Chopper will hiss and gets VERY ticked. The only time Ive ever heard my cat hiss is when my niece corners her, or one of my friends/relatives tries to pick up the cat and hold her. In other words, when shes "scared". I am really worried she will have this same reaction to a dog.
CONCERN: My wife thinks that Chopper will be fine if we introduce an english bulldog puppy to our house. I really want the dog as well, and I have read that bulldogs are great with pets (and kids, etc), but I dont know how the cat will react. I have read that "high stress" situations like that can make cats start to do weird things like urinate outside of a litterbox (which shes never done), scratch furniture (never done), hide (doesnt do), etc.
I am looking for:
1) Opinions as to how you all think a situation may turn out, or if you have done this, how did it work out for you?
2) Advice as to how to how to handle this.... How to introduce them to each other so that neither the dog OR the cat is stressed, scared, hurt, etc (I am worried about the dog getting a claw to the face, etc).
I love my cat and I dont wont to stress her out to the point of death. I worry that such a drastic change in the house could decrease her lifespan, etc.
Thoughts? Thanks.
MY CAT: She is a female named Chopper (for her purr that sounds like a Harley it's so loud) and she is 4 years old. She is spayed and is NOT declawed. We found her out in the cold 4 years ago and she used her litterbox the very first day we found her, even though she was only about 2 weeks old and tiny (and by "litterbox" I mean an egg carton we filled with litter so she could get in it). She also has NEVER scratched our furniture, carpet, people, etc. She loves her scratch pads and we've never had a scratching problem with her. She lets us cut both her front and back claws (as long as there is a treat involved). Sometimes she swats/bites at us when she's in a bad mood, but it's usually a pretty weak warning "Im not in the mood to be touched" (although we dont "let" her do that). She likes to play for short periods of time, but she is mostly a "chill" cat that would prefer to sleep or lay beside me on the arm of the chair while I read. She has been a really good cat. She is and always has been an indoor cat.
She has a weird personality with people. She always has to "be around", but she doesnt like to be touched by anyone other than my wife and I (and sometimes not my wife and I, either!). If the doorbell rings she will come to the door to greet the person, but WONT let them pet her. If we have people over she will always be with us in the same room, but she wont let anyone touch her. I dont know if this is weird or not, but its just the way she is (I dont like strangers touching me either, so I kind of dont blame her). One thing that set of alarms about getting a dog has been that Chopper is VERY scared of my 3 year old niece, and always has been. Seeing a small mammal (my niece) run around and make lots of noise really freaks the cat out. And if my niece tries to pet her, Chopper will run and hide. If she is cornered whatsoever, Chopper will hiss and gets VERY ticked. The only time Ive ever heard my cat hiss is when my niece corners her, or one of my friends/relatives tries to pick up the cat and hold her. In other words, when shes "scared". I am really worried she will have this same reaction to a dog.
CONCERN: My wife thinks that Chopper will be fine if we introduce an english bulldog puppy to our house. I really want the dog as well, and I have read that bulldogs are great with pets (and kids, etc), but I dont know how the cat will react. I have read that "high stress" situations like that can make cats start to do weird things like urinate outside of a litterbox (which shes never done), scratch furniture (never done), hide (doesnt do), etc.
I am looking for:
1) Opinions as to how you all think a situation may turn out, or if you have done this, how did it work out for you?
2) Advice as to how to how to handle this.... How to introduce them to each other so that neither the dog OR the cat is stressed, scared, hurt, etc (I am worried about the dog getting a claw to the face, etc).
I love my cat and I dont wont to stress her out to the point of death. I worry that such a drastic change in the house could decrease her lifespan, etc.
Thoughts? Thanks.
