introducing cats and dogs?

I don't know if I should be starting a new thread about this, and if you want the back story it's here.

Jake (my sister's dog) and Holland (my cat) are "together" for the third day in a row. I know 3 days is not a long time, but they are still just laying a few feet apart checking each other out. I've never done this before, but I would love for them to become friends. Do I need to do anything other than letting them be? I'm just looking for some advice from people who have dogs and cats together about how long it took before they got used to each other? I have no doubt that Holland has smelled Jake on my hands and vice versa.

Jake barked at Holland on Wednesday, and yesterday he growled a couple of times, but today he's been an . Will they eventually try to just hang out together, like friends rather than "who is that weird creature I see"?

Im kind of doing the same thing, however I tried the seperating thing because Fatman was being a jerk Hercules and GiGi were ok after while of seeing Max. I had a gate blocking Max from the hallway to the bedroom. After about a mth and a half of this he starting getting really stressed. Basically because he went from being stuck in a little tiny room to being stuck in a bigger room, he didnt realize the bigger part of it and only saw being stuck. It was really stressing him out, he was stress chewing, trying to knock the gate down, whining etc. I took the gate down today put a litter box in my closet and food and water on my dresser. Basically gave the cats high and closed off spaces the dog cant get to along with having their bedroom blocked off. Since we got Max Franklin has been in bed with us so I got rid of his blanket because Fatman peed on it (not uti) so thats gone. However Fatman being the jerk he is peed on the bed (WITH the hallway blocked off, he actually peed on BFs arm) So we have Feliway plugged into the bedroom to calm him down. I did the seperation stuff so now its the 'get used to it' part. It may seem cruel but sometimes its better to jump in head first rather than dipping a toe in. We have been dipping toes for a while now its time to jump in. But if it doesnt get better after a little while, Bf already agreed we are going to make a gate that swings open for the hallway out of wood that matches the molding we made for the living room.

My biggest problem is that the two dogs are 10x bigger than Holland is, and she's a scaredy-cat to begin with. We're in the basement right now, and I don't think it's fair that the dogs get the run of the upstairs while my girl has her outside view from mostly-below ground. So lately we've started "taking turns". I put the dogs outside for a while and let Holland have the upstairs to herself. Sometimes she comes up, sometimes she doesn't, but she is slowly learning that if Jake barks at her from outside (Mallie is not a barker), he still can't get at her. Of course, I would never do anything like tell her to sit at the sliding glass doors and tease the dogs...

This is hopefully a temporary situation, I was just hoping maybe they can become friends. But the dogs are intent on checking her out, which means sniffing, for which Holland has a zero tolerance policy. Oh well.

I doubt I'd ever be comfortable enough to let them get too close without MY close, close supervision. It could go either way - a dog could lose an eye or my baby could get chomped. Not a risk I'm willing to take.

I know how you feel. We are still working on impulse control with Max, not only with the cats but also with his resource guarding. So far since we have taken the gate down we havent had major issues, the worst being him trying to get in the closet or under the bed when the cats are sleeping. Even Fatman who hates everything and everyone comes out and goes to the cat room. The cat room is located at the end of the hallway closest to the living room where Max usually is. I have found that when they want to go back to the bedroom and Max is checking them out Fatman will let out his whiny meow and Ill call Max back to me and have him lay down and stay. Then the cats go back to the bedroom and chill out. I have also realized that its going to take a while till I get Max to not see the cats as prey, his prey drive is HIGH so it is taking some time and till I get that completely toned down the cats will not come out to the living room. GiGi has ventured out while Max is sleeping but then she starts talking and wakes him up and he wants to go check her out. Thankfully he doesnt try and play or anything he just wants to sniff them and wuffle in their ears. Max has an ear obsession lol. I think that no matter what with big dogs and cats its going to take a lot of time for everyone to get used to each other. Atleast you dont have chewing issues, I went outside to check the mail and left the dogs in the house and Max ate my wicker toilet paper holder thinger....I WAS P.OED! We have Max proofed the house as best we can but the darned booger keeps finding something to get ahold of!

Sorry, just caught this one! Poor neglected Cats and Other Animals section.

Under your circumstances, IMO you're doing what's best already. I'm in more or less the same situation (the dogs belong to my parents, not my siblings, and I have the second floor instead of the ground floor - that's about the only difference!). At this point, of my parents' two dogs, one of them - Nika - has unlimited access to the kitties (who wouldn't have it any other way!) and is permitted to come up to their space whenever she wants, without any kind of supervision. The other dog - Maddie - can mingle with them, but only if one of my parents, or myself, is in the room with them. We don't leave them alone together for even short periods of time. And this is 10 months after Sophie first joined the family.

I would just let it play out as it will, as far as Jake getting "accustomed" to Holland (and vice versa), and for the time being, keep them physically apart (not any kind of barrier between them, just maintain space between them and stay in control of the dog). Just spending time in the same room, they will slowly adjust to one another's presence, and Holland may eventually be more receptive to getting within sniffing distance. If you're at all nervous or hesitant about letting them actually get that close, it's best to avoid that altogether. I am living proof of how easily our emotions can transmit to a dog and affect their behavior (my weird dog-related "phobia" is a tale for another thread - or possibly an entire novel ), and if you aren't calm going in, the dog won't be, either.

In the meantime, if you want Holland to have her "fair shot" at the upstairs, what is the sleeping situation like with the dog? For quite awhile, I kept Sophie and Jack upstairs during the day while the dogs had the run of the place. At about 10pm, they'd go outside one last time, then my parents would settle them into their bedroom (which is where they sleep anyway), and the cats would have the run of the first AND second floors for the entire night. Obviously, this depends on your own sleep schedule as well - assuming the dog would be let out of the bedroom at a consistent time each morning, are you (a) up all night like I often am, or (b) willing to get up possibly very early to make sure Holland is brought back to the basement before the dog is let loose?

Sleeping situations - Mallie is in my mom's room and Jake is in my nephew's room. Mallie has kind of been forgotten in this equation because she hasn't shown much interest in Holland. But it is Holland vs. two big dogs...

And, don't forget, the last time Holland went upstairs during the night, this happened...

Right now, it's me, Holland, my mom, my sister, my BIL, two of my nieces, one nephew, and two dogs in the house. Holland loves sitting in the bay window in my mom's family room, and I want her to get as much time as possible to sit there, but I feel much more comfortable when I know where she is at all times. So at night she is downstairs with me.

I hope to continue to work on her & the dogs, but her life was turned upside down again the other day... every other human in the house went on vacation for the last two weeks & just got home so all of a sudden we've got a full house again, just when Holland was getting used to the dogs... One thing I've learned is that she is adaptable, and though she will hide when other people are around, she is my same lovey girl at the end of the day when we have our "alone" time in the basement.