Hi,
If anyone has followed my recent thread about my having recently adopted a cat and the concerns about how things would work out with our dog - I have an update. Today was the first time that we introduced the two together. As I have read and researched, it is suggested that you have no face-to-face interaction for at least the first week. We adhered to that plan, and then today brought the dog down to the basement to meet the cat (we've kept the dog and cat separated by lower and upper level of the house).
For those here who were concerned about having an aggressive dog intimidate a poor little cat, I have news. The dog was so well behaved - didn't even bark. We brought her down - she looked at the cat, and the cat was the immediate aggressor. She raised up her fur, arched her back, hissed and swatted, and then ran away to the darkest corner of the basement that she could crawl into. A bit later, we brought the cat around again to the part of the basement where the dog was, but the same thing happened. Still later the dog came downstairs of her own accord, and the cat was up on the pool table making really threatening noises. Our poor dog just looked at us as if to say..'what did I do?'.....so that was the first few encounters. In my book, so far the score is: Dog - 1 point, Cat - zero. We were quite disappointed and now we're thinking that this cat was maybe in a house with a dog and did not get along with it, or else never saw a dog before up close and reacted violently.
So, now we have the doors open between lower and upper floors so both animals have free rein to come and go as they please. So far the cat has not ventured forth on the stairs. Also, I don't think she is feeling well - she is sniffly and coughs. Good thing she goes to the vet tomorrow for the first time - being that we really have no idea what shots she has received at her previous owner.
Oh well....we tried and will certainly keep working on it. We had, as was suggested here, our squirt gun at the ready to curb any aggressive act on the part of the dog, but instead it was the cat who could have used a shot of water. Really, except for the first few days, the dog has just been ignoring the fact that there is a cat downstairs - which we took as a really good sign, but the cat came out of her (up till now) very laid back manner and really was threatening to our schnauzer.
I'll keep everyone posted. I think this is going to take awhile to get these two animals together. If it doesn't improve, at least they both have one level of the house to themselves...
Keith
If anyone has followed my recent thread about my having recently adopted a cat and the concerns about how things would work out with our dog - I have an update. Today was the first time that we introduced the two together. As I have read and researched, it is suggested that you have no face-to-face interaction for at least the first week. We adhered to that plan, and then today brought the dog down to the basement to meet the cat (we've kept the dog and cat separated by lower and upper level of the house).
For those here who were concerned about having an aggressive dog intimidate a poor little cat, I have news. The dog was so well behaved - didn't even bark. We brought her down - she looked at the cat, and the cat was the immediate aggressor. She raised up her fur, arched her back, hissed and swatted, and then ran away to the darkest corner of the basement that she could crawl into. A bit later, we brought the cat around again to the part of the basement where the dog was, but the same thing happened. Still later the dog came downstairs of her own accord, and the cat was up on the pool table making really threatening noises. Our poor dog just looked at us as if to say..'what did I do?'.....so that was the first few encounters. In my book, so far the score is: Dog - 1 point, Cat - zero. We were quite disappointed and now we're thinking that this cat was maybe in a house with a dog and did not get along with it, or else never saw a dog before up close and reacted violently.
So, now we have the doors open between lower and upper floors so both animals have free rein to come and go as they please. So far the cat has not ventured forth on the stairs. Also, I don't think she is feeling well - she is sniffly and coughs. Good thing she goes to the vet tomorrow for the first time - being that we really have no idea what shots she has received at her previous owner.
Oh well....we tried and will certainly keep working on it. We had, as was suggested here, our squirt gun at the ready to curb any aggressive act on the part of the dog, but instead it was the cat who could have used a shot of water. Really, except for the first few days, the dog has just been ignoring the fact that there is a cat downstairs - which we took as a really good sign, but the cat came out of her (up till now) very laid back manner and really was threatening to our schnauzer.
I'll keep everyone posted. I think this is going to take awhile to get these two animals together. If it doesn't improve, at least they both have one level of the house to themselves...
Keith
