8 week old kitten and introducing her to our dog.

Hello everyone,

First of all I apologise for my having time to write an introduction post before asking for your expert advice but my question is quite urgent.

Today we adopted a little kitten who is 8 weeks old.  She is settling in well and I have set up a room just for her.  However the room is next to the loungeroom and has a glass door.  The kitten happened to see our dog (4 years old very calm Leonberger) who was just looking at the kitten through the glass. My dog didn't move or anything but the kitten was terrified, her fur was ridged and she was hissing. 

I never expected to have a problem because I thought at 8 weeks she would be indifferent to dogs (the previous owner told me the kitten has never seen a dog). 

My question is how should I go about introducing the two and reducing the Kitten's fear?  Do I wait for a week or so so that the Kitten feels comfortable in her new home?  Or is it best I try and get her used to the dog asap?

Is it unusal that an 8 week old kitten is so terrified of dogs? In your opinion do you think with time she will get used to the dog?

I would know what to do if this was a puppy but I don't know anything about how cats socialise.

Thank you very much for your time

Jay

With my cats and dogs over the years, I have always kept separated at first and gradually over a couple of weeks, done small supervised "visits". I'm sure you'll find that in no time they will be best of friends. The kitten's reaction is very typical, in my experience. Best of luck, and congrats on your newest addition!

Hi, and welcome to TCS 

It sounds like you have the perfect set up for your new addition. Having her own room to get used to her new home, and eventually to retreat to once she's allowed to roam, will be ideal. Having a glass door is great! When l got the new kitten a couple of months ago, l introduced him to the two older cats individually, and slowly, in his own room. Then l allowed him freedom to explore after about a week. This meant he was going downstairs to where the dog was (massive brute that he is!). We kept the dog behind the baby-gate until the shock of seeing each other had worn off, lol. The kitten became a hissing poof-ball the first couple of days, but they got used to each other in about a week, so the gate came down and they were very calm about greeting each other with no gate between them.

l hope all goes well, keep us posted - with pix 

Thank you both so much for your reassuring posts!  If anyone has anymore advice I would love to hear it!

Thanks everyone.

Jay

Agreeing with the others.  Let her get used to this room, get used to you, settle down, feel comfortable and safe with you her Parents, and this room as her "safety room".

During this time, she will get full of smells of you and your home. And get also accustomed to some smells of the dog and you...

When the time will come for them to begin and meet, let the dog lie down (he is trained for this, isnt he?). Have him on leash too, if you arent entirely sure.

He will see the kittens is during your protection, and having the right family smells of the own pack. So he will have no problems with accepting her.

And almost the same from the kittens side.

What you may see, is when they start to play with each other, some of the plsys may be pretending to be scared, and or running after each other... Perhaps even try to wrestle with each other...

Nay, the only danger is, him being so much bigger, she can get hurt by sheer accident when they play.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Thanks so much StefanZ, the idea of my 120 pound leonburger playing with my 2 pound kitten is an interesting image!  Thankyou for the reasurance that we can take our time and let our kitten settle in before introducing her to our dog officially.  Our dog is very well trained so I will be able to put him in a lie and get the kitten explore him which is good.

But the best thing is to know that we have time and don't have to rush anything.

Thanks so much for your detailed response.

regards

Jay

Hi I was just wondering if ur kitten ever got used to ur dog? Please answer I am in a similar situation