Introducing Kitten to Dog

Me again! Hello! 

Right now I'm taking care of a 40 day old litter (6 weeks on Friday) of 4 babies. I'm planning on finding homes for at least 3 of the 4. 

I have one that is already spoken for to my boyfriend and his mom. My concern for this is that they have a toy poodle and I'm very sure she might not even know what a cat is! 

She's been spoiled and kept indoor ever since she was born into his gradmom's home and after his grandmother got sick for a while, grandma gave them the dog. They had recently lost an 8 year old cat. The dog is at least 2-3 years old and about the size of an adult cat. She's as sweet, nice, polite, cudlly and lovely as can be.

My questions are:

On the dog, Dusty:

- Is there anything I should do before kitty permanently moves into his new home?

- Should I take him with me to visit sometime and introduce them? After he's completely weaned of course.

On kitten:

- In the litter, Kitten is the alpha kitten, thus he's bigger, more dominant, in my human eyes, he's a small bully. My boyfriend knows the cat's personality and is why he chose him, so he has no problems about it. Now I'm also concerned for the doggie. What if the cat grows too aggressive since when he's grown he'll be about her size? Is it possible for him to bully her or will she stand her ground? As I mentioned she's a very sweet dog.

- Anything that I can do before I send him to his new home to prevent him from growing up and bullying her?

General

- Are there any other things I should consider?

Thank you very much for any input. 

I wish I had info for you,  I came into this thread hoping someone would have insight because i'm in this situation as well.  I have had Felix since he was 2 weeks old,  he is now 5 weeks old and doing quite well.  Because of his fragile state I have kept him and my terrier separated during the times I have to be away from home (work).  CC my dog is a sweet dog although she is aggressive.  She isn't around too many other animals and is thrilled little Felix is around.  I realize that later on Felix will have no problem coexisting with my dog but for now,  CC's tongue is the size of Felix's little face and I get so nervous the idea that CC might have gotten a bit too rough with him while i'm away.  I am constantly having to stop her from licking him to death and eating his food.  

I just would like to know if anyone else has had to transition this way.  Introducing baby kitten to a dog.   

nubreeze said:

 
I wish I had info for you,  I came into this thread hoping someone would have insight because i'm in this situation as well.  I have had Felix since he was 2 weeks old,  he is now 5 weeks old and doing quite well.  Because of his fragile state I have kept him and my terrier separated during the times I have to be away from home (work).  CC my dog is a sweet dog although she is aggressive.  She isn't around too many other animals and is thrilled little Felix is around.  I realize that later on Felix will have no problem coexisting with my dog but for now,  CC's tongue is the size of Felix's little face and I get so nervous the idea that CC might have gotten a bit too rough with him while i'm away.  I am constantly having to stop her from licking him to death and eating his food.  

I just would like to know if anyone else has had to transition this way.  Introducing baby kitten to a dog.   

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What do you say that while we wait we can talk about babies (kittens)...

Is that Felix on the pic? He's such a cutie! 

He looks grumpy on that pic, his squinting says so much about him 

I like his drool-like patches of white fur on the sides of his mouth. 

I've introduced dogs to cats a few times now, but never with a just weaned kitten. General principles:- for the safety of all concerned, it's best to keep the dog on a lead for the initial meetings. I've often found that dogs differentiate between 'their' cats that live with them, and all other cats. A case in point is my labrador - she has great respect for our cats, but cats she sees outside the house are fair game in her eyes (not that she ever gets close to doing anything - she's been trained to within an inch of her life :lol3: ). Keeping the dog on a lead to start with is the best way to ensure safety all round. Scent swapping may also help, and can be started straight away. Finally, I would suggest that there is no unsupervised between the two of them until the kitten is big enough to look after itself a little more. By this time, kitten and poodle should have reached an understanding anyway and there should be no further cause for concern.

The best way to control access is letting the kitten have its own room - much as though you were attempting cat to cat introductions. The other option is to crate the dog when supervision isn't possible - I did this when I moved back home and had to introduce my (then) 18 month old greyhound to a pair of 2 year old cats. We started with on lead access only, progressed to supervised access, and crated Pixie whenever we had to go out - at night he was shut into my room with me. This system does work. The length of time it takes depends on the animals involved. It's great that the kitten is the alpha - it makes it more likely that kitten will tell poodle to back off if needed.

Yes this is Felix the day I rescued him,  he was only 2 weeks old,  I have older pics of him now.  I just love him so much.  

Thank you so much,  i'm going to wait a bit longer.  My dog displayed behavior I was curious about.  She wouldn't eat the first week,  and wined and the only way we could get her to eat is if we hand fed her like we bottle fed Felix.  she seemed like she was truly depressed and jealous.  Now she loves him and licks him often but it's so much it makes me nervous.

It's interesting that CC (my dog) seems to tolerate cats even outside much better than she does dogs.  She seems playful when she sees a cat, and seems to be threatened when a dog is around her.  She actually tucks her tail.  I would be devastated if she harmed my kitten.  And I don't want to learn the hard way.  so how old do you think Felix should be before I just allow the two to coexist?  My dog is my son's who is away at college,  I did not sign on for this dog being with me,  but such is the case.  I realize that I am more of a cat person than a dog person and I just want the two of them to be okay.  

I think that's pretty much your call. My instinct is to wait until kitten is big and strong enough to cope with being pushed by the dog...5 weeks is still very small. I'd have thought 12 weeks at the earliest, but probably longer. Bottom line - I'm not there, and I can't see how the two are responding to each other. Remember terriers were originally bred to catch vermin...A 5 week kitten isn't so far different in terms of size. No matter how well trained the dog, they do have their hunting instincts too. You have to bear in mind that accidents can happen. You'd never forgive yourself if you came home and something had happened to Felix.

When I brought Pixie (greyhound) home, he'd never raced, but he'd never lived with cats. It was a full year before he was allowed free access of the home at all times. That was probably over cautious, but it kept everybody safe.

Columbine has already given you good advice!  We also have this article: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-dogs.

I helped my mother introduce 2 cats to her dogs; one was a kitten and one was 2 years old (the cats came home within 3 days of each other).  The adult cat had a safe room and the kitten was kenneled when he couldn't be supervised.  He was tiny; just 1lb!  My mother had a lab mix and a true mutt (I don't even know what the vet classified her as to be honest!) who wasn't much beyond puppyhood herself.  Any interactions were supervised.  The dogs were used to cats.  The older cat used the top of a high desk like a cat tree; supervising everything going on.  The dogs accepted the kitten right away and being so young; he didn't have any fear when it came to the dogs. They were just supervised.   The kitten used to wrestle with the mutt-dogs fluffy tail and bathe her eyes and head.  He actually still does bathe the dog.  He will be 12 this fall.  

MoochNNoodles said:

 The dogs accepted the kitten right away and being so young; he didn't have any fear when it came to the dogs.

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The fearlessness of kittens is exactly why you need to take extra care. Kitten is unlikely to have enough sense/life experience to know when back off or retreat to a place of safety.

thanks everyone,  I will keep him separated 

They really do love each other

So, so cute! Fantastic to see such a happy integration :heart3: :rub:

Thank you.  I just get so filled with love I want to burst sometimes.  Watching them together is hilarious.  I am so grateful for this website and all the wonderful advice. 

Congratulations on the success!

My baby Grey (well, his future family is thinking of naming him Conan) is already 7 weeks old so he'll soon meet his dog-sister in a couple of weeks. I hope it goes well.. 

OHHHH they are adorable.  They look like my Felix.  How super cute!!!!