Dogs with Cats

I was wondering how everyone elses cats interact with the dogs? My female cat will not leave the room we have blocked off for the cats if the dog is out. One male Tyson will scream if the dog even looks at him and if she walks by you would think he is being murdered which of course gets the dog excited and starts chasing him. Oliver my youngest couldnt care less about the dog most of the time but she will try to play with him and gets mad when he wont play she brings him all her toys and will lay there if he doesnt do anything she tries to wrestle with him (shes 60 lbs he is 10 lbs) so I try not to let them wrestle. How do your animals get along? 

Who is the newest family member and how long has he/she been a family member?  It can take a while.  It took a year for my three cats, used to and good friends with an older, gentle dog, to adjust to a new hooligan puppy.  Actually, the one who took the whole year was the one closest to the previous dog but in a year the pup matured and the cat decided he was not too bad after all.  Now they both sleep side by side on our bed with us.

Except for that one cat mentionned above (she is now 18) I now have four new cats as well, all live trapped in my backyard.  When my sister's dog stayed here for a week it took one of the cats two days to check her out, one four days, and the mother of those two took nearly the whole week before she'd even show her face.  I did make sure they had their safe places to run and hide and did not allow the visiting dog to chase.  

Now we have two ferals living outside in the backyard and one, after a year here, is so friendly with the dog he comes to him first each day to rub his head up against the dog and they lie close by each other out in the grass.  The other feral has been here four years and she still hides from the dog.  The all adjust at their own pace.  My experience is the cats and dog will learn to tolerate each other at worst and actually become good friends at best, but it can take time.

my dog is the newest member of the family. Oliver use to love her when they were both little (they are only 3 months apart) they would curl up together and sleep, they played all the time but when she hit her growth spert and became a 70 lb dog suddenly he wants nothing to do with her but he doesn't run he just refuses to play even though she will bring him her favorite toys and get on his level he still ignores her. As for Tyson he hates everything new (he was the first) it took about 2 weeks for him to except Ellie and about a month for him to except Oliver but even after 8 months  he screams at the top of his lungs whenever she gets close to him. I'm not surprised that Ellie hates the dog it took her 9 months to except Oliver and even then she just tolerates him she will attack him when he gets to close but she is getting better she just hides from the dog till the dog is in her kennel. I really just want a peaceful house where my animal get along and not having to yell at the dog for chasing Tyson because him screaming gets her hyper or having to keep baby gates up so the cats have a dog free zone (which is really annoying to jump over a gate 50 times a day) 

Well, our baby gates are still up because the oldest cat needs special food, which of course she likes to nibble at, so the dog is prevented from reaching the food with the gates.  BUT, my OH made all our gates and they open and close easily and it's not a problem for us to enter and exit gated rooms.  The dog is eight years old now and here we are, still needing the gates.  If you know someone handy maybe this would be an option.  TWo of our gates are old crib sides I found put out for our community's large item pick up and they were free.  They are not as sturdy as the home made from scratch ones but the dog heeds them.  Good luck, it may take some time.

We were very fortunate, we had our german shepherd/collie mix first and then we adopted our torbie cat, Neely.  Both are now gone but they got along famously.  We introduced the cat to our dog while he was on leash but she took one look at him as if to say, "move over dog, I'm here and in charge!"   Neely went right up to our dog's water bowl and drank without hesitation.  Being a herding breed we were initially very concerned about the dog's interaction but they were best buds.  Neely would sometimes sleep in our dog's crate and he would sleep outside of it.   Obviously we watched them very closely at first but after awhile we had no worries.  In fact, when the dog passed away Neely was lonely and missed him greatly.   I'm sure every cat and dog are different and as others have said it just takes time.  Good luck!

I have 3 cats and we recently adopted a 3 year old Great Dane mama. She was a breeder at her previous home but she had never been around any cats before. For the first month most of the interactions were my cats hissing at her and her looking very confused. Eventually they got used to her and stopped hissing. My oldest cat acts like she doesnt exists. My middle (and usually smartest) avoids her. My youngest will lay with her and hang out with her but they dont exactly cuddle. They compete for attention. Overall they coexist peacefully.
It was a VERY stressful first month because worrying about how a 160 lb dog will react to a cat hissing or batting at her is terrifying. She did wonderfully though. I think because she had puppies she was good at knowing how to handle things smaller than her.

Now my biggest problems are keeping her out of the litterbox (eww) and finding a gate option that she cant knock over for the kitchen!

Also -
My great dane and my youngest cat

Just over a year ago we thought this cat was feral.  He has since made it plain he wants to come in, has been spending the dangerous night times inside this past week and he thinks our dog is pretty nice.  

Aww!!! They match!!! Thats sooo adorable!!

I take in cats and dogs all the time that are dumped and it is non-negotiable that everyone get along.  That includes my two free-range chickens that I let wander the yard. 

When these animals show up or I take them in, I have no idea what their experience is with other cats or dogs so the first thing I do is introduce the dogs to one another while the dogs are all on leashes.  We take a walk around the yard with me talking to, treating and acting like the new dog has been here forever in front of the other dogs.  I watch my other dogs to make sure they are not showing any signs of aggression, while giving them praise and attention for being a good girl/boy, keeping everything happy and calm, like just another day. 

For cat introductions, I go outside where there is plenty of room, and keeping the dog on a leash, usually with someone else helping, I squat down near the dog so he/she is close enough to not be distracted by other things, but a safe enough distance that if they do lunge or pull on the leash unexpectedly towards the cat, it has time to get out of the way.  I will just sit and pet and talk to the cat, just like I do the dogs.  Baby voice or whatever.  I let the dog see that the cat is part of the "pack" and will also, if the dog is staying calm, pet him/her as well with my other hand, to show everyone that they are both good girls/boys and equal in my eyes.    IF the dog acts aggressive or too interested in the cat, I will give it a firm 'No!" and continue petting the cat and calmly and deliberately showing the dog that the cat is cool.  Eventually the dog will become disinterested in the cat.  It really doesn't take very long.  For the next week or so, I keep a close eye on the new dog and with cat interactions, especially keeping cats away from food bowls during feeding time, and make sure there are no problems and if the dog seems too interested or wants to chase the cat, I immediately interfere and tell them 'No!'.  One particular dog I have, which I have no idea what his breed is, I taught the phrase "leave it" to, so he knows to abandon the situation entirely.  He came as a young dog and just very gung ho about everything.  Telling him "No!" would only temporarily stop him from running up to them and frightening them, but he still wanted to approach them and smell them and stuff and the cats were not thrilled to have a rambunctious 60 lb. pup with a big head and very large feet, inches away from them, loudly sniffing them up and down.

Anyway, I've done this for years on old dogs, new dogs, all breeds and sexes, including dogs with strong hunting/chasing instincts and not overly cat friendly breeds, including a pit bull mix, a husky, a coonhound and currently with my latest rescue, a jack russell terrier who are very prone to chasing things.  The JRT has been the hardest to train by far, but she's also young and just has so much energy and loves to run and play and chase and has just taken some extra time to learn that chickens and cats don't like to be chased.     

I have also taught my indoor dogs (a lab and the JRT) that the cat's food is off limits.  The cat's have their own room (the utility room) with their food, water and litter box.  The dogs are not allowed in there.  It took more training with the JRT, but she now knows that she is not to go in that room and definitely not eat the cat food.  With six cats, I always have food sitting out, either the dry or soft, so there is always temptation, but like all training, being firm and consistent are the key. 

I mostly attribute my success with having a well-behaved and peaceful interspecies household to showing all the animals that I am the pack leader and will not let anyone be hateful to anyone else.  I react to situations where there is tension calmly and firmly and am proactive when I see a situation that may cause trouble (i.e. a cat going near an eating dog).  My house isn't loud or chaotic and I think that definitely helps too.  Animals will feed off your emotion.  For example, my chickens will go into the garage when I am feeding the dogs, wanting food too as that's also where I keep their chicken food.  Obviously, I don't want chicken poop in my garage, so I will gently and calmly usher them out as I say "out" (our universal term around here for everyone).  My dogs are watching, so I don't want to chase them or make them run or flap or cause any sort of commotion, because that will cause the chase instinct to kick in.  Instead, because I stay calm and the chickens stay calm, they are able to walk back outside by the dogs and cats without anyone even giving them a second look.

It seems to me that it can depend on each animal's personality also.  A few years ago I had a gray tabby I named Pixie (really, Pixel, for her size) that I adopted as an eensy kitten.  I brought her into my home with an adult female cat.  The older cat never liked poor Pixie.  When my older cat went to the Rainbow bridge, and I married my husband his cat also lorded it over poor Pixie.  There were no fights, just...  psychological cat games... you guys know what I mean?  Intimidation and such that cats do to each other.  So anyway Pixie just learned that the whole world was against her except for human  mom and dad.  So when we adopted our greyhound, she was also very timid with them.  They never hurt or bullied her, but she was always rather afraid of them.

Fast forward a few years after her passing and we wanted another kitty.  We checked local rescues and asked for an adult cat that was comfortable with dogs.  We found our Sweetie Pie, named for her iced-sugar cookie personality, and brought her home.  She's not only okay with our hounds, she almost acts like she thinks she's one.  She plays with their tails when they're laying down and they tolerate it.  She sometimes shares Capri's bed, which has always been a huge no-no, but Capri tolerates that also.  Any day now we think we'll stumble into a room and find them actually cuddling!

I think that an adult female dog (from a cat friendly breed), and a kitten would get along well during their lifetimes. They would be "meowmy" and "puppy" :-)

I have two dogs and two cats and they all get along just fine...sort of. I got my dogs WAY before I got my cats. So, my first cat already was use to dogs and showed no fear. I was actually worried about how my dogs will deal with my knew kitten. My cat was 10 weeks at the time. Anyway, my now cat Sebastian stood up for himself and swatted at my dogs only once she and they quickly on the message. So, my two dogs and Sebastian got along jus fine. He is a year now.

On July 8th, I got a three, nearly month old female named Inari. My dogs where completely unfazed by her. They sniffed her and was like, "Well, we have seen one of those before." Inari was the one hissing a bit at them. She has seen dogs before too. My cats and dogs live in harmony. The only ones having issues are my cats. :'(

I had two 80+lb shepherd/lab/whatever mix dogs who were 7 and 9 years old when we were on a walk and found Mookie cat.  My naughty dogs chased squirrels and unfortunately cats so when I found Mookie and she was bleeding and meowing in the snow, I just couldn't leave her so I took her to a vet and after stitches, I decided to take her home until she mended before taking her to a shelter.  I was so afraid my dogs would kill her that I kept her in a kennel at night.  The vet said she was around a year old and when I got her out of the kennel the dogs came to sniff her and she didn't seem scared at all of these big dogs looming over her.  I think she was so grateful to be out of pain and fed (she was very skinny) but then Ozzy put her whole head in his mouth!  I told him no, and showed him that I loved the kitty.  I had no intentions of keeping her because I just knew I would wake up one day to find a dead cat.  But within a few days the dogs just accepted her.

She LOVED them.  Followed them around, rubbed against them, slept with them.  They mostly ignored her but every once in a while, they would lick her.  She followed us on our walks every step of the way.  She was just crazy over her dogs for the next 8 years.

As Bandit turned 17, he became blind and deaf and for several days Mookie wouldn't leave his side.  It was as if she knew it was his time. Then he passed away and Mookie seriously seemed to be trying to comfort Ozzy.

A year later Ozzy was diagnosed with CHF and on our walks his breathing started to get labored and Mookie would turn around and hiss and bat at him.  Craziest thing I ever saw.  She never hissed or tried to scratch the dogs before and she only did this when we were on our walks.  Again, I think she knew.  So when she started to stay next to Ozzy all hours of the day, I had a sinking feeling. And then Ozzy stopped eating and stopped urinating and I made that heartbreaking decision to have a vet come to my house and put him to sleep.

Mookie is an outdoor cat who only comes in to eat, get some love and back out she goes but for a week after Ozzy passed away, she would not leave my side.

What a beautiful story and heart warming picture of those two.   Best buddies, forever.

I love when cats and dogs get along.  One of my best friends has a black lab mix and a patch tabby.  They sleep together on the couch and cuddle together in the dog bed, it's the cutest.  Franklin the dog was about 8 years old before he met a cat, and he had no problem taking to the addition of a cat to the household.  Oscar the cat was a kitten and was never afraid of the dog.

Here's a picture of them:


Oscar the patch tabby and Franklin the dog.

Labs and Golden Retreivers are "angels". Very good dogs, and everybody's friends.

I'm a first time dog owner so I was worried about how it was going to work when I brought kittens home. I have a 110 pound Labradoodle and he is not very gentle. We carefully watched their interactions at first and taught him how he can't use his weight with them and now they get along great. It is so cute to see them playing, the cats batting and my Doodle just licking them all over and pushing them around with his nose. My older cats did not respond well when I got the dog...they are still not over it 8 months later.

Nice conversation! I am the owner at PDSC center. If there is question related to emotional support animals you can freely asks.