Cats & Dogs living together...

Just got a call from my mom. She asked me if I could come & get Barney, her dog!! So I'll be a cat-dog household now!

Barney's story:
March 2003, my aunt called my momma and asked her to please come & get her dog, Barney, a stray she'd taken in 6 months earlier. Barney is part Yorkie, part terrier & part 'something'. He'd followed my aunt home one day and she took him in.

Mom asked me on the phone, back in March '03, if I wanted Barney because she really didn't want a dog again. I said YES and came over to bring him home. By the time I'd gotten there, Mom fell in love with Barney. (I did too.) The pic below is of me holding Barney that day.

Now it's almost 3 years later... Barney has gained a "severe" amount of weight living with my mom; she fed him LOTS of table scraps --- cheese, Cheetos, meat galore, even candy!!! --- he went from a tiny 6 pounds (his true doggie weight) to 20 pounds.

I got real mad at my mom last summer... I told her, Barney will die from heart failure or some other horrible weight-related illness if you keep feeding him like that. Well that was mom for ya.

So; mom just called & said, come and get him today!!! SO I AM! I'm excited, I love this doggie and my new challenge will be exercising Barney so he can lose that weight. No more table scraps or junk food.

He gets along fine with my cats; he's a small dog, just fat. Actually he just adores cats (mom has 3 cats). My cats however will prolly rebel in some way...

I guess I am still in a wee bit of shock but I knew someday Barney would come live with me. He needs a big yard, and he didn't get out much to walk with my mom (she has bad knees).

I must be insane... I tell people "I have 6 cats" and I get really odd looks... now I have to add the addendum "... and 1 dog".

I'd like to see posts from anyone else who has a cat-dog household? Did you have cats first, then the dogs? Or dogs first? Any issues I should prepare for???

Mom tells me all the stories of Barney living with her cats; Barney tries to get romantic with Flash, her male cat (both are Neutered of course). I cannot imagine a scene where Barney will try to get romantic with Snickers, but I'll be sure to get pictures if that happens.

Aawww Congratulations!!! Barney is adorable. We have our dog Daisy and then got our cat, Stormy. But we only had Daisy for about 6 months before we got the cat. lol But they have been great together. Our biggest issue has been Daisy getting too rough and not listening to Stormy when shes meowing that its too much. But Daisy is getting better. They play all the time every single day. Its fun to watch.......Im sure your pets will adjust and love each other. Just take it slow and dont expect too much too fast. You might be keeping Barney separated for a bit and then slowly introduce him. Good Luck

I don't have a dog "yet" but I have three cats. Let me know how it works out for you and your cats!

I think my oldest cat would absolutely lose his mind if we got a dog

But we would like to get one someday

Well so far so good; we just took a nice long walk. Barney needs to lose some SERIOUS weight. He waddles, and really can't even bend his back legs. My mom is real bad about feeding animals human food.

Hammie remembers Barney from Christmastime... he keeps coming up to him & putting his arm around Barney's head and taking off. Barn is so fat he can't run as fast as Hammie, though.

I need to find a website on dog dieting. This is all sort of new to me.

Congratulations on bringing Barney home! What a cute little doggie!

I'll move this to Cats & Other Animals for you.

Barney is SO adorable.

Good luck getting the weight off of him, hopefully he will get used to his new diet.

We have 3 cats (one is 1 yr and the other two are 4-5 mo) and we just introduced a dog 3 weeks ago. I am so pleased - it went better than I could have ever imagined. Even though our cats hadn't ever been around a dog before, the dog had been around cats, so he didn't think they were a big deal at all, and I think that is the main reason it all went so well.

Awwww, he's a cutie!
Congrats

My 3 cats came first, then my dog, then I moved in with DH, who has a cat and a dog - in his house the dog came first, followed by the cat when he was just a kitten, so his cat thinks he's a dog.

Since you already know he likes cats, things should be OK, just make sure to give the cats plenty of attention, and that they have lots of places to go up high to get away from Barney if they're not feeling like they want to be around a dog.

And even if they all seem to get along famously, be sure to feed him away from the cats, to avoid any disputes over food - even a small dog can kill a cat if things go bad, so it's best to err on the side of caution.

When you can't be around to supervise, it's best to keep the dog in a separate room or crate away from the cats. Even though our cats and dogs all hang out together peacefully and there's never been any sign of problems, I still separate them when I'm not home just to be safe.

I'm glad you've taken him - it sounds like he was on his way to some serious health problems if you hadn't stepped in.

As for dog dieting, here are a few helpful tips. I personally believe diet foods are not the way to go, it is my belief that it is better to just give less of a regular adult dog food. I would start out with the amount that he was getting before, without all the goodies and monitor him and see if he starts to lose weight just by cutting out the goodies and getting exercise. If he doesn't, then start cutting back on the food a little as well. Also, you can add green beans to his food if he will eat it, it will make him feel fuller without giving a lot of unecessary calories. Plus you can use cut up carrots as treats that won't contibute to his weight gain, both of my dogs love them and thats all I use for treats. Good luck and congratulations!!

Yeah I sorta noticed the cats seem --- JEALOUS??? --- is it possible for a cat to be Jealous???

The cats are following me more than usual (they are people-cats anyways, most of them)... they are leaving Barney alone. He's on the sofa right now. He is so fat, he just lays around. I keep checking on him, he's sorta buried himself in my comforter but he seems just fine.

I told my daughter back in October, when I took Barney for Halloween --- (he's my Toto) --- he seems sad and lethargic. He just got really short walks with mom cuz of her knees, dad never helped. And well she fed him EVERYTHING.

She told me last night he had the diarrhea from eating too much MEATLOAF. I said, MOM, DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dogs are not supposed to eat that stuff! She said, "I know, Emmy keeps telling me to stop feeding Barney all that stuff..."

I was SO afraid (still am) that he was going to die of a heart attack. You shoulda seem him walking the hill here in our neighborhood earlier. He was panting. He's short-legged, just a squat lil guy --- and I think all that extra weight is hurting him. His legs or something.

But now, like I told mom, Barn's gonna live a long happy life & have lots of playmates. Mom may have spoiled him by giving him cheese & meatloaf & jumk food, but I'm gonna spoil him rotten with FUN & a good diet & exercise!

My daughter about leapt for joy -- she love Barn -- I told her I found a pet-friendly hotel for our trip on Spring Break. Can't wait! (altho I dread leaving my cats for 3 nights)



Here's Barn asleep on the sofa (Well he opened his eyes cuz of the red-eye reduction flashy thingy)

Ahhh....Barney is a cutie pie!! Sounds like you and your kids will get him back in shape in no time!!

I've had dogs and cats together for the better part of the last 16 years. I started with a single cat, got 2 dogs, then a few more cats, then a few more dogs, then lost some, then gained more.......and now I have to admit: 11 cats and 2 dogs (presently).

Jupiter and out dog Snoop (Snoop Dog - get it?!) are the same age but Jup was born to us and we got Snoop when they were both around 8wks.

I've found that the dog has mad, unrequited love for the cats whilst they just tolerate him.

Have pleanty of dog free rooms for your cats and loads of high surfaces for them to escape too.

It's been 8 months and Mav's only just accepting the dog whilst he and Ju are firm friends.

Good luck to you with your new pup, Barney is just precious. We had our cat first also before bringing our dog into the house. And yes, cats can be jealous! As another poster suggested, be sure to keep the cats in a dog free safety zone whenever you leave the house. Another suggestion regarding diet is to feed a good quality dog food with no preservatives. Best wishes for a long and happy life w/Barney.

Barney is just the biggest cutie! You're going to have lots of fun with him.
Good luck on his dieting, boy sounds like he really needs it.

BTW, you look totally different than I imagined! But you do have really dark eyes!

BTW, you look totally different than I imagined! But you do have really dark eyes!

That's funny... people usually think that since my handle is darkeyedgirl that I am a Goth!!! Nothing against Goths or anything. I am very pale & my eyes are just dark. That's all.

Barney's diet is going real well, I have really read my mom the riot act over the years. She refused to feed him dog food. ACTUAL REAL dog food. I am feeding him Kibbles & Bits canned --- just a little each feeding (2x per day), when the cats eat. He does not go NEAR the cat food --- simply because --- the cats are guarding their plates, and Barney the lil sweetie he is, he eats right near his blankey on the sofa. He loves his new food!

NO MORE TABLE SCRAPS!

And oh boy the walks... he's just thrilled! My daughter is leaping for joy. She always loved him, too.

We weighed him last night --- he is 17 pounds. Not 20 like I thought. He was 6 pounds (normal weight for his breed I think) when mom took him in 3 yrs ago. I really want to try to get him down to 8 pounds. I know 9 pounds sounds like a lot for a dog to lose, and I'm going to take it slow & exercise the little boog a lot. Either way he's one happy pup.

We're going to buy him a dog carseat today! Last time I had a carseat in my car it had a baby in it!

What a cutie Barney is ! I had my 4 cats before the 3 dogs came along. The only advice I can give you is to make sure that (if possible) the dog is restricted from some of the cats favorite rooms and that the cats have an "escape route" to get away from the dog. Our dogs aren't allowed upstairs so we installed baby gates that allow the cats to go under but not the dogs. Sometimes they'll sit behind the gates and just stare at the dogs You may also want to insure that Barney doesn't have access to the kitties food, water and litter boxes. I know .. spoiling all his fun ....

Well "week 1 of dog ownership" is going VERY well in my animal-ruled home.

Barney finally made it up the stairs --- he was so fat, he had trouble going up a normal flight of steps!!!! AWFUL!!! Anyways the other night Em & I were talking & we heard his lil collar jingle. He came up, got up onto her bed and stayed there the whole night. Emmy was just thrilled, she loves him to pieces and in the morning all I had to do was peek in and say, "Walk?" and Barney jumped down for his morning pee-pees!

Re: the cats having enough space --- I am lucky that I have a pretty good sized house. The basement is not finished, actually it's just a concrete playroom really, but it has 3 of the litter boxes & some water bowls down there. Barney is terrified of the basement steps; he has never gone down or up them. So, if the cats want time off from doggie, the can go there --- but ---

--- they are totally taken with him. Barn is just so quiet and timid, really the loudest mouth in my household is Hammie. Hammie makes way more noise than Barney ever could. And weirdly enough Zorro curls up with Barney on the sofa each evening with 'no problem'.

I bought a babygate from PetSmart, just in case I ever have to keep Barney in the family room or something, but really he listens so well I just say 'this way' and he follows, and stays put.

So far he's not touched the litter boxes; he never did, while living with my mom & her 3 cats. And he just knows to avoid the cats' plates; Snickers will not let Barney into the kitchen, the minute big fluffy Snickers comes strutting towards Barney, lil Barn waddles off fast as he can out of the room. So the dog knows who rules the house (the cats... )

Also regarding the diet, he's getting 2 walks every morning (I love the 6am walk ---- surely wakes me up in the morning) and 4 to 5 walks at night. We take some long walks, some short walks! He's got "dog friends" along each route, too. It's sweet. Barney has a crush on this big Golden Retriever that lives up in the circle, he pulls me towards her yard and just stares longingly at the house. I keep telling him it's not meant to be (she's too big & a tad older than him) but like I told Emmy, Barney's got eyes for that big gold girl!

Oh my gosh, this puppy is very lucky to have you to loose weight. Just remember, much like humans, the best way to get a dog to loose weight is through diet and exersize. Do you have a treadmil? Some dogs LOVE the treadmil. I know the family beagle growing up did.

Good luck with the puppy!

-Jade