The Cat, the Pug and the Neapolitan Mastiff

Hello Everyone,

We have an 11 month old male Pug and will be adopting a female Neapolitan Mastiff in a few months. We would really like to have a cat too and we have our hearts set on a Ragdoll or Siamese.
What are your thoughts on how these cats are with dogs generally?
Also would you say it would be better to go for a male or female cat?
Do you think the cat'll be alright as one cat with two dogs?

Our Pug a.k.a. Fu is very loving and sweet but is very excitable and plays a little rough. The Neapolitan Mastiff will be very young when she joins us so I believe she'll be OK since she'll grow up with the other little ones.

Any thoughts you can share would be great,
Thanks in advance,
P.

If you can I would advise getting them all together, that way they can grow up together. Animals form stronger bonds when they are introduced at a young age. I don't think the sex will matter in any of them, especially if they are young. As long as the cat has an outgoing attitude, he/she will be fine with the 2 dogs I would'nt bring a shy cat in with 2 dogs.

I would recommend adopting a cat that has been around other dogs. I know you mentioned certain breeds of interest..but if you go to an adoption agency, I recommend that you also take Fu with you. Why?? Because I recommend doing a dog test to ensure that Fu understands when the cat wants to be left alone..you also can then see how the cat will initially react to Fu (some cats have no issues, others hiss and swat). I would also ask for a "trial" period to make sure everything is working out.

Katie

My beloved bf has two cats both female, one 12 and the other 11.
They have actuallly seen and been around one dog before and they first just slapped him around then ignored him.
I took Mr. Fu over there and he just wanted to play like crazy. I kept him on the leash the whole time and he just wanted to jump on the cats and tumble around. The ladies were not amused and were actually quite scared.

Should I just stick with it and keep Fu socializing with the cats for short periods of time every now and then or leave the girls alone, save them the trauma, as they are quite old and don't want to play at all?

If the cat in question are 11 and 12 yrs old ... I would advise letting them go to a more peaceful home... I know my Kandie who has been with a dog or two since day one was less than thrilled when I brought my yorkie home ... Kandie was nearly thirteen and Gigi my yorkie was three .... I would suggest getting everyone together too ... and make sure except everyone is within a yr of each other..

The older cats'll be living with my bf's mother, not with us. I just wanted to get Fu to be around cats a bit more.

I imagine all three will be nearly within a year of each other since Fu'zilla is 11 months now and we'll be getting the Neo and the cat in a few months. We're going to try to get them as young as we can so they can grow up together.

I've seen pics of the Neapolitan Mastiff - that's no small dog! You may want to get a cat from one of the large breeds.