Moving with kitties and aquainting them to dogs

[td128]

Hello all,

I'm going to be moving next month and I have some concerns about traveling with the kitties. Tara HATES her carrier. Despite every trick known to man I've tried to get her to like it, she still howls and backs from corner to corner when she's in there. Should I give her anything for the road, some sort of anxiety meds or maybe even something to knock her out? Its a three hour drive, which would be the longest she's ever been in there, but I won't be able to be sitting near her since we'll be in a truck and there's no room in the cab for the carriers.

Also, the friend I'll be moving in with has a 4 month old Yorkshire Terrier puppy. I'm not sure how to go about introducing the girls to the puppy. I'm afraid the dog will bark at them, the girls will run and the dog will chase. Ideas?

Thanks.

 

[tuxedokitties]

I don't know about the long car drive, perhaps some Feliway spray in the carrier might help her?

Hopefully some others here who've gone through a long-distance move might be able to give ideas that have worked for them.

When you get to your destination, set aside a comfortable, quiet area where your cats can rest away from the chaos of moving, with their litterbox, food, water, and something familiar like their beds &/or scratching post. Make sure your roommate and any moving helpers understand it's important not to disturb the cats so they have a chance to calm down, and also so they don't accidentally escape & get lost. A Feliway Comfort Zone diffuser can be very helpful in calming cats in their new environment.

Here's a helpful article about introducing cats & dogs:Introducing Cats & Dogs (click here for article)

Since the puppy is young, hopefully it will adjust well to the cats, but even so, you'll want to be careful to never leave the cats & dog unsupervised together - put the dog or cats in a separate room when you aren't home, just to be safe.

Hopefully your friend already has the puppy in obedience training - that will help a lot too. Any dog who's going to be around cats needs a strong "leave it" (don't touch that!) and "settle" (lie down and calm down). Unfortunately a lot of people who have little dogs don't think they need to be trained because they can be easily physically restrained, which is sad because positive obedience training can be a great bonding experience, enriching the dog's relationship with the owner.

If your friend doesn't already have the pup in training, she should start ASAP - www.clickertraining.com has great info about some of the wonderful things that can be done with pets through clicker training.

hth

 

[td128]

I wasn't aware Feliway would help in situations like this. I'll definetly do that.

Yes, we already plan to set them up in the laundry room until everything is moved and then put them in my room for the first two weeks. Partly because little Drusilla is a door dasher and I do NOT want her accidentally getting out in a place where even I would be lost.

Sadly the little pup doesn't have much obedience yet because its terrified of the clicker. Whenever she clicks it, whether a treat is offered or not, the dogs ears go back, tail goes between its legs and it runs and hides. She doesn't have much experience training dogs, while I do, so she's gonna wait until I arrive and help them.

 

[ashleyjade]

Call your vet about the advice I'm about to give you, as I'm not one, but I am pretty sure that there is a kitty sedative out there that is safe, and effective, which will calm her down enough to make the trip. It will probably make life a lot easier.

Either way, call the vet and just talk to them, Im sure they have a good idea about what to do. There are tons of cats that have these problems and I'm sure they have a good, healthy, solution for you.

As for introducing cats and dogs, I have two suggestions. First of all, bathe everyone at the same time. Take some sort of body spray or perfume or cologn, and spray all the animals with it. Make sure it's something you can stand, as you'll be smelling it a lot. It makes everyone smell the same so there is no "this is my domain, look, i even smell like it!".

Another peice of advice, I have found that cats are notoriously dominate. A 4 month old yorkie looks like a play toy to your babies. I bet that if that tiny little dog gets in your kitty's faces, that they'll pop him across the nose, and that'll be the end of it, as the dog will go scamering off, and respect the cats from there on out. At least that's what happened when my cats had to go stay with my mom for 3 weeks, and I had to introduce them to her beagle (Which is much bigger than a yorkie, heheh)

Hope that helps =]

-Jade

 

[tuxedokitties]

If the pup is scared of the clicker, you don't have to use a regular clicker - anything that makes a consistently reproducible noise will work, such as a retractable pen - much quieter and less scary.

I hope the move & intro go well.