how do my husband and i introduce our new cat to our 2 big dogs?

Question

we really love cat's too. and wene i say our dogs are big, i mean BIG! they weigh like, 90 plus- they are really friendly dog's too.

Answer 1

do the big dog like cats or no if they do brigh the cat insite of the house and let them get along if not i dont know what to say

Answer 2

Bring the cat into the house in a secure cat carrier. This way they can check each other out with out being in contact. See how the dogs react. After awhile, are they still growling and trying to bite the cage? If not then slowly get the cat out and hold it and let the animals meet each other at close range.
Remember the cat will claw you if it gets too scared..so be careful. If things are going good then put the cat down and see how the dogs relate to it. Sometimes the dogs will get used to the new member of the household IF they realize they will still get attention. On the other hand one may decide to eliminate the competition. No way to tell until you try it.

Answer 3

Big and friendly dogs to humans does not necessarily mean big and friend to cats! My girlfriend has a Bernese Mountain Dog and he was terrified of cats. Another friend has a Doberman that thinks cats are tasty! So here are some caveats:

1. Herding dogs and cats do not mix - cats hate to be herded and herding dogs like border collies & shepherds cannot help themselves.

2. Some hunting dogs like pointers and hounds do not do well with cats. If your dogs chase and/or terrorize all the bunnies and squirrels in the neighborhood, you probably shouldn't get a cat.

3. Care should be exercised with notorious breeds like Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, Chow Chows, Akitas and Dobermans. (Mind you, I love these breeds but they are remarkably capable of fatal damage to a cat.)

That said, I assume you guys know your dogs and how they behave around other non-canine animals. In that case, GET A KITTEN! Kittens are adaptable. Kittens are non-threatening. Kittens are foolish and don't know that a dog could be a killer. The introduction should be gradual and supervised. Your kitten should ALWAYS have an escape route be it vertical or horizontal. NEVER, put your kitten in a position where it could be cornered by the dogs. And always supervise the interactions until you are 100% confident of their peaceful coexistence. If your kitten hisses and growls, do NOT intervene. This is completely normal communication and it's important to allow your kitten to assert himself and establish his place in this new territory. The only time you should intervene is when there is physical contact. And when that happens, always remove the aggressor, never the target. Cats can do quite a bit of damage with their claws and you don't want the dogs to fear the cat...you want them all to be buddies. At the same time, you don't want the dogs to treat the cat as a squeak toy either! You can't go wrong with a kitten. If you are truly the alpha in your pack, your dogs will follow your lead. And if you treat that kitten as one of your own, they will love it and protect it just like they do you. Good luck!

Answer 4

You need to do a slow introduction. Place a couple of baby gates in an opening to a room. Place the dog on one side and the cat on the other. Let them be able to see each other. Dogs are easier than cats at this. When your dog stops barking or growling at the cat treat and praise. Once they are able to look at each other through the gates without hissing or barking you can go to the next step. Have a friend sit with your cat on his/her lap on the couch. Make sure the cat is comfortable and relaxed. Place your dog on a lead and stand at the entrance to the room. Let the dog and cat see each other at a comfortable distance. If everything goes calmly, praise your dog ad take one step closer with the dog. If the dog or cat react badly, remove the dog and start again 30mins later. You should be able to slowly take steps closer to the cat every time. This will take a few days. Every time you should enter the room with your dog, (on the lead), and take a step closer. You should always wait and be relaxed for at least 10 - 15mins each time. Using a chair to sit on will help, and slowly move the chair closer to the cat. Soon you will have both the cat and the dog sitting next to each other comfortably. This takes time and patience.

Answer 5

To intoduce the cat you may want to put it in a room all by itself for one whole day (say a bathroom or bedroom) and while its in there go in a pet it, and let your dogs smell you, so they are not surpised at the sent. Let them sniff at the door and get used to the smell too. Then bring the cat out in a carrier and place it in another room and allow the dogs to sniff and look in. (be ready for lots of hissing and growling. Also maybe some barking.) After a few short mins place the cat back in the room and let it calm down for a few hours. Put your dogs outside and open the door to the room and give the new cat the option of roaming around the house while the dogs are outside for a good while(maybe a few hours) Then let one dog in. After a few mins let the other dog in. You will have fights, and you may have several months to wait untill all the animals can fully adjust to each other, but no fear they will! Dont worry if you hear lots of growling or hissing. This will happen. Just make sure to keep your dogs under control! Give them their very favorite chew toy, maybe keep them on a lesh for a few days to "train" them not to chase and to ignore the new cat. Soon they will learn to live together!

Answer 6

From one of my previous posts...

First and foremost...DO NOT LEAVE BOTH ANIMALS ALONE WITH EACHOTHER. This will create the animals to either fear eachother or show more aggression in them. I had to research this myself.

First you should put the cat alone in one room for a week with the door closed, preferably one that the dogs has been in alot so that the cat can get used to the new surroundings and of a dog smell. Then when feeding the cat and dog, either have the door open a crack or you can put a gate up and put the food dishes on opposite sides of the gate so that way both animals would be in front of each other while eatting. Animals eatting in front of each other shows the confort level they have. I would keep them separated for at least 1 to 2 weeks. After the first week I left the door open and put the gate up so that way they can get used to each other without the possibility of hurting each other and building up aggression towards eachother.

Once you feel that all animals are confortable around eachother through the gate where the dogs are not pouncing at the gate to get through or the cat isn't running away when it sees the dogs, you should put the dog on a leash (I would definitely try it with one dog at a time) and let the cat out. Hold on to the leash. If your dog is trained, put him in the sit position. If not, keep the leash short and the dog by your side. Let the cat move around and whenever you see the dog pull the leash to chase the cat, tell him no and get him in the sit position and give him a treat. Keep doing this. Try this out for a week until you see the cat feels confortable enough to get close to the dog and the dog knows not to chase or attack. After doing this for about a week, for short periods of time you can try having the dogs and cat with free roam around each other and see how it goes. If at this point it doesn't work, you may have to go back to the first step of keeping them separate between the gate.

I did all of the above after first making the mistake of letting the dog and cat being around each other first and found out that wasn't the way to go. Both animals just kept fighting and the cat was scared and wouldn't move around. After about 2 weeks both animals room around my apartment freely with no problems. They actually like playing with each other now and can even sleep on my bed together without going crazy. Just remember, both animals don't have to like eachother, they just have to learn to live with eachother.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

I put the cat in a super sized dog kennel with a litter box inside. Then I leave the cat in the kennel and allow the dogs to get used to it as well as the cat used to where it will be fed and live. They do their love hate act for awhile and I scold the dogs if they don't behave properly. Eventually, open the door to the kennel and the cat will sneak back in for water and food. Everybody becomes friends and it works out.

Answer 8

Before my new baby Bichon arrived, I told my older Bichon that we were having a new baby come. It would be his baby. Everday and throughout the day I made sure he knew his baby was coming. For example, I would count down the days to him..."In 4 more days your baby is coming. So that means you have to be a big boy and be gentle with her. No more play biting, cuz you can hurt the baby. You need to be very careful and look out for her." And the morning I was to pick her up, I told him today was the day (the whole shpeel) I was picking his baby up. Well it's been 2 weeks and he has turned into the baby's mother. He has been a mother hen to her. Praise the lord, we have not had any problems what so ever! The first week I was right there to make sure he could be trusted.

Answer 9

you're best bet is to find a room or area where the dogs cannot access, but that the cat can come out if she wants. we went through the same situation... we put our cat upstairs with her food and water so she could get comfortable up there with her new surroundings first. we went up there several times a day to check on her... and slowly she began coming down the stairs, it took her probably about 3 weeks before she would come down with the dogs, but now she plays with them like they grew up together.

you have to remember that a new cat will be not only scared of the dogs, but also scared of her new surroundings...it will take time...but you just have to let the process happen slowly

Answer 10

Lock the dogs up for a day, and let the cat roam the house.

Next day, lock the cat up, and let the dogs run the house.

The next day, let all the animals run the house, but be wary... The dogs may growl. The cat may growl. They may fight, but as long as no one is biting, or bleeding, let them be.