New kitty afraid of the three dogs already in household, help?

Question

ONLY SERIOUS ANSWERS PLEASE! I'm asking this question for someone else - my kitty, who gives out advice on his website, would like to see if you have any useful suggestions!
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Good afternoon Sacha,

I figured I would write an expert. Ok here goes, we adopted a 10-month-old kitty about 2 months ago, we also have 3 labs. We did the usual meet and greet, kept Kit Kat separated so they would get the smell of each other, introduced gradually, and controlled meetings supervised visits... etc... Kit Kat has refuge in my children's room, he still continues to want to have nothing to do with the dog, he gives them the swat with the paw every single chance he gets, he seems to be afraid but will throw first paw every time, he hides under the bed. He walks and stalks the house when all are sleeping, LOL.

So how would you purpose to help the process of peace in the house. Any and all suggestions kindly appreciated,

-- Susan's "zoo"

Answer 1

You've done the introductions properly, so it's probably just that this cat has either never been around dogs, or he may have had a bad experience with a dog at one point in time that frightened him. He will probably come around, it will just take some more time. There are some things you can do that may help, though:

Make sure Kit Kat has plenty of places that he can consider his own safe territory, out of reach of the dogs: tall cat trees and shelves are great, and cat condos are good, so long as the dogs understand that the cat condos are off-limits and not to bother the cat in there. If he has safe spaces that are his territory that the dogs can't get to, he'll feel more secure and not have to worry so much about putting the dogs in their place by slapping at them.

If your dogs have a solid 'leave it' and 'stay' and are not food-possessive, you can use that to your advantage:

Put the dogs in a down-stay so they won't be as threatening to him, and let the cat wander around the room - whenever he approaches a dog, give him a favorite treat and some pets (it wouldn't hurt to give the dogs a treat too, so they associate his presence with treats, for putting up with all the slapping!). If he likes brushing or petting, have a nice long session with him near a dog in a down-stay - do it at a distance from the dog where he's aware of the dog, but not so close that he seems uncomfortable and is not able to enjoy the petting, and work on gradually decreasing the distance over time. You can also try carrying cat treats on your person in a dog-treat waist bag, and giving him treats randomly throughout the day whenever he gets near a dog.

Best wishes!

Answer 2

As you probably know, it's very unlikely that your new kitty shared a household with doggies before. It will definitely take him some time to get used to those big creatures!
I know that most Labs are gentle dogs who seem to get along well with cats, but kitty just isn't accustomed to them. I dog-sit for my "grand dog" on occasion, a tiny Maltese who is outweighed by each and every one of my cats; nonetheless, my cat Pepper Ann hid from her the first several times she was here.
It's important that you not allow the dogs to rough-house with the new kitty, and to provide her with a tall cat perch that she can take refuge on top of if the dogs get a bit rowdy. But I really think that all KitKat needs is more time to realize that cats and dogs can indeed be friends!

Answer 3

You can't blame the poor kitty for being frightened. Three dogs versus one kitten is quite the scary thing. My suggestion might be to get another cat. This will encourage your kitty to be more playful and also give him a buddy for security.

Answer 4

He will eventually be brave and become the boss of the dogs...
Good Luck!