Introducing a new dog to a cat.?

Question

Ok, so I just got a 10 month old maltese boy a few days ago.
I let him loose so he can meet my cat, who's a year old and they were okay with it at first. After a day, the dog would chase the cat and bark at it everytime he saw her.
My cat's terrified of the dog now, and the dog won't stop chasing and barking at my cat. My cat's now in a separate room because she's too scared to come out.
I was wondering how do make them become friends? If that's even possible.

Answer 1

hi i think that since they had a bad start they arent going to get along SORRY

Answer 2

Introductions are supposed to happen slowly-- so both animals get a chance to get used to the idea of someone new on their turf/being the someone new.

I've had to introduce cats to cats & dogs to cats over the years, and this is what's worked best for me:

If you can, keep the animals seperate for a week or so. Allow them to sniff at each other under the door. You can also rub each animal down with a towel & then rub the towel on the other animal (so they get used to each other's smell & aren't "strangers" so much when they meet face-to-face),

When you're ready to introduce them, (since you're introducing a new dog to a cat) let the cat come up to the dog on it's own while the dog is on a leash. Hopefully your dog is trained & you're able to keep the dog from jumping/barking/acting up, since this will alarm the cat and will NOT help things-- you want everyone to be calm.

If that goes well, continue on without the leash -- but make sure you're always there to supervise, until you KNOW they'll be ok with each other.

You can also use treats while introducing the two, so that they associate good things (treats, in this case) with the other animal.

One main thing is to train your dog-- You don't want him forever chasing & barking at your cat. That will NOT help them get along. I don't think Maltese have a high herding tendency (I could be wrong?) so that's good.

Remember that it could take awhile (sometimes months) for animals to get used to each other. Since they already started off on the wrong foot, it might take longer than normal.

Answer 3

It is possible. But there is no guarantee they will be the best of friends. Try to do it slowly. Don't punish the cat cause you got a dog though. I had a pug and a cat at the same time. The cat was younger so he bugged the dog alot. They were able to be in the same room but my dog never liked the cat she just tolerated him. My cat started to think he was a dog though growling and everything! lol Don't leave them alone together until you are sure they will not hurt each other.

Answer 4

Your dog doesn't want to hurt the cat. The cat will figure that out pretty soon. Just leave them alone.
When I brought my first cat to meet my 2 dogs, she was terrified. She was an unusually timid cat, and was terrified for at least a week. She stayed in one room the whole time. I put a doggie gate which kept at least one dog out, but she still saw them. Of course she stayed out of their reach. By the end of 2 weeks she was no longer scared; she only ran because she didn't like them, but stood her ground when she wanted to. Within a month, she was putting her pheromones on the dogs. Now she signals them when she wants to be chased.