Dogs and Cats

I currently have a cat in my apartment (no dogs allowed) but when we move into our house, I'll be taking my tiny teacup maltese (who is smaller than the cat) from my dad's house. She can't stay there anymore.

I brought the dog to my apartment this weekend and I can see already that it's going to be a challenge getting the cat used to her.

Has anyone else brought a dog and cat together in the same house? Any tips ?

ETA: My dog is 8, but she's got the energy of a puppy and is just as tiny....she's four pounds. The cat is 2.

Message edited 11/27/2006 10:30:40 AM.

Re: Dogs and Cats

my DH's Aunt and my Aunt did. Both cases were where the dog was older (ie older than a puppy) and the cat was a kitten. Its important to not favor one over the other and to treat them as equals such as:

don't allow the cat to go on countertops if the dog cannot

both eat food from the floor and DON"T LEAVE IT OUT!

both sleep in a similar area

both go out into the yard at the same time

if one is allow on the couch, the other should be too

Its the same rules as having 2 kids or 2 dogs

to allow some playing (don't be too protective). They are animals and will work things out themselves. I also would do some research. There are some great websites as well as books about bring different animals together under 1 roof.

Re: Dogs and Cats

we have brought kitten in the house with dog and puppy into the house with cat. is your dog a puupy? In both cases that got used to each other and eventually slept together.

Re: Dogs and Cats

We had our cat first and than brought in 1 puppy and than another puppy a yr. later. At first it was a challenge, especially being cats are very territorial, but to be honest, my dogs now boss my cat around. If mjy dogs really piss my cat off though, she will go after them and give them a nice smack but then its over. My dogs are really more interested in being with DH and I anyway. The cat usually hangs out all day upstairs or by the window sleeping. All 3 animals even drink out of the same waterbowl with no problems. People are surprised when you have cats and dogs that get along, but it's works fine for us.

Message edited 11/27/2006 11:59:12 AM.

Re: Dogs and Cats

I have seen 3 instances of this - from growing up, my own cat and dog and my sister's cat and dog.

It takes a good year for them to get along. so don't give up!

don't let the dog eat the catfood - it's bad for their kidneys. cats will rarely eat dogfood since they are more finicky

give your cat a safe place to go (we had a closet, my parents' cat went under the couch and my sister's cat was in the closet)

Re: Dogs and Cats

When we first got our house, we got a dog from the animal shelter, an old alpha-female cat, and a kitten, all within about 3 months. For the first few days, we had the dog on the first floor with us, one cat on the 2nd floor, and the other in the basement (at least at night, so we could sleep! :) )

After the cats got along, I put a cat opening in one of the bedroom doors, so the cats could escape from the dog.

After the animals could tolerate each other, we enforced the cat's dominance over the dog. The dog is about 50lbs, and could easily eat the cats.... and he's really jealous sometimes. We've always maintained a pack mentality in the house. My DW is alpha (of course... ), I am beta, then come the kids, then the cats, and finally the dog. Since we've always enforced that hierarchy, everyone falls into place, and everyone is happy and healthy in the position.

Oh, yeah, the cat's food is out of reach of the dog and kids. The older cat used to eat the dog's food in front of him just to piss him off... :) I miss her....