Kitty and puppy introductions...help!

[s a r a h&h a r p e r]

Hi everyone! In 8 days we will be bringing home the newest member to our little family and I am a tad nervous on how I am going to go about introducing my new puppy with the current love of my life, Milo. He's almost 3, and is a rather large cat, weighing in at 14 lbs! He's a complete sweetheart around Zach and I and gets along well with other kitties, along with my parents 15 year old terrier. However, I have a feeling that things won't go so smoothly once he realizes that Harper won't just be a random fluffball passing through...

any tips or ideas on how to introduce the two and get them acquainted? I know it will take time and patience, but I just want to make the transition as pain-free as possible.

thanks!:)

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

We experienced the meeting of our kitty and doodle when they were both young. Our kitty, Timmy Parker was about 9 weeks and our doodle, Murphy was 16 months. We took Murphy with us to pick out our kitten at the animal shelter. We held Murphy still while the kitten was put on the floor. The kitten didn't show any signs of fear. It purred as it sniffed Murphy's feet. After we brought Timmy Parker home it was only a few days before they were rolling around on the floor together. That was six months ago that we introduced them and now they are family and best buds. They sleep, eat and play together.

I don't know if this will help you but it was my experience. I just had a feeling that they would be friends just by their personalities. We were surprised at how quickly they became good friends.

[Karol J.]

Is it possible to take an old tee shirt or towel to the breeders so it can get the "smell" of the puppies on it? Then you could introduce the shirt or towel to your home and your kitty before the puppy arrives. Then the puppy would at lease be a somewhat familiar smell.

[Kathy Wilson]

What do you do if one of your cats is elderly (19 yrs), the other is 8 and you're bringing in a puppy? What I'm worried about is puppy's sharp teeth and cats claws. Both could be a danger to the other. I don't plan on leaving them alone with each other in the house until they are fully used to each other, but still what's the best way to protect them? Have any of you dealt with this situation?

[s a r a h&h a r p e r]

Thank you both for your advice!

[Eva Markiewicz]

We are in a similar situation.  We have two male cats, brothers who we adopted from the humane society and are now 5 yrs old.  They are part maine coone, which is part of what makes them very laid back and social.  One is 20lbs - he's big in every way - looks more like a dog than a cat sometimes.  And his brother is 13 lbs, which I guess is big for a cat, but he's just long and muscular and not fat.

 

They've had a dog in their space before - a labradodle and they didn't freak out.  They were curious and in fact the dog was more apprehensive of them than they were of him.

 

After reading several articles online, we found two that seem two have particularly good recommendations:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_Cat.html

http://en.articlesgratuits.com/introducting-your-new-puppy-to-your-...

 

We're planning to try to stick to these recs and see how it goes.  I've also read that introducing a kitten to an existing dog in the family is much easier than introducing a puppy to an established cat because cats are territorial.  It seems like the most important thing is to gradually give the puppy more freedom in the house space-wise.  And that there should be some spaces set aside for cat-only use, so that they feel like they still have control of their space.

 

Serendipitously, we're moving in a couple weeks after the puppy comes, so we're hoping to establish new territories at the new place. 

 

Good luck and please anyone following this thread - let us know how our introductions turn out! =)  I keep hoping that they'll just become playmates - keep your fingers crossed for us!.