Introducing a new puppy to cats

[Missi]

I pick up my new puppy, Lizzie Louise, on January 30th. I will be bringing her home to my two adult cats and 2 turtles. I am worried about the introductions to the cats. They are both declawed, so don't have the ability to "fight" back. One is a very friendly 3 yr old tabby, but I have never seen him around dogs. They other is an 8 yr siamese, who is very skittish around dogs and people.

Do you experienced puppy-people have any suggestions for the introductions and first days at home?

Thank you!

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

Hi. Well, when we brought home Abby, the cats were curious and checked her all out, but Abby was a little puppy then. Two months later, they still aren't buddies because Abby wants to play and chases them. (Mine have their claws) And she has gotten batted in the face lots of times, but still she goes back for more. My 2 boys (cats) just stay away from her for the most part.- and eventually they will all be able to live peacefully. Our cats have full run of the house - Abby on the other hand, mostly stays on the main level of our 3 level house. Works out better for training her and such. Abby is also crate trained which helps - the cats could check her out while she was in her crate without feeling threatened. My boys had never been around a dog before but have adjusted really well. One cat takes the abuse and then runs away - my other cat will chase the dog and then run the other way. It's comical. The pup will learn respect for her "soon-to-be" feline friends. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They will be co-existing before you know it.

[bonnie Sullivan]

Our Louie is 7 months old, and mercilessly chases our 14 year old cat. The cat taunts him too, so they are both at fault. We now have Louie drag a leash around most of the time the cat is around, so we can catch him and tell him "leave it, etc." There is a glimmer of hope with them getting along, but I suspect Louie will have to get much older and not be as interested in chasing. Not sure when that will be. So if you end up having trouble catching your pup, I'd suggest the leash method. Good Luck.

[sandy b]

I'm having the same problems with Max now 6 months old. Our cat is 13 yrs old and was the only pet for about a year and then Max came into our lives. What a shock. She is not a friendly cat and wants nothing to do with him. He on the other hand wants to play - from day 1. We've tried treats to get his attention, sometimes works but mostly doesn't. I try to get them together, holding him but she swats & hisses at him which then triggers him to bark and jump and get all excited. Again, I try the treats but as soon as the treats are gone he wants at her. I thought it would get better but is only getting worse. Any suggestions? We also keep him on a leash inside, easier to catch!!

[Linda Flanders]

Hi, Sadie is 4 months and drives us crazy chasing our cat(who got along great with our last dog). The cat also only has 3 legs but, gets around just fine. We also use the leash method if she doesn't back off when we tell her to stop and she has had a few time-outs in her crate(10-15 min). Of course the cat also tempts her occasionally just to start a ruckus!! Good Luck with your new puppy. Linda

[bonnie Sullivan]

I checked with my trainer and she had no real suggestions. Also checked with another trainer- I honestly don't think it will get any better until Louie gets older- probably much older. It is very frustrating and aggravating to not have peace in the house. When the cat is outside, Louie is calm and wonderful in the house, but as soon as the cat comes in, all @&! breaks loose. At least once summer comes, the cat can spend more time outside. Our cat also got along just fine with all our other dogs. If anyone has any real experience with this, I'd love to hear at what age your dog finally stopped chasing your cat.

[Missi]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I pick lizzie up this week, so hopefully it will go well. I'll keep everyone updated.

[Jennie]

We had the same type of situation with our cats - one friendly, one skittish. Lucy (5.5 mos) still chases them, but not nearly as much. I started training Lucy in our kitchen with meat - the friendly cat would always come around for this so I decided to teach Lucy to "leave it". We started by just saying her name and using a clicker, would click and treat whenever she looked at us. Then we would wait longer and longer before clicking and treating. Within a day or so, Lucy would look away from the cat and look at me when I said her name (while we were training). Soon, I wouldn't say her name, but say "leave it" when the cat walked by and I'd click and treat Lucy immediately upon looking away from the cat. I would continue to either click and treat or say "yes" and treat the longer she continued to look at me.

We still have a ways to go. I'm a fairly firm believer in keeping your puppy leashed to you and then loose, but still leashed for quite awhile. If you don't have verbal control of your dog, you have to be able to have physical control. Otherwise, you tend to lose the moment if you have to chase the puppy around to correct her (their favorite game, btw).

good luck and enjoy the new puppy!!

Oh, btw, my skittish cat? She's now on prozac.

[Missi]

Prozac, really? Does it help? My skittish cat is never happy and is always fearful, even when nothing has changed! I've had her since she was 5 wks old, and she's always been this way.

[Azure & Muppet]

I also have pretty much the same problem. We have a 7 year old cat that has always been very good around dogs. He got along wonderfully with our last dog. We've also had many dogs in our home through fostering and dog-sitting for family and friends and our cat has done fine with all the dogs we've had in our home previously. We just got a new puppy this summer and he won't leave the cat alone. He always wants to chase and play with the cat whenever he sees him, but the cat is not interested. The cat never initiates, only tries to get away when the dog goes after him. The problem isn't the cat, it is definitely the puppy. We've been working on it since day one, teaching and reinforcing "leave it" and using the lead to stop him if he doesn't comply with a verbal command. The puppy is now 4 months old and we've been dealing with this for 2 months without much progress. I also asked our dog trainer for help, but she didn't have any useful suggestions. I don't know if it will get better with time as the puppy grows older, but I sure hope it does. I would really appreciate any help or advice from someone with experience in this area. Thanks!!