Introducing new puppy to a "Snooty, Owns The House" type cat?

TequilaMockingBird

The cat is about 5, the puppy should be here in about 3 days.

The cat is very much The Boss, she doesn't like anything new, sleeps on my pillow beside me - if it suits her, freaks if I pick her up to stroke her, I am (in her opinion) very much her servant.

I brought a little puppy to the house and I thought she was going to keel over, she developed a mohican out of fear/anger/stress. I was so careful to do it gently, I sat down and kept the puppy safe with me, and petted the cat, used the usual soothing words etc, but I think the cat is still in shock at the CHEEK of me bringing that THING in..

How the heck do I get her to accept the new puppy?

The Sweeper

A puppy will be a lot easier than an adult dog. The puppy is friendly and curious but assumes he's bottom of the pecking order - which is good, because she'll assume that too.

First introduction with a dog and a cat it's a good idea to put the cat up somewhere high - put her on a table so she can look down upon the dog - and whatever you do don't let the dog get its front paws on the table (not a problem with a puppy I assume).

It'll take time - the two most important things are that you never give out to her for bailing up the puppy (which she will do at some point, and it's an important lesson for him to learn too) and that you don't oust her from her favourite spot in favour of the puppy - so if she usually sleeps on your pillow, then she needs to be allowed to keep doing that while the pup is cordoned off down in the kitchen with his warm bed and his newspapers.

Manage all introductions carefully the same way you already have been. Reassure the cat and if she becomes stressed, remove the puppy and come back to reassure her.

You can try transferring scent between them - get a clean cloth and dampen it with some warm water. Rub it against the cat's fur, and then go rub the puppy with the cloth. Then back to the cat again, and rub her with the puppified cloth.

Give the cat something that smells of the pup - so put an old towel in the pup's bed for a couple of days, then set it up somewhere that the cat likes to sleep. Make sure you're there the first time she encounters it so she doesn't feel threatened, and stroke and reassure her while she sniffs it over. If she sleeps on it, excellent. If it upsets her, take it away and calm her down and then try again later when she's chilled out.

Set up 'bunkers' in the house for both animal, where the other animal will never be allowed to go until they're comfortable with each other. If you want to keep the puppy in the kitchen and you normally feed and water the cat in the kitchen and she enters and exits the house through the kitchen, you're going to need to rethink either her feeding and house access, or where you're putting the puppy.

Is she an indoor cat or in at night only, or in and out as she pleases? If she has access to the outside it can present a problem - if she gets pissed off she may just nick off, go live with the neighbours, or worse for you nick off and you'll just never know what happened to her. To ensure she continues to come home in this situation, make sure you make a big fuss of her when she does get back, and throw her favourite food in every so often (but not exclusively or she'll never eat anything else again).

If you're changing the routine of the house - e.g. if pup has to be in the kitchen and that's where kitty usually eats and drinks, you need to change her routine now, today, before the pup gets there. Close off the kitchen and don't allow her into it. Put her food and water somewhere else (pick a spot carefully, you don't want to change it again when the pup arrives) and move her litter tray somewhere quiet. Set her up with a sanctuary - a safety pup-free zone. Do the same for the puppy when it arrives so it has a space in which it feels safe from the aggressive and annoyed dominant animal.

You can buy a product called a Feliway Diffuser - a plug-in scent diffuser, like an air freshener - except it diffuses synthetically replicated feline facial scents, that cats associate with happy and calm behaviour. The plug-in lasts for one month, you'll smell nothing, and it works best in a small room - so wherever you set up her sanctuary, you can plug in one of those too.

Most of all, take your time. They'll adjust eventually. The cat may never grow to love the pup, but she may get to the point where she tolerates him. She can grow to like him if she never feels threatened by him - and all of the above will contribute to setting that up. You could get lucky and she could end up using him as a sleeping cushion in future years.

anniehoo

The Sweeper wrote: »

The cat may never grow to love the pup, but she may get to the point where she tolerates him. She can grow to like him if she never feels threatened by him - and all of the above will contribute to setting that up. You could get lucky and she could end up using him as a sleeping cushion in future years.

+1 to everything The Sweeper said very good advice. It really is hit and miss to be honest but even if "tolerance" is the best you achieve its better than pure hatred

Howitzer

Here's how our 2 got on in the early days.
The cat showed who's boss... but she did get chased a bit -- to which we had to discipline the puppy with a firm NO each time. The dog can now walk past the cat no problem. She gets a treat each time she leaves here alone.
Now that treating isn't necessary - the odd 'good girl' now and then does the job.

TequilaMockingBird

Sorry just checked back on this thread, and I had posted a loooong reply back to The Sweepers fab post, but it's not here (my internet connection is rubbish).

Thanks so much The Sweeper, lots to do! The puppy actually arrived last night, so not prepared at all, but he, and the 'Boss' are tolerating each other at the moment. No blood has been shed yet.

Howitzer, that second video was edge of the seat stuff, I thought Bella was in for it :eek::p. Thanks for posting them, scary as they are!

The puppy woke me at 4.30am to go out and do his thing in the garden. That's a good thing right...?

Yawn..


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TequilaMockingBird

The Sweeper, I think I'll be referring back to your post for some time to come. Big thanks.