I have read several posts relating to this topic. A few of them related to me, but I wanted to post to see what you all thought.
I have always wanted my own pet, but never found the right time to get one. When I started dating my boyfriend I got my chance. He owned a Husky. I adore that dog. Now our husky is very independent, much like a cat. He doesn't want to be in the same room with us a majority of the time and only wants a certain amount of pets then walks away. HIs personality is very cat-like. I used to have a cat when I was younger and I adored him. I am not one for puppies, I don't like the biting stage, and they have a lot of energy plus I would have to put in a lot of time training and I didn't want to dump it off on my boyfriend as I have a full time job and he is still in school.
Enter Knox. I begged my boyfriend for a cat for a while, and we looked online on pet finder, but once I found the one I liked I waited too long(due to anxiety) and she was adopted. So I decided I would go to another humane society and look at the kitties they had. I found a sweet black male cat and he has bonded with us so well! He adores my boyfriend, he head butts and grooms us both. I took him to the vet today and everyone there LOVED him and told me they've never seen a cat at their office that was as affectionate as he is. This is something I really love about him.
I got him on 1/2 (about 3 whole days ago). Introducing him to our dog was incredibly difficult. Which I knew would not be an easy process. We put Knox in his own room so he could get used to our dog's smells and vice versa. We also have a gate up so they are able to look at each other and Knox has somewhere to go when he doesn't want the dog to bother him. When we brought him home we let our dog see what was in the room (otherwise he would have gone nuts) and the entire first night our husky sat at the door and whined. This morning we allowed them to be in our bedroom at the same time. Our dog has been doing well with just laying down while Knox is in the room, but our dog constantly has his eyes on Knox. Now sometimes when our dog gets in his face Knox doesn't do anything, while other times he will arch his back and hiss.
I believe that our dog just wants to play with Knox, although he isn't gentle when he plays so we have been telling him "leave it". We are also discouraging him chasing Knox around the house. So with all this being said, I am so anxious that we are going to have to return Knox because sometimes it seems like our dog loses his manners around Knox. He gets in his personal space, and I am always anxious when they are around each other. We have discussed what needs to happen IF our dog is not able to get along with or ignore the cat. But, I absolutely don't want to have to take him back to the shelter. He is a black cat, and people where I live are incredibly superstitious and no matter how sweet of a cat he is, I would constantly check pet finder to see if he was adopted.
Does anyone have experience introducing a new cat to a husky? or if you could give me any advice or encouragement that would be fantastic. I have driven myself up a wall worrying about this because I feel bad for all parties: My dog, Knox, and my boyfriend.
I have always wanted my own pet, but never found the right time to get one. When I started dating my boyfriend I got my chance. He owned a Husky. I adore that dog. Now our husky is very independent, much like a cat. He doesn't want to be in the same room with us a majority of the time and only wants a certain amount of pets then walks away. HIs personality is very cat-like. I used to have a cat when I was younger and I adored him. I am not one for puppies, I don't like the biting stage, and they have a lot of energy plus I would have to put in a lot of time training and I didn't want to dump it off on my boyfriend as I have a full time job and he is still in school.
Enter Knox. I begged my boyfriend for a cat for a while, and we looked online on pet finder, but once I found the one I liked I waited too long(due to anxiety) and she was adopted. So I decided I would go to another humane society and look at the kitties they had. I found a sweet black male cat and he has bonded with us so well! He adores my boyfriend, he head butts and grooms us both. I took him to the vet today and everyone there LOVED him and told me they've never seen a cat at their office that was as affectionate as he is. This is something I really love about him.
I got him on 1/2 (about 3 whole days ago). Introducing him to our dog was incredibly difficult. Which I knew would not be an easy process. We put Knox in his own room so he could get used to our dog's smells and vice versa. We also have a gate up so they are able to look at each other and Knox has somewhere to go when he doesn't want the dog to bother him. When we brought him home we let our dog see what was in the room (otherwise he would have gone nuts) and the entire first night our husky sat at the door and whined. This morning we allowed them to be in our bedroom at the same time. Our dog has been doing well with just laying down while Knox is in the room, but our dog constantly has his eyes on Knox. Now sometimes when our dog gets in his face Knox doesn't do anything, while other times he will arch his back and hiss.
I believe that our dog just wants to play with Knox, although he isn't gentle when he plays so we have been telling him "leave it". We are also discouraging him chasing Knox around the house. So with all this being said, I am so anxious that we are going to have to return Knox because sometimes it seems like our dog loses his manners around Knox. He gets in his personal space, and I am always anxious when they are around each other. We have discussed what needs to happen IF our dog is not able to get along with or ignore the cat. But, I absolutely don't want to have to take him back to the shelter. He is a black cat, and people where I live are incredibly superstitious and no matter how sweet of a cat he is, I would constantly check pet finder to see if he was adopted.
Does anyone have experience introducing a new cat to a husky? or if you could give me any advice or encouragement that would be fantastic. I have driven myself up a wall worrying about this because I feel bad for all parties: My dog, Knox, and my boyfriend.