Hi all. I know there's a lot of 'new cat' posts on this forum, but I'm currently struggling with a cat-dog introduction.
We recently adopted a ~2.5 y/o cat who seems to be settling in well with her new surroundings and gets along well with all of the people in the house. We currently have her kept on the second floor of the house and allow her to explore the first floor while supervised.
We also have an elderly small dog who has lived alongside cats her whole life. Our dog is not very playful and she is not interested in cats whatsoever. She has always ignored cats and I have never seen her cross boundaries that our old cats have put in place. When we got the new cat, our dog reacted with the same indifference as the old cats. We have a gate that prevents the dog from going upstairs, so the two are currently separated except for when we allow the cat to explore the first floor.
In contrast, our new cat is very apprehensive of our dog. She appears to be fearful, but instead of running away when seeing the dog, she begins to puff up and hiss at the dog, and charges at her almost aggressively. The only way she is calm around the dog is if the dog is sleeping on the couch, which the cat will not jump up on. But if the dog gets off the couch, the cat charges at her.
So far, we have scent swapped with bedding so they get used to one another. I also have daily supervised meetings between them, while the dog sleeps. I feed the cat treats to reward her calmness and play with her to show her she is not in danger. But this is all undone if the dog tries to get off the couch. Then the cat immediately goes to attack the dog, pursuing her until the dog runs back onto the couch.
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but she has an interesting background from before we adopted her. She was found (likely stray) last fall and was pregnant. She gave birth in a foster home a couple of months ago, and then was spayed (presumably after an appropriate amount of time) and returned to a shelter. The workers at the shelter said that she was reintroduced to her kittens and responded positively so she likely has no ill feelings regarding that situation. I have also been considering that her recent homelessness, pregnancy, foster home, spaying, going back to the shelter, and then being adopted over the past few months has taken both a physical and mental toll. But I'm not sure how that might be affecting her relationship with our dog, but not the humans. Just something to think about.
I'm trying to be patient and just continue with the introductions, but I'm worried that there is something I should do that I am not doing. I am going very slowly because the cat's interactions with the dog has almost come to blows and I don't want my old dog to live in fear. Any advice on how to help my cat relax around my dog?
We recently adopted a ~2.5 y/o cat who seems to be settling in well with her new surroundings and gets along well with all of the people in the house. We currently have her kept on the second floor of the house and allow her to explore the first floor while supervised.
We also have an elderly small dog who has lived alongside cats her whole life. Our dog is not very playful and she is not interested in cats whatsoever. She has always ignored cats and I have never seen her cross boundaries that our old cats have put in place. When we got the new cat, our dog reacted with the same indifference as the old cats. We have a gate that prevents the dog from going upstairs, so the two are currently separated except for when we allow the cat to explore the first floor.
In contrast, our new cat is very apprehensive of our dog. She appears to be fearful, but instead of running away when seeing the dog, she begins to puff up and hiss at the dog, and charges at her almost aggressively. The only way she is calm around the dog is if the dog is sleeping on the couch, which the cat will not jump up on. But if the dog gets off the couch, the cat charges at her.
So far, we have scent swapped with bedding so they get used to one another. I also have daily supervised meetings between them, while the dog sleeps. I feed the cat treats to reward her calmness and play with her to show her she is not in danger. But this is all undone if the dog tries to get off the couch. Then the cat immediately goes to attack the dog, pursuing her until the dog runs back onto the couch.
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but she has an interesting background from before we adopted her. She was found (likely stray) last fall and was pregnant. She gave birth in a foster home a couple of months ago, and then was spayed (presumably after an appropriate amount of time) and returned to a shelter. The workers at the shelter said that she was reintroduced to her kittens and responded positively so she likely has no ill feelings regarding that situation. I have also been considering that her recent homelessness, pregnancy, foster home, spaying, going back to the shelter, and then being adopted over the past few months has taken both a physical and mental toll. But I'm not sure how that might be affecting her relationship with our dog, but not the humans. Just something to think about.
I'm trying to be patient and just continue with the introductions, but I'm worried that there is something I should do that I am not doing. I am going very slowly because the cat's interactions with the dog has almost come to blows and I don't want my old dog to live in fear. Any advice on how to help my cat relax around my dog?
