Bringing home a puppy to 3 cats.

[Paris Pluto]

Hi there

Just wondering if anyone has experience with bringing a puppy home to resident cats. I have 3 cats (6yo girl, 4yo girl and 1yo boy). None of them have been around dogs and my family wants to get a Chihuahua puppy. The only thing I'm concerned about is the two older girl cats getting stressed out and will hide away but a Chihuahua will be much smaller than them...

Essentially, will my cats hate me? And how long for? I'm thinking a Chihuahua puppy wont be as intimidating as they are smaller than cats fully grown.

Would love some advice about this as I've never had a dog and cats at the same time.

Thank you!

 

[iPappy]

I have brought Papillons home several times. They are very similar to Chihuahua's in size
I always crate and/or ex pen train my puppies. They are way too young, and way too small, to have free run of the house at all times. A toy breed puppy can easily get hurt. So not only is this peace of mind for you, but it gives the cats down time from the puppy.
Most puppies will defer to adult cats if the cats give them a hiss or a swat.
The dog and cat in my avatar (the cat has since passed away ) were really good buddies. When the puppy came home, he gave her what for when she attempted to bite that swishy tail of his. I had another cat who viewed her as prey. (She was only over a pound when she came home, she looked like a tiny baby bunny), so depending on the size of your puppy and if your cats have a predatory nature, keep this in mind as well. (This all stopped when the puppy hit about 4 months old or so and began turning into a dog!)
When your puppy starts growing, they need to learn that pestering the cats is unacceptable. I'll physically remove my puppies from the situation and place them in a time out.
My cats have always gotten along with my Papillons. They are great friends and are often all piled into a bed, snuggling together. Many members here have, or have had, cats and dogs of various sizes and breeds and hopefully they'll give you some advice as well.

 

[Alldara]

I'll just add to keep in mind, small dogs were usually originally bred for small prey. Now they are bred for companionship but you'll still want one with a low prey drive. Or want to get a puppy whose been in a home etc with cats or discuss a test visit if they haven't been tested with cats. We haven't had any issues with chihuahuas and cats in my family's homes but many had limited access to one another.

Ensuring the cats have vertical space pr even dog free rooms is helpful. In my family, the dogs have never had access to all the rooms. Usually a gate is kept up.

Even though it's a small dog, you'll want to ensure to train it well and walk it daily (if if you have a yard) as important enrichment. A confident, well enriched dog will have essential need for cat chasing.