For the better part of a year now I have had two cats (Alafair, age 17, and Stella who just hit one year). Just recently we acquired a dog, and this has caused great discontent from Stella. Stella was a feral baby (I got her when she was ~6 weeks), so I don't know about any experiences she may have had with dogs. Knowing the area she was found it's possible that she had never seen one, but you never know. During the brief periods of time that she has spent at my parents' house she has had limited interactions with their dogs, and was very aggressive towards them. I figured that this was something she would get over in time in the event I ever got a dog.
About two weeks ago we ended up with a dog through a strange series of events. The dog is a female 8ish year old Rat Terrier, and she has been nothing but terrified of Stella during this whole time. From the moment she walked through the door Stella immediately puffed up and started hissing. Dot (the dog) was put in a kennel for several hours, and during the first few minutes Stella circled the cage, and then lost interest. Let Dot out, and there was no issue. However, after some time the poor thing walked past Stella in a completely non-threatening manner, Stella jumped in her direction and hissed, and Dot ran away shrieking. She ran upstairs and wouldn't stop screaming until we calmed her down.
For the most part the dog basically sleeps on the couch. She prefers to snuggle up to you if you're sitting there, but I've been trying to avoid that for Stella's sake. However, she's stopped sitting on me if I'm on the sofa. She's become increasingly aggressive towards me if the dog is in sight. If I'm holding her and Dot is in sight she'll tense up, growl, and let out her claws. For her biting has always been an issue that I haven't been able to break, but it's gotten worse. She never bites hard and doesn't break the skin, but biting is biting and it's gotten more frequent.
At first I thought that the aggression towards the dog would fade as she got used to the newcomer. It's been two weeks, and while the dog has gotten used to Stella (the shrieking has died down significantly), the cat's behavior has only gotten worse towards me. She is showing less aggression towards Dot (less hissing, more growling I guess), but is taking it out on me instead. There are plenty of high places that she can climb to "escape" the dog, she sleeps in my bedroom at night while the dog is kenneled, and the dog is kenneled while we are away. Elder Cat Alafair is not bothered by the presence of a dog in the slightest. While living at my parents' house for the majority of her life she has been around resident dogs and numerous dog visitors, so it's just another canine for her. I thought that since Stella was fairly young she should adjust readily, but that does not appear to be the case.
So, what can I do? The most the dog (who is probably the same size as her, btw) has done to Stella is shake, scream, and run away from her. The thing is, if it is absolutely necessary then Dot CAN go back to where she was before (with a family member of my boyfriend), but I want to try all other options before I resort to that. We have a much better situation here for her, and while I adore my cats I guess I'm more of a dog person. I'm not going to sacrifice my cat's happiness for the rest of the dog's life just to have her here. I also don't want to create an aggressive cat for life when we had issues to begin with.
Please, any suggestions are welcomed!
About two weeks ago we ended up with a dog through a strange series of events. The dog is a female 8ish year old Rat Terrier, and she has been nothing but terrified of Stella during this whole time. From the moment she walked through the door Stella immediately puffed up and started hissing. Dot (the dog) was put in a kennel for several hours, and during the first few minutes Stella circled the cage, and then lost interest. Let Dot out, and there was no issue. However, after some time the poor thing walked past Stella in a completely non-threatening manner, Stella jumped in her direction and hissed, and Dot ran away shrieking. She ran upstairs and wouldn't stop screaming until we calmed her down.
For the most part the dog basically sleeps on the couch. She prefers to snuggle up to you if you're sitting there, but I've been trying to avoid that for Stella's sake. However, she's stopped sitting on me if I'm on the sofa. She's become increasingly aggressive towards me if the dog is in sight. If I'm holding her and Dot is in sight she'll tense up, growl, and let out her claws. For her biting has always been an issue that I haven't been able to break, but it's gotten worse. She never bites hard and doesn't break the skin, but biting is biting and it's gotten more frequent.
At first I thought that the aggression towards the dog would fade as she got used to the newcomer. It's been two weeks, and while the dog has gotten used to Stella (the shrieking has died down significantly), the cat's behavior has only gotten worse towards me. She is showing less aggression towards Dot (less hissing, more growling I guess), but is taking it out on me instead. There are plenty of high places that she can climb to "escape" the dog, she sleeps in my bedroom at night while the dog is kenneled, and the dog is kenneled while we are away. Elder Cat Alafair is not bothered by the presence of a dog in the slightest. While living at my parents' house for the majority of her life she has been around resident dogs and numerous dog visitors, so it's just another canine for her. I thought that since Stella was fairly young she should adjust readily, but that does not appear to be the case.
So, what can I do? The most the dog (who is probably the same size as her, btw) has done to Stella is shake, scream, and run away from her. The thing is, if it is absolutely necessary then Dot CAN go back to where she was before (with a family member of my boyfriend), but I want to try all other options before I resort to that. We have a much better situation here for her, and while I adore my cats I guess I'm more of a dog person. I'm not going to sacrifice my cat's happiness for the rest of the dog's life just to have her here. I also don't want to create an aggressive cat for life when we had issues to begin with.
Please, any suggestions are welcomed!
