My wife has been wanting a dog for the past 3 years ever since ours passed away. I'm willing to go along with it since she truly is a dog lover (although for my part I could be content to just live with our cat - just seems so much easier and quieter). It's not that I don't like dogs, but with our last one the last few years got to be really tough from a medical standpoint. Her end-of-life was enormously hard and painful to watch. I still don't think I'm recovered from some of what we went through.
I keep thinking back to times with previous dogs that at least mildly terrorized our cats (although they did learn at some point to at least tolerate each other - especially as our last dog reached advanced age). Our cat has now been the only pet for the past 3 years and, needless to say, is queen of the house - so if we do this - I want to do it right. Our cat is 11 years old and so I'd be sad to think of her living in fear of the newcomer.
Cat and dogs, ya know? Or shall I refer to the old adage, "fighting like cats and dogs". Guess there's a reason for that saying. They just don't speak the same language unless truly growing up together. I've never experienced that. We've had a dog and introduced a cat (though probably not taking care to do it the recommended way), and then had (the same cat) and introduced another new dog - also probably didn't do it the suggested way. Then, had a different cat that came while the dog was already here, but that's the dog that died 3 years ago. Geez...this gets sorta confusing after awhile. In all, there have been 2 cats and 3 dogs. First dog never experienced living with a cat. My personal thought - to be fair to both - is that feline and canine shouldn't mix at all UNLESS they are both very young and are 'brought up' simultaneously. Otherwise, I just think one becomes dominant (probably the dog) and thus the cat gets the short end of the stick. Others may disagree, although with this being a cat site I suspect not.
My wife has her heart set on this and I've been (undoubtedly quite unfairly) dodging and not showing much enthusiasm towards pictures of loads of adoptable dogs she has shown me over the past 3 years. I feel super guilty for not moving forward on this since I know she still misses our dog terribly. I'm 65, have back issues, don't have the level of energy I did 10 years ago, and so probably am just being lazy over the idea of starting all over again with another canine companion. Our cat is VERY mellow, and relatively inactive, so I worry about how that will play into the equation. Good or bad? Thanks for any ideas...
I keep thinking back to times with previous dogs that at least mildly terrorized our cats (although they did learn at some point to at least tolerate each other - especially as our last dog reached advanced age). Our cat has now been the only pet for the past 3 years and, needless to say, is queen of the house - so if we do this - I want to do it right. Our cat is 11 years old and so I'd be sad to think of her living in fear of the newcomer.
Cat and dogs, ya know? Or shall I refer to the old adage, "fighting like cats and dogs". Guess there's a reason for that saying. They just don't speak the same language unless truly growing up together. I've never experienced that. We've had a dog and introduced a cat (though probably not taking care to do it the recommended way), and then had (the same cat) and introduced another new dog - also probably didn't do it the suggested way. Then, had a different cat that came while the dog was already here, but that's the dog that died 3 years ago. Geez...this gets sorta confusing after awhile. In all, there have been 2 cats and 3 dogs. First dog never experienced living with a cat. My personal thought - to be fair to both - is that feline and canine shouldn't mix at all UNLESS they are both very young and are 'brought up' simultaneously. Otherwise, I just think one becomes dominant (probably the dog) and thus the cat gets the short end of the stick. Others may disagree, although with this being a cat site I suspect not.
My wife has her heart set on this and I've been (undoubtedly quite unfairly) dodging and not showing much enthusiasm towards pictures of loads of adoptable dogs she has shown me over the past 3 years. I feel super guilty for not moving forward on this since I know she still misses our dog terribly. I'm 65, have back issues, don't have the level of energy I did 10 years ago, and so probably am just being lazy over the idea of starting all over again with another canine companion. Our cat is VERY mellow, and relatively inactive, so I worry about how that will play into the equation. Good or bad? Thanks for any ideas...
Last edited:
)
I love both dogs and cats equally. Our last cat ruled the dog and he was a German Shepherd, i.e. no small dog by any means. Of course, our cat was a true diva in every sense of the word. However, the chemistry mixed and they got along famously. 
You may want to consider a rescue group that fosters dogs because you can not only visit the dog but the foster family can also give you firsthand information. My husband and your wife would get along well, i.e. he's constantly searching on the adoption/rescue sites. 
