- Joined
- Dec 18, 2017
- Messages
- 2
- Purraise
- 11
Hello! I hope I'm posting in the right place, as it's more of a dog issue than a cat one.
So! We got a new >1 year old kitty 2 days ago, and I'm very impressed with how outgoing and inquisitive she is. She's already explored most of the house and has decided that the kitchen is her favorite haunt (dark cabinets to sleep in!). She's also particularly friendly, has warmed up to everyone, and is VERY vocal. She gives a meowed opinion about everything...
...which leads me to the problem. We have a 7 year old teacup chihuahua that is absolutely fanatic about this new potential friend. Almost every time the cat meows, the dog erupts into a series of excited, ear-piercing yaps and bolts to wherever said cat is. It's not fierce yapping and she definitely doesn't see her as any prey of sorts (which is good because currently the dog stands at about half the height of the cat)--when she greets the cat, she's always wagging her tail/butt/entire back half as HARD as she can. But her loud barking startles the kitty, who ends up retreating back into the kitchen. It's happened so often that I wonder if the cat will ever be able to stay in the living room (the dog's main area) for more than 2 minutes.
The interesting thing is, the cat does not dislike the dog. When she's NOT yapping, the cat tries to headbutt the chihuahua, who doesn't know what to think and jumps back like the kitty just tried to punch her. I've seen the cat make a beeline across the room specifically to sniff noses with the dog. So, basically, they each want to be friends but they don't know how, which is, promising?? I hope?
Without intervention, will they get used to each other? Or is there something I need to do to... help them? I just want the cat to get comfortably settled in without my loudmouth Chihuahua slowing things down.
So! We got a new >1 year old kitty 2 days ago, and I'm very impressed with how outgoing and inquisitive she is. She's already explored most of the house and has decided that the kitchen is her favorite haunt (dark cabinets to sleep in!). She's also particularly friendly, has warmed up to everyone, and is VERY vocal. She gives a meowed opinion about everything...
...which leads me to the problem. We have a 7 year old teacup chihuahua that is absolutely fanatic about this new potential friend. Almost every time the cat meows, the dog erupts into a series of excited, ear-piercing yaps and bolts to wherever said cat is. It's not fierce yapping and she definitely doesn't see her as any prey of sorts (which is good because currently the dog stands at about half the height of the cat)--when she greets the cat, she's always wagging her tail/butt/entire back half as HARD as she can. But her loud barking startles the kitty, who ends up retreating back into the kitchen. It's happened so often that I wonder if the cat will ever be able to stay in the living room (the dog's main area) for more than 2 minutes.
The interesting thing is, the cat does not dislike the dog. When she's NOT yapping, the cat tries to headbutt the chihuahua, who doesn't know what to think and jumps back like the kitty just tried to punch her. I've seen the cat make a beeline across the room specifically to sniff noses with the dog. So, basically, they each want to be friends but they don't know how, which is, promising?? I hope?
Without intervention, will they get used to each other? Or is there something I need to do to... help them? I just want the cat to get comfortably settled in without my loudmouth Chihuahua slowing things down.