Introducing young adult cat to 6 year old dog

[gabicards]

Hello,

I'll be arriving back in France next week, after 3 months in Brazil with my cat, and my flatmate has brought her dog from Mexico to live with us. My cat, Topaz, is a 1.4 year old male Maine Coon, and her dog, Lola, is a 6 years old female poodle. Both are neutered.

Topaz used to be around a dog at the breeder's home up to the age of 5 months, and he doesn't seem to mind them as long as they are not huge - according to the way he responds to seeing dogs while at the vet clinic. Lola, however, has never lived or interacted with a cat, but my friend thinks it's possible she used to bark at stray cats when left to roam around the garden. My friends have already met Lola too, and everyone agrees she's very docile and gentle, as is my cat.

Thankfully, Lola won't be at the apartment when we arrive, because she's been staying with a dog sitter while my friend is at the office. Topaz is going to be tired from the trip, so having several hours for ourselves will be helpful.

As of now, our plan to introduce them is:
4 days: Topaz stays with me in my bedroom. I'll set it up with a litterbox for him and all the things he needs and we'll just hang out, while he and Lola sniff each other through the closed door.
4 days: We switch and Lola stays in my friend's bedroom (leaving with my friend for her walk outside) while Topaz is free to roam around the apartment, so that he gets accustomed to her smell and familiar with the space once again.
2 days: We allow them to be in the same space as one another, but without actually interacting - like having one of them inside a playpen while the other hangs out in the living room, etc.

And then just adjust in accordance to their behavior. My friend will be putting a Feliway diffuser in my bedroom over the weekend, and an Adaptil diffuser in hers. I kind of think that, worst case scenario, Topaz won't go near Lola, but I don't know Lola, so I have no idea how it will be for her.

Do you guys have any opinions on the situation or any ideas of what we could do to reduce our chances of a bad first impression between the two?

 

[RTR]

I have never introduced adult cats to an adult dog! I have three cats now! And know they are very territorial. For more than 39 years I rraised and trained German shepherds! They have a strong prey drive! Poodles were bred as hunting dogs, and many also have a strong prey drive! I do know that "Real" Maine Coons are mostly dog friendly. I would only introduce puppies. Good luck!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Your plan might be a bit on the escalated side, but in general is not a bad one. I would be concerned about not letting Topaz access to her safe zone (your bedroom) if that is what you mean by swapping rooms more than just a few hours at a time. Maybe you can get some extra tips from this TCS article.
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog - TheCatSite Articles

 

[gabicards]

Hi. Your plan might be a bit on the escalated side, but in general is not a bad one. I would be concerned about not letting Topaz access to her safe zone (your bedroom) if that is what you mean by swapping rooms more than just a few hours at a time. Maybe you can get some extra tips from this TCS article.
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog - TheCatSite Articles

Thanks for the reply and for the link!

And no, Lola would be in my friend's bedroom, not mine. So Topaz would be in my bedroom for the first few days, and once he's roaming free in the apartment, he would still have access to my bedroom.

 

[gabicards]

Hello!

So, Topaz and Lola have met. We arrived in France yesterday and, despite the looong trip, he was doing well, and Lola wasn't home (she stays in a pet sitter's home while my friend is at the office, because she had been barking when left alone). Once she arrived, Topaz was scared and ran to my bedroom (which is usually the place he runs to here in France).

After that initial surprise, Topaz just seemed curious. My friend kept holding Lola and he would go up to her for a sniff, then hang around. He didn't hide at any point, but if she moved too quickly he left for my bedroom again.

Lola is indeed a very docile dog, seemingly super calm and friendly. Her reaction to Topaz is not necessarily aggressive - I've never lived with a dog, and my friend has never introduced a dog to a cat (she also didn't live with Lola for years), so we're not sure what's happening. She doesn't growl or make any noise, doesn't bark, but she seems to want to chase him. She's never near him without my friend holding her through her collar, in which case she doesn't move much, she just looks at him. The tail movements are a mystery too - she alternated between having it tucked between her legs and wagging it the same way she did when she first met me, which seems happy. I know wagging it slowly could be a sign of aggressiveness, but I don't know how slow that would need to be

We'll see what happens from now on, but we're not keeping either one of them in a room like initially planned, mainly because Topaz really wanted his litter box in the place where it was before we traveled, not in my room, so keeping him in there with me wouldn't work. Seeing as he's behaving normally, and seems completely unbothered by her, she's the one we're keeping an eye on, and my friend keeps her in her bedroom whenever she's in the bathroom, asleep, etc, so that she's always supervised when around Topaz.