New dog - cat is scared to come in house

[Kim Newell]

We have a 5 yr old grey striped cat named Tigger that we adopted when he was 8 weeks old. He was a feral cat when we adopted him from a shelter. Once he saw our dog use the doggy door, we couldn't keep him inside so he comes and goes as he pleases through the doggy door. He is best friends with our 9 year old female Lab mix, Onyx. They have gotten along since the day we got Tigger and have had no issues. Recently, we adopted another female Lab mix (1 yr old) named Licorice, who we adopted at a shelter but was a stray so she lacked some basic manners. Licorice initially chased and barked at Tigger. We hired a trainer for Licorice and she is very smart and has learned very quickly her basic commands of stay, come, sit, etc. She now ignores the cat but we can't get the cat to come in the house except for the in the middle of the night because the cat knows that is when Licorice is in the kennel (the only reason we still kennel at night is so the cat will at least come in during the night). I have plugged in the Feliway cat pherimone system about two weeks ago to try and entice him that it is calm and happy in the house. I wake up in the middle of the night to spend time with Tigger since that is the only time he is in the house. Is there anything I can do to encourage Tigger to come in during the day? We really miss him.

 

[ArtNJ]

You are going to have to block the doggy door for a while and take the dog out to do its business the old fashion way. The main thing cats need to get used to another pet they are stressed by is time together without anything bad happening. And there is no way for you to get that time together unless you change the current dynamic.

You might want to block the bedrooms too, but maybe leave them open for a day or two so the cat can get used to being in the house with the dog but still have a safe place to go hide. (You know, assuming that under the bed is the cat's safe place. If it is somewhere else, adjust my advice.)

You could have some issues. Cat will certainly growl if the dog gets close and might swipe. How will the dog react? And the cat may not come out from under the bed at all at first while the dog is loose, so you may need to keep kenneling if you don't want litter box accidents. We have some guides for introducing cats to dogs in the articles tab above that may be helpful, once you get the cat back in the house.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Tigger is gun-shy of Licorice because of what initially happened. It will take some work and time to get Tigger to realize the Licorice can be better behaved with the training. I would actually confine Licorice a few times a day and see if you can entice Tigger in during those times instead of it having to be only at night. And, then see if there are any tips in these articles (link below) that might help you figure out a plan to get Tigger to see that Licorice is no longer a threat. These articles are more geared on what to do before problems start, so it may require taking some steps backward in an introduction process to accomplish your end goal.

How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog – Cat Articles
How to Introduce a Dog to a Cat