Will My Best Buddy Cat Get Jealous If I Get A Dog?

[myfamily]

Yikes!

Calm down. There is a food dish outside. My cats are inside/outside cats. I can't control them if they want to eat some kibbles from the outside dish.

 

[Animal Freak]

Chihuahuas are rather fragile. some have to have knee surgery - luxating petelas (expensive). In case it makes a difference, you might want to talk to your vet about how much they can cost. Decades ago my large dog tore a ligament on both back knees. It was $3K then - each. the advantage to a small dog is the cats are less likely to be intimidated and it's easier to pick one up when it can't walk.

While I would hardly consider my own Chihuahua mix fragile, she does have luxating patella. It's always a concern in everything she does because it's hard to know what will pop her knees out of place. It costs $2,000-$3,000 for each knee and requires no activity for a while. Absolutely no jumping for some time afterwards. And even after the surgery the dog has a greater chance of getting arthritis.

It sounds odd, but I really want someone for my 11 year old boy to play with. He does not play with the strays, obviously. And my other cat (an 8 year old female) wants nothing to do with him in regards to play. He's tried, and she says NO. I have fostered kittens twice, and he only hissed at these kittens, never taking to any of them. Maybe a playful dog would be something he'd like? As you can see, I am wavering a bit on the senior dog idea, and now wonder if a younger playful dog might be something he'd like.

To be honest, I don't recommend getting a dog for your cat to play with. You'd be better off with another cat. Dogs and cats have different languages and different manners of playing. My dog does great with the cats, but she doesn't know the difference between a play slap and an aggressive slap. I do think she's starting to see a difference as she gains confidence with them, but her reaction mostly depends on which cat it is rather than the situation. One of my cats never had an issue with her and so she never became afraid of him. They have a pretty good relationship as far as cats and dogs go, but if the he slaps her, she takes it as play even if he means it seriously. My other two cats would go after and attack Stella(though with no claws) and she quite quickly became afraid of them. Now sometimes Ember does slap her playfully, but Stella usually takes it quite seriously. They just don't communicate in the same way which is makes it difficult for them to interact in such a manner. And, personally, I'd rather the dog take every slap seriously than every slap playfully.

That's not to say it can't work, but I wouldn't rely on it doing so. Frost (the not-scary cat) and Stella do occasionally try to play, but it doesn't often work out. Frost lays on the floor ready to wrestle and Stella runs around in circles like a madman(dog). Frost just looks at her like she's lost her mind and the game ends. If you end up with a dog and a cat who play in a more similar manner then I suppose it could work, but if one wants to wrestle and the other wants to chase... Well, it doesn't really work.

 

[jen]

Calm down. There is a food dish outside. My cats are inside/outside cats. I can't control them if they want to eat some kibbles from the outside dish.

The yikes was that you hadn't considered the risk to your cats. Sorry to be blunt. As long as yours are vaccinated I suppose (FVRCP, rabies, FeLV).