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This thread is about getting dogs and cats to be able to live in common spaces together. I'm going to document on here how I am getting our newly acquired shelter cat to live with our 4 labradoodles. I admit, I am new to cats and cat's behavior. Before having kids, I was a dog trainer for over 10 years. I feel with cat and 4 dogs, I am undertaking a great deal, but I've learned the impossible can be done. I'm not expecting the outcome to be the Christmas card where all of my furry friends are wearing Santa hats, cuddled up on one bed by the fire (serious both dogs and cats can agree, they HATE wearing hats! Lol). I'm merely wanting all 5 of these animals to cohabitate in peace. They don't have to play together, they just have to be able to share space safely.
I figure this thread will serve a few purposes. 1) it will document what I'm doing so I can return to it and see the the progress we are making. 2) it will allow cat lovers and experience owners a chance to add suggestions and comments so I can modify my approach. And 3) It's a reference for someone else trying this (although every cat and dog is different).
Our situation contains the following:
4 labradoodles, all males, all neutered. I called them the sandwich club because we have Big Mac and PB&J (their initials):
Mac- 6 years old, puppy mill stud dog kept in a kennel his whole life except to do his business then surrendered to a kill shelter. Very submissive, great around all dogs and has been around cats.
Pickles- 2 years old. Loves to play, not submissive or dominate. Gets along with dogs and people. "Life is good" dog. Very easy going with change. Energetic but not play driven. Highly food motivated.
Jake- 3 year old. Our most cat like dog. He rubs up against people like a cat. Protective of property, us and the other dogs by nature. Agile. Some nervous tendencies. Likes to chew. Not super food motivated.
Brisby- 4 years old. Submissive to humans, dominate to dogs, has chased squirrels, highly responsive to me but our Alpha dog. Been with us since a puppy and obedience trained. Highly food motivated.
1 cat, male, neutered.
Aslan-4 year old orange tabby, stray. Likes people, fairly even personality. Curious about the dogs, not showing fear. Not food motivated. Enjoys bird type toys.
My approach is to slowly introduce each doodle by themselves to the cat, and that interaction has to be positive consistently before changing out to the next dog. After that I'll start two dogs at one time.
For this to work, I have set up a dog only room and a cat only room, for separations and time outs. I will be rotating dogs and cat to the main areas so that everyone has time around their humans.
I admit this will be a long process but worth it if everyone can handle the boundaries. I've found slow and steady and methodical works best.
I'll be posting with pictures as we go.
The order of dog introductions will be Mac , Pickles, Jack then Brisby based on my assessment of personality. Each intro will be one dog to cat only. A new dog will not be introduced until both previous dog and the cat are on decent terms. This will probably take months.
Mac is up first. He is submissive and has experience with cats.
Day 1 (This happened after a few day of feeding Aslan and Mac at same time on opposite sides of the door with no issues from either): Initial visual meeting with Mac.
Mac needed to go to the vet for his annual check up. I put Mac's working collar on him and leashed him up. (Mac already knows sit/stay and down/stay and leave it very well). Husband took Aslan upstairs with a can of favorite wet cat food. I brought Mac to the main level and sat him by the front door by the stair landing on lead. Right in sight of Aslan above (I chose the first visual meeting to be with Mac at a higher elevation so he felt safe). Aslan saw Mac and stared for a few seconds. Mac did not look at him in the eye. Mac stayed there for 5 min while Aslan was fed by husband and Aslan looked at Mac. I fed Mac a few hotdog slices.
Then I took Mac to the vet.
Good successful first visual meet.
Dogs and then cat had run of the main house for a few hours independent of each other at a time while the other was in either their cat or dog room. Cat hates this. Dogs just say "ok we will go outside to romp now."
All pets in cat or dog rooms for bed at 10 pm. We clean up house.
The following day we brought Mac up on main level while on lead. Aslan was on main level. Aslan was in the den, We took Mac to the library. Aslan comes into library to see what this new big thing is. Mac is in a sit/say at one end of the room. I'm sitting in a chair by him relaxed but holding his lead. Aslan hops up on a sofa table, sits Looks at Mac then lays down on table by looking at Mac. Stays that way for 5 minutes. Aslan goes to a chair closer to Mac, hops up on it and lays down. Mac stays in sit stay but still is wagging. Stays that way for 5 minutes.
I get up and walk Mac past Aslan about 3 feet apart. I do not let Mac stare at Aslan but I do let him get a quick peak. Feeding Mac hot dog bits the whole time. Mac and I go into den. Aslan and husband follow. I sit Mac by the fireplace. Aslan jumps up on the ottoman 3 feet from Mac, sits down then lays down on ottoman. Stays for 10 minutes.
Then separated to de stress (Mac plays ball outside with me and Aslan gets toy play with hubby).
A few hours later, we bring Mac up on lead again. This time we feed them 5 feet apart. Mac finishes first and I put him in a sit stay until Aslan is done. Everyone calm. Aslan finishes and goes over and smells Mac. I make make stay (Mac deserves a medal for this! Lol).
Then we go into library. Mac and Aslan sits about 3 feet apart. Mac on ground, Aslan on chair. Aslan lays down. Moves closer and sits about a foot away. Still no issue. Then Mac leans in to sniff Aslan. Aslan gentle swats at him. We did not know at the time if this was a warning or play. Aslan sits up, still looks relax though. Mac goes in for another sniff....soft hiss from Aslan.
We move Mac back a few feet put him in a down stay. Aslan lays down again right in the chair. Aslan shuts his eyes and Mac is looking around and kind of wondering why he's wearing a leash in the house. They both Stay that way for 15 min. Then I treat both and take Mac back downstairs.
Pets switching time up in main area without interference until bedtime.
At this point I felt pretty deflated. I didn't want the hiss to happen. Maybe I moved too fast? Yeah, I probably did. I was feeling all good about everything. Looking back husband and I think we all kind of moved in when Mac did because we were worried. We might have crowded Aslan.
Not sure if Aslan will be able to handle this. Mac was very calm around him. He is submissive but he did want to sniff. So trying to regroup.
Thoughts?
Last edited by DoodlemomCoS; 06-10-2017 at 10:32 PM..
A hiss isn't universally aggresive and bad from cats. It's a signal that they don't want something to be happening or that they are confused. Honestly I know one of my cats would be doing much worse - he'd probably hide and freak out. Aslan isn't hiding so that's a good sign.
It's good you separated them when the cat hissed. I would also suggest scent swapping while the cat and dogs are separate. You can rub down Mac with a towel and put it in Aslan's room so he can get adjusted. I know he smelled Mac already but leaving something inanimate/non-threatening with Mac's scent in the room can be helpful.
Integrating a cat and four dogs is going to take a ton of patience and Aslan wasn't likely to be OK with Mac on day 2, even if he is normally fine with dogs. Cats need to get to know people and other animals. I think you are doing well so far and you shouldn't be too discouraged by the hiss.
I like this thread, and you taking on the challenge of introducing one cat to a four-dog established home. Am interested to see how it goes.
I will add my experience with cats/dogs co-habitating: I think the person involved needs to be fully aware of their individual pets' mannerisms and potentials when taking on such a task. Some dogs and cats are quite easily adapted to other species; some, not so much. Some cats simply will not tolerate a dog in his/her space and will react (reactions vary from a slight puff of fur to growling, to face slapping, to all-out attack) and some are easily laid back. The same with some dogs.
I once had a dog who had a rather high "prey level"...meaning, she could easily attack another species if in their proximity. I worked with her one-on-one for a long time, and when I eventually introduced a rabbit into my family fold, her first reaction was rather concerning. She stood outside of his cage and shook and drooled, a clear indicator that she would undoubtedly have my new bunny for breakfast, given the chance. Thankfully I was able to teach her that rabbits (and cats) were also considered family members - NOT dinner - and she went from a dog who wanted to eat her species-differing family, to one who not only tolerated them, but could be fully trusted to be left alone with them. (Case in point: One day I had to run to the store and was gone for almost an hour...when I returned, I realized that the door to the "bunny room" (the room where my two rabbits roamed freely) hadn't been properly latched. Yofi, one of my rabbits, had managed to get the door open and when I walked into the house, there was Kaya, my high-prey dog, lying in the middle of the living room with Yofi running circles around her ('wanna play? wanna play? I do!"). The look on her face was priceless...one of "omg, get me out of this hell...NOW!" But she never touched Yofi, as she knew that she wasn't allowed to do so.)
The point of my post though, is that one should always keep a bit of caution in mind, esp, if you have a breed with a high prey drive, and even when a dog has been taught that another species is a family member. That same dog of mine (Kaya) was in the house one day when my family came to visit...and one family member brought her dog, who had never been taught to respect other animals. Lassie had met Kaya before - they were best buddies - and she'd met my cat Fritz, but her interaction with Fritz had always been limited. That day, however, a lot of people were in the house, and in my scramble to get dinner ready for everyone, I never really gave second thought to Fritz and Lassie.
Fritz had been lying on the back of the sofa. Lassie spotted him, and I am guessing that Fritz decided he didn't want to be in the same room with Lassie (even though he knew her, and in the past there had been no altercations). So at some point Fritz jumped down from the sofa in order to exit the room. This one act triggered Lassie's excitement, and she gave chase, herding Fritz over toward the front door. Kaya heard the commotion that was taking place in the living room and ran to see what was going on. Now, keep in mind, Kaya and Fritz adored one another...they were best friends, often sharing a bed, often cuddling together. But Lassie's sudden excitement level toward Fritz affected Kaya immediately, and she and Lassie both went into 'predator' mode. They were on top of Fritz in seconds, attacking him until I ran into the room. I did the only thing I could think of to break it up...I opened the front door and let Fritz escape. He was ultimately unharmed, but had no one been there and that scenario had acted out, I'm positive that Fritz would have been seriously injured, if not killed.
Fritz and Kaya were back to friends again the next day, once Fritz got over his trauma. But it's always good to keep in mind that a dog with a high prey drive will always have that...and triggers will always need to be avoided.
OP, this really has nothing to do with your dogs and cat....just thought I'd toss it in as something to think about for anyone who is thinking of having multi-species pets in their home.
Bassetluv,
I really appreciate that story. I am unsure of how everyone will react which is why the slow intros.
Today I gave my alpha dog up first. Aslan had to wait an hour and a half until he was able to come up. He was very energetic when coming up. And even pulled down he roll of toilet paper. Lol!
So far, so good. Don't be overly alarmed about Aslan hissing or even swatting one of the dogs. He has to teach the dogs what is cool with him and what is not. If you see Aslan stiffen, or his ears go back, or his hair stand on end (long-hairs can look enormous when they do that!), back the dog off immediately, because those are signs that the cat is feeling unsafe. If he feels unsafe, he may attack first and not back down.
bassetluv, that is a great and important story. I am glad you shared it. Our female pitbull mix, who had a high prey drive, could never be trusted with our cats. Some of our other dogs who were more mellow could be trusted. In fact, 2 of our kittens were "parented" by a male and a female dog we had at the time.
You just have to take it slow, keep an eye out for a change in behavior or attitude, and see how it goes.
I think you're doing very well, all things considered. Don't be discouraged by Aslan's hissing or a half-hearted swat. He was communicating with Mac, saying "I think I like you, but you're too close and making me nervous". You will probably see more of that until Aslan feels totally secure around them. Even after he does, it may still happen if one of the dog's violates 'cat etiquette'.
I've no doubt this thread will be useful to others. Lots of people read this forum, and telling your story here will be a great benefit to those integrating cats and dogs. Keep up the good work.
Bassetluv,
I really appreciate that story. I am unsure of how everyone will react which is why the slow intros.
Today I gave my alpha dog up first. Aslan had to wait an hour and a half until he was able to come up. He was very energetic when coming up. And even pulled down he roll of toilet paper. Lol!
I'm glad none of my cats ever discovered the joys of the toilet paper roll. If Aslan becomes addicted to it, and you don't want to be re-rolling all the time, just turn the roll around and put it in backwards.
There are videos all over the net about cats using the toilet paper for an exercise wheel. Pretty funny till you have to clean up the mess.
Thanks for starting this thread! I look forward to how things progress. I am impressed with how well things are going already. Mac sure is a handsome cat.
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