Puppies and cats

[SouthPhilly267]

Jeffrey is 11 weeks old and we brought him home 2 weeks ago. My roommate has a cat. (Don't know anything about cats) What is he best way to introduce the two of them? Since he is growing more adventurous by the day I don't want him to get hurt. Can they or will they get along. Oh and it's a male cat abiut 5 years old. He has retreated to the basement but sneaks up and watches the puppy all the time.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

I don't have cats or any other pets...I'm just a dog guy...However, I did live on the farm for a lot of years and found introducing animals as youngsters works well...and here's what I found, "have a plan, & don't plan the outcome".
We supervised all activities between animals until they were friends...and still kept one eye on things....

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Introduce them in a neutral setting of the house. Be sure to take it slow and give corrections to the puppy if he gets to rambunctious with the cat.
The cat may run from JM or he may stand his ground. Make sure your roommate trims the cats claws to minimize injury to your puppy.
Never leave them unattended together.
I always like to have areas in every room that the cat can easily retreat to safety from the pup. A cat tree is ideal so the cat can remain higher up.
If the cat is curious about the puppy, I would put a leash on the pup and let the cat approach while having the puppy under control.
I have 2 cats, a 17yr old female Torti (10lbs) and a 4 yr old male tabby (20lbs). My female dobe gets along well with both.
My male will get along with them if they don’t run. If they run then he wants to give chase. You must not allow this.
It just takes time and training and they learn the boundaries.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I've got this problem and my Dobe is almost 2!!!

My only advice is don't delay their introduction and they will not figure it out themselves. It will be way easier to control a small puppy versus a mini horse. Dobes grow so quick that you don't have as much time as you might think.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Another thing I want to mention that a lot of people with cats don’t realize.
Cats do not display emotions like dogs do and cats become traumatized easily if chased or harassed by dogs or other animals and they do not recover from that stress as easily as dogs. It will affect their health because of stress and you need to make sure that they are supervised and the introductions be as calm and positive as possible and only short durations until positive progress is made.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

An easy way to understand the difference between dogs and cats is; a dog wags his tail and dances around in front of you going, pet me, pet me, play with me. A cat looks at you from across the room and says; you want to pet me human, then you come over here to pet me.
It hurts to realize you are not worth their time and effort to walk over to you for a pet on the neck but they will be the first ones to pounce on you and irritate the crap out of you at 3am. Once you are awake they run somewhere else, like their mission is complete.
I think it’s a control issue...they want control.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

Cats....to me they're like the Broadway Play "Cats"...
Once you've seen it you wonder why did I go see it, It did nothing for me, nor do the real ones.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Cats....to me they're like the Broadway Play "Cats"...
Once you've seen it you wonder why did I go see it, It did nothing for me, nor do the real ones.

I went to see the play Cats when it was touring in Charlotte NC in the early 90’s while I was visiting friends.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

@Tropicalbri's ...we might have seen each other...LOL!....I had purchased 10 shows that year and a friend said make sure you see Cats!...We're no longer a friend!

 

[Tropicalbri's]

@Tropicalbri's ...we might have seen each other...LOL!....I had purchased 10 shows that year and a friend said make sure you see Cats!...We're no longer a friend!

I think what I liked about it the most was the athleticism of the dancers because I know what kind of brutal training goes into that type of dance.
They were impressive.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

GG if I didn’t know better I would think you suffer from Ailurophobia.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

GG if I didn’t know better I would think you suffer from Ailurophobia.

There may be some truth to that...I could go into detail but we'll save that for a rainy day...

 

[Kay Shaw]

A lot if people say you need to teach your dog or puppy to respect the cat and leave it alone. What if it’s the other way around and the cat won’t leave your dog or puppy alone?

 

[Tropicalbri's]

A lot if people say you need to teach your dog or puppy to respect the cat and leave it alone. What if it’s the other way around and the cat won’t leave your dog or puppy alone?

Then you must train your cat. People think cats are not trainable but they are. My male cat does not get fed unless he sits politely and waits for the release command. I whistle for him and he comes running. I can tell him to kennel up into the Jeep or truck and he does. He is not always perfect with his training but he does really well for the most part. I have taught him to leave wild birds alone and he does. He walks with us when I walk the pups and he loves swimming. He isn’t your average cat, more like a dog in cat’s clothing. He still gets the rips (zoomies) at 3:00 to 4:00am but we are usually waking up at that time so it’s not a big deal.
He loves to be brushed with the zoom groom, especially if I am brushing the twins. He will saunter over and flop all 20lbs of his entitled self down next to the pups for his turn.
It’s all about training consistently and fairly.

 

[Kay Shaw]

Then you must train your cat. People think cats are not trainable but they are. My male cat does not get fed unless he sits politely and waits for the release command. I whistle for him and he comes running. I can tell him to kennel up into the Jeep or truck and he does. He is not always perfect with his training but he does really well for the most part. I have taught him to leave wild birds alone and he does. He walks with us when I walk the pups and he loves swimming. He isn’t your average cat, more like a dog in cat’s clothing. He still gets the rips (zoomies) at 3:00 to 4:00am but we are usually waking up at that time so it’s not a big deal.
He loves to be brushed with the zoom groom, especially if I am brushing the twins. He will saunter over and flop all 20lbs of his entitled self down next to the pups for his turn.
It’s all about training consistently and fairly.

My cat is 2 years old and he’s generally well behaved. We got him from a lady that had 2 poodles and she said he was good with dogs. We’ve had him around dogs since then and he acts fine but he’s a really high energy cat that loves to play. So sometimes when he is around dogs they want to be left alone but he still wants to play.

 

[Kay Shaw]

The dog in my profile pic is my Uncle’s Doberman Chase who my cat loves to play with and they get along well most of the time. But like I said sometimes my cat wants to play when the dog doesn’t want to anymore. And you’re right, cats can definitely be trained it just takes work. My cat also acts more like a dog than a cat. I taught him to play fetch and roll over.

 

[Kaiser2016]

The dog in my profile pic is my Uncle’s Doberman Chase who my cat loves to play with and they get along well most of the time. But like I said sometimes my cat wants to play when the dog doesn’t want to anymore. And you’re right, cats can definitely be trained it just takes work. My cat also acts more like a dog than a cat. I taught him to play fetch and roll over.

I agree, cats can be trained for many things. But a cat that has more energy than a Doberman? This sounds impossible because Dobermans are tireless

 

[Kay Shaw]

I agree, cats can be trained for many things. But a cat that has more energy than a Doberman? This sounds impossible because Dobermans are tireless

Its not that he has more energy but after a while Chase just gets sick of playing with him so he goes to lay down until I play with him. My cat is really annoying and he can be a real pest which is why his trying is a work in progress. But my cat is really high energy. He gets the zoomies like a dog and when Chase gets really amped up and excited my cat goes toe to toe with him because he gets just as crazy. Its like having a dog in a cats body.

 

[Kay Shaw]

My cat has literally been in a mood today. He was running through the house earlier with a pair of my socks and the only way I got them back was because he dropped them in the toilet. So I had to fish my socks out of the toilet.