Can an 8-year-old cat and a new dog live happily together?
DEAR JOAN >> We’re missing having a dog and are considering adding one to our current one-cat household.
We have had a series of three cocker spaniels over our 50 years
(in July) of marriage, along with a variety of cats, usually two at a time. We’ve been without a dog for several years for a couple of reasons, including having our daughter, her husband and their three cats living with us for a year.
Our current cat, Annie, is 8, a rescue from when she was 2. She survived the year of three boy cats but didn’t like it very much, keeping them out of “her” bedroom with a panther scream we had never heard before they came.
We really don’t want to mess up her life by adding a dog and having her spend the rest of her life under a bed.
We have researched the best dog breeds for coexisting with cats, and as smaller fits our house and yard better, we are hoping to find a rescue King Charles Cavalier that our vet and the internet think are good cat partners.
Any suggestions would be very welcome. Dear John and Judy >> Although my dog is president of the Cat Haters Club, not all dogs feel the same way about felines, and not all cats hate canines. Some cats, perhaps like your Annie, seem to get along better with dogs than with other cats.
No matter what breed of dog you pick, finding out its history with cats and other animals will be important. Talk to the people at the shelter about the dog’s background and ask if he or she has been tested and observed interacting with cats. Dogs that lunge aggressively toward cats and show strong prey drive are not good options for you. Most other behaviors can be sorted out with training.
If you are getting a puppy from a breeder, you’ll need to do some work to make sure the dog doesn’t view Annie as prey.
Before making the introductions, Berkeley Humane recommends putting the litter box, cat food and water in a place where the dog cannot access it. Do it at least a few days, if not weeks, before the dog arrives.
Create some safe, high places where the cat can escape. Tall scratching posts or wide shelves on the walls are great options. If possible, they should be placed so the cat can cross the room without ever having to drop down to the dog’s level.
When you bring the dog home for the first time, keep it on a leash. Make sure your cat can jump up to her safe place and observe. You can keep them mostly separated for about a week, keeping the dog leashed during interactions. Move them around so they get used to each other’s scent throughout the house. At night, keep the dog in a room and let the cat, normally a night prowler, have the run of the rest of the home.
Watch for signs of trouble. If the dog gets overly focused on the cat, call its attention to you and reward it with a treat. Watch out for changes in the cat’s eating, drinking and litter box habits, which could indicate the cat is stressed. If it’s the cat, not the dog, that is being overly aggressive, try providing more exercise through play with the cat.