Introducing A Puppy To A Cat

Puppies often love cats

If you have an adult cat, the chances are he will be seriously underwhelmed at the appearance of your puppy. But your puppy will probably find their appearance incredibly exciting.

Your most important objective is to make sure that the cat and the puppy don’t hurt one another, whilst forging the foundations of future friendship. Because most puppies think cats are great. And the very first reaction of many pups to a cat, is to lunge toward this potential new furry friend. This is normally in an enthusiastic attempt to play.

Cats are usually less easily impressed. They vary in their reaction to puppies.

How does your cat feel about dogs?

When thinking about introducing a puppy to a cat, begin by looking at your cat. What past experience has she had with dogs? If you have visiting friends, or dogs to stay on occasion, how does she react?

Does she flee the house and not come back until the dog is gone? Does she stand at a distance, fur on end and hissing? Or hide in a corner, peeking out suspiciously?

Is she intrigued, carefully creeping forward to say hello? Does she get over excited and pushy? Each of these scenarios tell you something about how your cat might feel about your new puppy. Take this on board when planning out their introductions. Remember to take it very slowly and carefully with a cat who is afraid.

Cats that are scared of dogs

Some cats disappear for a few days after a puppy arrives. Others move discretely upstairs for a few weeks and refuse on any account to breath the same air as this offensive intruder.

It is tempting to try and force the friendship, perhaps by making the two share a space in the hopes that they will ‘get used’ to one another. However, if your cat has access to the outside world as most cats do, this is likely to result in him packing his bags. And possibly moving in with one of your neighbors.

Some cats chase dogs

Some cats are quite bold with puppies, even a little aggressive. They are not about to give up feline privileges and will give the puppy short shrift. Especially if he tries to get ‘up close and personal’ with them.

This can work quite well, especially with larger, boisterous puppies. The pup quickly learns his place and is unlikely ever to pose a problems to the neighborhood cats

You do need to take a little care here though. Very small ‘toy’ puppies are occasionally mistaken for prey by cats.

Disasters are uncommon but they do happen. Even a disciplinary cuff from a cat can hurt a puppy quite badly if it catches him in the eye.

Knowing your cat, and how she is likely to react to a new puppy will be helpful in managing your expectations. And in letting you know how cautiously to proceed. However, the process for introducing them will still be very similar.

Three simple rules for introducing a puppy to a cat

When it comes to introducing dog to cat, we have 3 simple rules of thumb that we like to follow:

• Supervise all interaction between the puppy and the cat for four weeks
• Prevent chasing
• Give the cat an escape route

Supervising a puppy and a cat

If you are having a little panic at the idea of supervising your puppy and cat constantly for several weeks, then I totally understand.

But don’t worry.

Your new puppy will need pretty much constant supervision for the first few weeks and months he is with you anyway.

When he arrives at 8 weeks old he will not be potty trained, he will be a stranger in a new house and will need lots of company while settling in.

Whenever your pup isn’t being supervised by you, he should be safely tucked away in a puppy playpen(paid link) or puppy crate(paid link).

These bits of equipment aren’t just fantastically helpful when it comes to potty training, they will also enable you to be confident that he is not harassing the cat every time you need to leave the room.

Dog chasing cat

It may be quite entertaining to watch a small puppy set off in futile pursuit of the family cat. Who hops nimbly on to the back of the sofa, tail twitching. But cat chasing is a really serious problem in dogs and you don’t want to encourage it in any way.

Failure to teach your dog not to chase cats can result in serious trouble later on down the line. The problem is, chasing is intrinsically satisfying to dogs. The more your puppy does it, the more he’ll like it.

You can quickly end up with a dog obsessed with chasing any moving object.

How to stop dogs chasing cats

You can prevent chasing in two ways

• By preventing access to the chase
• By teaching to puppy to pay attention to you whilst the cat is in the room

Preventing the chase means using barriers and/or restraining the puppy.

Barriers and restraints

Baby gates are a great way to separate cats and puppies.  Most cats can walk through the bars or hop over the top with ease. You can even get them with cat doors. These ensure that your puppy cannot pursue the cat very far.

During the first few days in the house, or for longer with a determined puppy, you may also want to put the pup on a house line. This is like a short trailing leash which you can pick up when you need to intervene or prevent unwanted behavior.

How to get your puppy’s attention

You can teach your puppy to pay attention to you and to obey simple commands using food rewards. Then gradually help him do these things for very short periods whilst he is restrained from chasing the cat and whilst the cat is in the room.

Making sure your cat has an escape route

It may seem that the cat will never get used to the puppy if he keeps disappearing. But in fact, your cat is far more likely to be willing to spend time with the puppy if he knows he can leave whenever he wants to.

Make sure that you give him access to an area of the house that the puppy is not allowed to be in. Baby gates are ideal for this.

In addition to the baby gates, if you don’t have a cat flap(paid link), consider getting one installed.

Can dogs and cats get along?

As long as you introduce them carefully, slowly and with the right supervision, there is no reason why many dogs and cats can’t get along.

Some might become friends and even playmates within a few weeks. Others may take a lot longer, months or even years to become happy to settle down in the same space.