Puppy And Resident Cat Intro's

[Michelleva]

In a few weeks we're going to be the proud parents of a sheltie pup. We have three indoor cats who we need to do introductions with. I think the two younger ones will be fine, the oldest one is a a sooky sensitive boy though. So any advice is appreciated. We have several scratching posts and an outdoor enclosure where the cats can escape to if they need to. We have my parents little dog here at the moment too, before he goes to live in Cairns, so the cats are already used to living with a dog, but he's an oldy and doesn't do much other than eat and sleep. He's certainly not an excited jumpy puppy.

We will be crate training the pup, is it a good idea to set the crate up now, so the cats are used to it, or is it better to do it closer to when she arrives. We're going on holidays in a couple of weeks and after that our pup comes home.

[Tugg Speedman]

I don't think setting up the crate without an actual dog in it will make too much difference to the cats. It's the dog that they might have the issue with, not the crate IMHO.

We have a little white cat at home and he got on with our pup from the moment we brought her home. While he loves the dog - he is constantly moving to higher ground (tables, chairs etc) in order to get some rest from the constant head biting that he is subject to! It might be a good idea to introduce them with a glass or flyscreen door between them at first. That way the cats can become familiar with the puppy without the threat of physical contact.

The fact that your cats are already used to living with a dog is good, and should help them to become accustomed to the puppy a lot more quickly. Just make sure that after being fully introduced that the cats have some surfaces that they can jump up on if they need a break!

[Cheyd]

Congratulations!

We introduced Merlin about 4 months ago to 2 indoor cats, we supervised their interaction for the first couple of days. He was mostly interested in us for the first few days which gave the cats time to watch and suss him out. Merlin slept in the laundry at night, sectioned off from the rest of the house and was also separated during the day when we were at work. We were also lucky to take some time off from work to bond with him and also to settle everyone with the new puppy coming into the house.

If the cats started getting a bit funny or hissing at him, we would put him away or go outside to play with him so they got a time out.

Merlin learn pretty early on from Jessie, who is 19 years and grumpy, to stay away from her but he and Bella get along like a house on fire. They quite often sit out in the cat yard together investigating something or chasing each other around! Merlin's just had a 3rd cat introduced in the last week so he is a little unsettled cause all he wants to do is make friends but Axel wont have it just yet!

Does the breeder you are getting the pup from have cats? Perhaps they can introduce the puppy to a cat before they send her, that might help too

[Michelleva]

Thanks guys. To be honest I'm not too concerned. I work from home so supervision won't be too hard. And at the breeders house Georgia currently lives with 3 or 4 cats. So I doubt the pup will have any issues, if anyone will have issues it will be the cats.

I just don't want the pup chasing the cats everywhere, the second she walks in the door. In the past when we've had cats and dogs together, the cats were always the boss and the dogs were quite happy with that arrangement. Even Mums dog knows the cats rule the roost.