New puppy owner w/ 2 adult cats

[leemc1]

Hello,

I have a puppy who we've had on a trial adoption for 2 weeks. I know my cats are not happy - they hide in my bedroom (puppy isn't allowed in there) all the time now. The puppy has gotten close to both my cats who smelled him, and one of them has hissed at him. I'm afraid to sign the adoption papers because I don't want my cats to be unhappy forever and I feel so guilty. Does anyone have experience with this? Will they learn to be cool with each other?

 

[r3g3nt]

@leemc1 Hard to say really, cats can be wildly different and some take much longer to warm up than others. I have 2 cats, neither has ever been around other dogs prior to us getting our puppy, and one of them is still very much not a fan of the puppy even after a month and a half. I believe that he will eventually tolerate the puppy but I'm not sure if they will ever be friends. Our other cat is a lot more chill and for the most part ignores the puppy, or touches noses and casually walks away from him; I wouldn't call them friends yet but I think they'll get there eventually.

On the other hand, there is a stray neighborhood kitty that I put food out for, and he absolutely loves our puppy lol.

 

[leemc1]

@r3g3nt Okay cool one of my cats has gotten pretty close to the puppy and they sniffed each other and the cat slinked away all low to the ground. But puppy didn't chase the cat so i hope that's a good sign.

 

[littleangelone]

@leemc1 I have two adult cats. My puppy is now 7 months old and we brought her home at 12 weeks. She is 48 lbs now and expected to he about 79 lbs

The older cat (7 years) pretty much now ignores the puppy. She put the pup in her place a couple of times so my puppy tends to ignore her as well. She is back to her normal self. She goes out the dog door during the day and lies on the porch and sits on her high perch on her cat condo at night.

My younger cat (3 years) likes to taunt the puppy. She tends to sit just out of reach and make the pup bark. She has also never hissed or swatted at the puppy. She moderately tolerates a nose in her butt often.

The one thing we have to watch is the puppy wants to play with her and she is about 8 lbs. As she's big now and will be much bigger we are trying to teach "gentle" which means no rearing up and coming down anywhere close to the cat with both paws.

So, a very long way of saying both cats adapted to the new puppy in their own way.

 

[leemc1]

@littleangelone Thank you that does make me feel a little better. I just wish they'd adapt on my time lol

 

[littleangelone]

@leemc1 Lol! That would be amazing

 

[beefreetwo]

@leemc1 I have 3 adult cats. I also have a 9 week old puppy that we brought her home at 6 weeks (long story for another time). So far my oldest cat (12 years old) has only hissed at her and ran away, my 3 year old mostly ignores Shelby. He will just run away if Shelby gets in his face too much. The one I have to be careful with is my daughter’s cat (7 years old). She will hiss and slap Shelby with her claws out. That cat has high anxiety anyway.

 

[trevor11]

@leemc1 We have two cats - they were about 8 months old when we brought our puppy home. Hes a lab, so high prey drive, large, moron. He can be obnoxious to them, but for the most part they coexist. Our tuxy is much feistier, and he will sometimes paw at him playfully, but usually from up high. Our tabby wants nothing to do with his Bs. Shell be in the same vicinity as him, but if he tries anything, hes either getting a claw to the snoot, or she runs upstairs. I wouldnt say they get stressed. They did at first, but its been about 5 months now and its become much calmer. I think as he matures hell stop being such a butt to them and we can all coexist in peace

Id say the important thing about the situation is making sure the cats have an escape if they need it. Weve got a bunch of places they can hop up on if they need it - desks, tv stands, tables, counters etc. and we have a gate on the stairs, but only about 3/4 closed. They can get past it, but the dog cant, do they can go upstairs if they need too as well.

I would say important thing 2 - keeping the dog out of the litter box and the cat food. We put their food on the counter so he cant teach it, because he would legit eat their entire meal - and cat food is not good for dogs. He also loved cat poop. So we bought a piece of furniture to put the box in. It has a small opening they can go in, but he doesnt fit (anymore).

 

[ayrus87]

@leemc1 Give them more high up places in the common areas to get away from puppy

 

[rockinred2016]

@leemc1 Mine is the opposite he goes out of his way to get to the puppy even antagonizing him. I assumed that’s how cats usually acted but I guess mine is really weird.