Getting a Dog, but I have a Cat.

[adsman]

Okay, forum advice time,

I'm getting a beautiful black labrador in a few days time. She's two years old and a prefect family dog. I haven't got any pictures yet. The problem is that I have a cat, sort of. The cat adopted me a little under two years ago. It was a kitten when it turned up on my doorstep, and it came from cats that were a bit wild. Since it turned up I've moved house once, and it took a bit of adjusting to that but it adjusted.
He's a strange cat, (his name is Scratch.) At home he's very affectionate. If I see him outside he'll run away from me, even if I've just let him out. Displaying his wild genes I suppose.

So how do I introduce Scratch to the new dog? Will he just have to tough it out? Any special tips?

Oh, and I need a name for my dog. Her name is Piccola, but that sucks.

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[Cream Soda]

Let them gradually sniff each other through a door. That way the cat feels safe (since to be fair, it is his territory..) Then I would swap bedding etc. so they could get used to one another's scent without the chaos.

When you do have the face to face, hold the cat and let them sniff each other. If the cat wants to take off, let it. Just make sure it has it's safe places to escape to when the puppy gets annoying. We have baby gates around...

Make sure you put the litter box in the safe room where he can't get it too. If you find you do have a turd burglar, don't use clumping kitty litter.

[MegaloMialo]

Contact Caesar the dog whisperer.

[Wondercall]

I don't think this is going to work with the cat that you described.

[AlexM]

The magic of web searches:

http://www.petco.com/Content/Article.asp...fromnewpet=true

[pokergrader]

My sister had a very similar situation with a cat that was very much wild outside (killing things and bringing them home, spent most of the days outside, most nights inside), and a new dog. However, the dog was about the same size as the cat when they got him, and thus the cat really ran the show. Then after the dog grew older, it still was pretty afraid of the cat.

Also, in my experience, the cat never had to worry about getting away from the dog, since it could jump on tables and other things, whereas the dog couldn't. However this was with a Corgi, which is obviously much smaller than a lab.

I'm not sure how they were introduced to each other, but after a while they definetly were very much OK with each other, even after the dog grew to be twice the size of the cat.

[Cream Soda]

[ QUOTE ]
The magic of web searches:

http://www.petco.com/Content/Article.asp...fromnewpet=true

[/ QUOTE ]


Imagine that, Isn't that exactly what I said?