Introducing a kitten to a dog?

A

anonymousss

New member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I really want to get a new kitten, but I'm just not sure how well it would get on with my almost-9-year-old westie/bichon frise mix. Like most terriers, he is extremely excitable. We love him to death, but never really properly trained him. Oops. He enjoys barking like crazy at anybody and anything that walks by the house, and as a terrier he goes crazy when there are rabbits or squirrels nearby.

He can get a little aggressive with dogs bigger than him, but he actually does well with dogs his size or smaller. So I am hoping he would be okay with a kitten since it would be smaller than him. But if the cat were to run by him or something, I'm afraid it would trigger his preying instinct. Do you think it's possible, by using a gradual approach, to introduce a kitten into the house? I don't want to risk any sort of canine-feline tragedy here, but I really want a kitten.
 
Introduce your other pets gradually. Start by keeping your new arrival in one room, separate from the other pets, with it’s own supplies (litter box, food, and water) and let the cat explore and become comfortable with that room. Typically this can be done in a day or two.

Once your new arrival is comfortable with that room switch the situation by letting the established pets into that room and let the new arrival explore the rest of the house, still keeping them separated. This will give all pets a chance to ‘sniff out’ the others. Again, this should only take a day or two.

Then you can introduce your pets to your new arrival. Keep a close watch on the first few encounters. It is normal for hissing and little tiffs and these should eventually fade.

Remember to give equal attention to both new and existing pets.

Social adjustments will gradually work themselves out.
good luck.
 
yes i have 2 dogs and 3 cats living altogether just make sure to love them equally and these are the steps to introducing a cat/kitten to a dog/puppy.

1. Put a mesh wire barrier and make him sit inside the barrier.
2. Put the cat down on the other side of the barrier and let it look at the dog.
3. After a while they will start to get along with each other and calm down.
4 you can put a leash on the dog and then put him about 1 meter away from the cat.
5 If he is still jumpy then keep him in the barrier a little more.

Make sure that the kittens bed is high enough so that the dog wont disturbe it.
When the dog disturbs the cat the cat will give it a tap or a little scratch no big deal but this is a sign for the dog to leave the cat alone.

HOPE THIS WORKS AND HELPS!
 
Back
Top