Can dogs and cats get along?

[hereyago]

Ok, i have 2 German Shepards. The puppy was first raised with a adult cat, but the other German Shepard I don't think has even seen a cat. The dogs do get along great with other dogs.

DD11 now wants a kitten for Xmas instead of laptop. She is responsible with the dogs,so I don't worry about her not taking care of said kitty.

To those of you who got kittens after having adult or just puppy dogs, how did it go with the transition? Any advice TIA

 

[RyeCrimsonMoon]

It will take a while for the cats and dogs to get along, but eventually they will! My cat and dogs get along really well, my cat likes to clean my greyhound actually.

 

[kim929]

I agree, it took a little getting used to, the kitten grew on our dog after a bit.

 

[laurie31]

We have added both dogs and cats to our existing pets.

Just go slow introducing the newcomer, and give the existing ones lot of love, and they will all get along eventually. Our last addition was a pair of kittens born of a dumped stray. They FREAKED at our dogs initially, but now they will groom them - lol. (the cats groom the dogs, I mean)

The biggest problem we have is that if we don't watch, the dogs will sometimes eat the cat food. (cat food is not good for dogs!)

Make sure your Shepard sees you petting the cat; it will recognize it as your "property" and be less likely to be aggressive towards it initially.

Or they could start out like this (pics found on 'net -these are not my own pets - but how cute!)

and hopefully end up like this: (once again, these are not my own pets - but mine do sleep like this)

 

[susykt4]

I have a shepherd mix who hates other dogs but loves the cats. I often find him cuddled up with our oldest cat. If your dogs get along well with other dogs you will probably be fine with a kitten. Kittens are so much fun

 

[OK!]

Yep, they sure can.

That's my parents' yellow Lab and my cat, Cisco. Molly wasn't particularly thrilled at first about sharing her pet pillow, but she adjusted.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Yep, they sure can.

That's my parents' yellow Lab and my cat, Cisco. Molly wasn't particularly thrilled at first about sharing her pet pillow, but she adjusted.

how did you get picutes of my pets!

lol, i swear that looks just like my George and Sam. The cat Sam thinks George is his mommy

 

[OK!]

how did you get picutes of my pets!

lol, i swear that looks just like my George and Sam. The cat Sam thinks George is his mommy

Awww! Pets are the greatest.

 

[teacups]

I think it depends on the cat and dog.
I have labs and cats. Two cats think they are dogs and sleep with them, eat with them, play etc. Third cat acts a little more wild and is afraid, so that is the one the dogs will chase on occasion. The dogs take to kittens pretty well in my experience. PLus, you train them (watch closely LOL!) that the kitty is a family member and to be treated nicely.

 

[C.Ann]

We never had any problems with "mix and match" - nor did my DD with her animals..

 

[hopemax]

We got our first cat when our dog was 7 years old. We introduced them slowly, put the cat under a upside down laundry basket and let them sniff at each other, but at some point we had to let them meet without barriers. Our dog was a very motherly dog, and so she decided that the cat was her puppy and proceeded to clean it regularly. The cat quickly learned to get around the room via the furniture because if the dog could get to her, she would have a wet head. Then she taught the dog to just leave her alone.

Over the rest of the dog's life, we had 3 more cats, and the same thing repeated, lots of wet heads. One of the three decided the dog was the best thing ever. She wouldn't wash her own head, she had the dog do it. If the dog was in a deep sleep, the cat would bump her head into the dogs mouth and wake her up. She could also stand under the dog while the dog was eating, they were the best of friends.

 

[omghidanielle]

Yep, they sure can.

That's my parents' yellow Lab and my cat, Cisco. Molly wasn't particularly thrilled at first about sharing her pet pillow, but she adjusted.

Holy cowcat that looks just like my cowcat, Lorraine! That's too funny!

Here she is, watching the History Channel Disney episode

 

[kafitty]

in one house, we have two cats & two dogs, and in the other, 3 dogs & 1 cat...in both cases, the cat came first, or the dogs had previous experience with kitties. My 5 year old Chow is not really a fan of other dogs and will chase after squirrels & other small furry creatures, but her and my year and a half old kitty will chase each other around the yard - it's hilarious!!

some pictures...

Larry & Maggie...Larry is very touchy with his paws, i don't know how else to describe it, but he likes to have them on things.

Larry cuddling with Maggie again...she's really not a fan of this. Nor is she really a fan of cuddling with anyone, period.

and now the tables turn...

not liking that so much now, are you bud?


one of my friends DID have her dog kill her new kitty some years back so it doesn't hurt to be vigilant in the beginning, but once the cats are older and get more confident, they'll either be able to get away quickly or use them claws to put that silly dog in its place!!

 

[LindaR]

Since you have two shepherds you do need to consider their prey drive. Some have high and some don't. (This is not the same but....) We have a toy poodle (7 pound female) and when we adopted a 2 yr old German Shepherd (100 pounds....very large) we had to be very careful. When the poodle would get the "zoom-zooms" thru the house our shepherd would try to stop her with her paw....and that was not good. After they got used to each other, everything was great.

A kitten will swat with her paw and hopefully they will back down! You will also need a cat tree sort of thing.......someplace that only kitty can go to feel safe and escape those "nasty" dog critters!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would find a friend with a cat who would be willing to let you attempt to introduce your dog to it in a safe environment. Preferabley a cat that is already in a home with dogs so the cat won't panic.

You don't really know how well a dog will react until you try it.

Some dogs will do great with kittens, some dogs will want to eat them for dinner.

I remember Feralpeg posting about a rescue dog she had to return b/c the dog had not been tested on cats and she unfortunately discovered that the dog didn't care to be friends with her cats and it was to a level that he needed to be returned. She had a golden retriever, I believe.

Good luck, but really consider the possibility that the dogs won't like the cat. It isn't fun for a cat to have to stay locked up to keep it safe.

 

[glitterkittyy]

Kafitty,
Your kitty could be my Tigger's twin!

My dog and cat get along great as long as the dog remembers who is boss. lol

 

[Karalea]

Cats and dogs don't always get along so please proceed carefully.

A few years ago I attempted to adopt a rescue dog (Lhasa Apso mix). They told me it got along with cats and it did ok the first week or so. As the dog got more comfortable in my home, it became agressive towards the cats. It got so bad I had a trainer come to the house (at $50/session) to evaluate the dog and work with him. She determined the dog wasn't trying to play with the cats but kill them. After several stressful weeks, I had to give the dog back. It was difficult but the cats were there first and my babies.

Now I have 2 minature dachshunds who are afraid of the same cats. Of course, my cats are bigger than the dogs so I think that helps.

 

[Scurvy]

I would find a friend with a cat who would be willing to let you attempt to introduce your dog to it in a safe environment. Preferabley a cat that is already in a home with dogs so the cat won't panic.

You don't really know how well a dog will react until you try it.

Some dogs will do great with kittens, some dogs will want to eat them for dinner.

I remember Feralpeg posting about a rescue dog she had to return b/c the dog had not been tested on cats and she unfortunately discovered that the dog didn't care to be friends with her cats and it was to a level that he needed to be returned. She had a golden retriever, I believe.

Good luck, but really consider the possibility that the dogs won't like the cat. It isn't fun for a cat to have to stay locked up to keep it safe.

Cats and dogs don't always get along so please proceed carefully.

A few years ago I attempted to adopt a rescue dog (Lhasa Apso mix). They told me it got along with cats and it did ok the first week or so. As the dog got more comfortable in my home, it became agressive towards the cats. It got so bad I had a trainer come to the house (at $50/session) to evaluate the dog and work with him. She determined the dog wasn't trying to play with the cats but kill them. After several stressful weeks, I had to give the dog back. It was difficult but the cats were there first and my babies.

Now I have 2 minature dachshunds who are afraid of the same cats. Of course, my cats are bigger than the dogs so I think that helps.

Some (maybe even most) cats and dogs can get along, but it is really important to keep these posts in mind. Not all dogs will learn to live with cats, and not all cats will learn to live with dogs. There are dogs who can never be taught to behave properly with cats. In part this depends on their prey drive - Huskies, for example, are notoriously bad with small animals. While some will be okay with cats, others will always try to kill them. Many terrier breeds were bred to have a strong small prey drive and will try to catch cats, especially small cats.

A dog who is raised from a puppy with cats is more likely to behave well with cats. By the time a dog is an adult it might not be possible to train them to be gentle with cats. It's easy to say that a cat can learn to defend itself, but sadly that isn't always the case. I have known people whose cats were killed by dogs who had seemed to be well trained. In fact someone on a forum I read had that happen last week, and had to euthanize the dog. (I thought I remembered it was the Dis, but it must have been the other forum I read often.)

Please do not bring a cat into your home permanently until you can test your dog to see how he acts around cats. And keep in mind also that a moment of rough play is all it takes for even a non-aggressive dog to kill a cat, so do not ever leave a kitten unattended with an adult dog.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Sure they can! My Nemo was rescued from a dumpster as a 6 week old kitten by a nice woman who owned a dog. The first pictures of Nemo she sent me when I was considering adopting him were of Nemo and the dog cuddling.

 

[pixiewings71]

They can but be cautious and be present when they are together for a while. I've got 2 dogs and 2 cats, when we got the dog we had 2 different cats (1 was DD21s, the other was killed by our neighbors Pit Bull, not in their yard, the dog was out without a leash and chased and killed her) so after the neighbors killed Rogue I decided to get another cat, well the cat I wanted was a sister so I ended up taking 2 kittens....they adjusted quickly to the dog and the dog was fine with them. A few years later we got another dog (mini doxie for DD) and they adjusted fine too. I was more concerned with the puppy getting hurt by the cats then the cats getting hurt by her. LOL BUT, I did try to rescue a dog once, he was a mix, best we could tell he was lab/Pit but we didn't know for sure. He did NOT like my cats...or the rats or lizard we had at that time. He never hurt them but boy did he stare them down and give them the evil eye.......we spent a very stressful week trying to integrate him into our house but eventually I gave up trying and contacted my local adoption clinic, they took him in and found him a home in no time flat. So, basically you just need to be aware that it might not work out......the dogs may not adjust and you may need to find a new home for kitty...or kitty may have to live someplace the dogs can't ever get to. BTW, my first dog is a Sheperd Mix and he is the neatest dog.....so gentle with both cats and "his" puppy.