Need advice on how to introduce a kitten to our dogs

[ncmickeyluvr]

So, we're thinking about maybe getting a kitten. A friend of mine posted pics of her kittens on Facebook last night ( Before someone asks, I don't know why her cats aren't altered ). I jokingly commented that I wanted the blue eyed grey/white one and showed the picture to dh. I didn't think any more of it until this morning when dh asks if I'm going to get the kitten today . Has he lost his mind?? We talked about it for a bit and dh says he wouldn't mind getting one. The kids have always wanted a cat.

So the problem is our 2 shih tzus. I've only ever owned 1 cat and we had him from the time I was 3 until he passed when I was 18.....the very first time my parents left me home alone while they went to WDW, btw. We had several dogs but they were always brought into the cat's house as puppies. DH had a cat when we first met, but it was the same situation when we got a dog.

I wouldn't think anything of it except I vividly remember my Aunt getting a kitten when I was little and her Doberman killed the poor thing. My Aunt went out and left the kitten in the bathroom. The dog broke the door down and killed the poor baby Also, my sister had to give away a kitten because her Golden Retrievers were too rough with it.

Does anyone have any advice on bringing a kitten into the home when you have little dogs? My dogs get along with other dogs well but they don't have much experience with cats. The only cats they've ever seen have been a few neighborhood cats that have come into our yard. They chase them and bark. Is there any way you can tell before hand if the dogs are going to be aggressive? I would hate to put a baby kitty in danger.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I would keep them seperated for a couple of days to let them all get used to each other's smells. Then slowly introduce them with supervised visits until you think that everyone is getting along well. I'm not familiar with that breed of dog, but from my experience smaller dogs tend to get along better with cats than larger dogs.

(BTW....Our large rott/lab mix is terrified of our cats. She won't even look in their direction if they are in the same room).

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We have 3 cats. Before we got our greyhound we brought her over to see how she would act towards the cats. You could do that in reverse. She was crated when we weren't right there until we were sure that she wouldn't hurt the cats.

BTW....Our large rott/lab mix is terrified of our cats. She won't even look in their direction if they are in the same room)

That makes me feel better - I thought my greyhound was just a chicken. The other night she wanted to come downstairs where I was and she sat whining because one of the cats was on the steps blocking her way!

 

[MJMouse]

I've introduced lots of dogs and cats... but for the most part the dogs were known to be kitten friendly. It was usually the cat/kitten who would be wary.

Would it be possible to take your dogs to your friends house to see how they react to the kitten and how the kitten reacts to your dogs? This way you aren't on the dogs turf and the kitten isn't in new surroundings.

I would take them one at a time (NOT together) and leave their leashes on. Walk in to the room where the kittens are and sit in the center with the dog. Let the kittens come to them, don't force them together. Talk to your friend for a while and be natural... see what the reaction is.

If the introductions are ok... no violent outbursts by the dogs (expect a little growl or bark... biting/snapping is not okay)... and the kitten is not absolutely terrified, then you should be okay.

I'd then make sure that the dogs are not unsupervised with the kitten for a while. Put the kitten in the bathroom or dogs in crates... whatever works for you.... your smaller dogs should not be able to break down a door.

Enjoy the kitten!

 

[sunnyday123]

Introduce them slowly. I would keep them separate when you can't be in the same room with them, until the kitten gets older. And I second the OP who said to keep them leashed until everyone has sniffed each other. Make sure they know that they are not allowed to chase her, and it should be fine.

 

[clutter]

Once you do introduce them to each other, can you get a baby gate (one of the short cheaper ones) and put it in the door to the room that will be the kittens? Put it a couple inches up from the floor (the gates are pretty short, so humans can climb over, the kitten can climb under, and unless your dogs are incredibly strong or good jumpers, it will keep them out). This will also help in keeping dogs away from kitten litter box. Good luck, sounds like fun. The dogs should calm down pretty quickly, but I'd still give the kitten a dog-free haven until she gets bigger.

 

[Sleepy]

We took in a very alpha street dog 5 years ago. He likes to catch stray cats outside and try to eat them, but he knew if he wanted to be our dog, he had to behave around our cat. The rule was to be nice to inside kitty. Amazingly, he was. That cat died and we did not introduce another for over a year. The kitten was just 5 weeks old and we were afraid he would try to hurt it.

What we did was hold the kitten and let him smell her. We did this for the first day or so. After that, we would sit in the floor with the kitten between our legs and allow the dog to come sniff. Few days of that and we would allow the kitten to walk around with the dog in the room. This was always supervised. We never left them alone in a room.

At night, the dog slept in our room and the kitten slept with our son. When the kitten got bigger, we allowed them alone in a room and left the house with them loose. Before we did that, we made sure we could trust the dog. He absolutely loves that cat. She used to like jumping from the couch and using his head as a spring board. He is very tolerant.

 

[Micca]

As the dogs are older, I'm pretty sure etiquette calls for something like this:

"Rover, Fido, this is our new kitty Fluffy. Fluffy, this is Rover and Fido"

Hopefully I got that right and haven't suggested something terribly gauche.

 

[luvwinnie]

Once you do introduce them to each other, can you get a baby gate (one of the short cheaper ones) and put it in the door to the room that will be the kittens? Put it a couple inches up from the floor (the gates are pretty short, so humans can climb over, the kitten can climb under, and unless your dogs are incredibly strong or good jumpers, it will keep them out). This will also help in keeping dogs away from kitten litter box. Good luck, sounds like fun. The dogs should calm down pretty quickly, but I'd still give the kitten a dog-free haven until she gets bigger.

Pet Smart sells baby gates (doggy gates really) with CAT DOORS...best thing ever. I have one at the room where the cats eat and have their litter box. Kitties come and go as they please, doggy cannot enter.

 

[luvwinnie]

DO the dogs know the "leave it" command? That would be a good thing to teach before the kitty arrives.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Pet Smart sells baby gates (doggy gates really) with CAT DOORS...best thing ever. I have one at the room where the cats eat and have their litter box. Kitties come and go as they please, doggy cannot enter.

I'll have to look for these gates. We keep one up all the time to keep the dogs out of the bedrooms. I was thinking that we could keep the litter box at the end of the hall so the dogs couldn't get in it. How small is a cat door? My dogs only weigh 12lbs each but they're stockier than a normal cat. I wonder if they could squeeze through?

DO the dogs know the "leave it" command? That would be a good thing to teach before the kitty arrives.

I would love to say that I am 100% confident that they would listen to me in every circumstance....but I can't. If I put a dog biscuit in front of them and said leave it, they would. I wouldn't bet the kitties life on it though. If I'm honest, I'll admit to falling into the trap of not training a toy breed as well as I should. I would never let a large dog get away with the behavior that I let these 2 get away with. They're not aggressive or anything, but they jump on people and that kind of thing. The kittens are still very small and too young to take from their Mama so I guess I'll need to work with these 2 while we wait.

I definitely will make sure that they're on leashes when they're around the kitten until I'm confident.

Thanks everyone. We're going to keep it a secret and surprise the kids!

 

[amg35]

When I introduced Phil (kitten) to Fatty (dog), we put fatty in the bedroom with the door closed. We let Phil smell the door, so did Fatty. Then we put Fatty on a leash and brought Phil into the room.

Fatty was so excited to meet him she peed on the floor and Phil hissed at her!

Then a couple years later we got Max (dog) and basically we just brought him home and let them all have at it! It was fine and they were all friends for years.

Fatty has since left us, but we all miss her so much.