Cats and dogs? [NA]

[alaskaflyer]

Anyone have any advice about introducing an old dog to a new trick?

It is springtime in Denali National Park, which means a select group of our employees will be attending their retirement party soon and then moving to their new home. In their ninth year (generally) NPS sled dogs are retired and adopted out. Most go to employees or locals, some are adopted by people from all over the (northern) United States who have expressed interest and meet certain criteria.

I'm considering adopting Minke. She will turn nine in early summer. She's a great dog, rather mellow for a sled dog, and only 58 lbs (at last weigh-in.) Problem is...I and my girlfriend have a 18 month-old cat in the house too.

Minke has been getting a little stiff in the hindquarters so she stayed home this time during the long patrol to Wonder Lake, and has been feeling a little lonely without her pack. So she stayed with us this weekend. We tried all sorts of ideas to introduce her to our cat (spayed female.) The best we could do is get within about four feet of the dog with the cat in our arms.

Minke got zapped in the nose when she first came over Friday night - she broke through a baby gate and stuck her head inside a closet where Lizzie was hanging out Now both animals are nervous of the other. But if Minke sees Lizzie moving at any speed other than slow motion that "chase instinct" takes over and she is after her. I believe she thinks Lizzie is a rabbit with extremely sharp claws Lizzie is rather small for her age - malnourished as a kitten until we found her, and the sled dogs lead a sheltered life...the only cats they may have ever seen are lynx!

These things are much easier when you are dealing with a puppy! Any advice?

 

[ScottM]

Get t-shirts or towels with each animals smell on them and then with the animals separated exchange the towels so that get used to each other's smells. Slowly re-introduce them. first from behind closed doors where they can sniff each other under the door, then move up to a screen type door where they can see and smell each other. Eventually they will get to see each other as not a threat.

 

[woodstock]

Never leave them unattended. Never leave the cat without an escape route. I know people have had success with mixing animals, but any time I've visited friend/family homes who have done that, it bothers me because the cat always seems on edge unless they were introduced when the dog was a puppy. I know you don't want to hear this, but were it me - I wouldn't do it.

 

[Everskyward]

How much success you have probably depends on the personalities of the individual animals too. I had a 8-year-old, 40-pound dog (oversized Sheltie) when I brought home a 1-pound kitten (the one in my avatar). She immediately started hissing and spitting at him and gave him a couple swipes across the nose. From then on she was the boss. He tolerated her but you could see him rolling his eyes. The strangest interaction I ever saw between them was one day when I heard a lot of activity and went to investigate. They were both playing with a (semi-live) mouse...

 

[ScottM]

They were both playing with a (semi-live) mouse...

Very Sun Tzu of them.

 

[mikea]

I've got suggestions for the the stiff hindquarters.

Pancho is doing great on prescription Metacam and Glucosamine. My only problem is getting her to swallow the doggie glucosamine tablets. I have to coat them in peanut butter and put them on a senior cookie, which also has it.

I just bought 2 bottles of a new supply and after 6 tries she keeps spitting the tablets out. I think i"m gonna try breaking them up and adding them to her meals.

They're supposed to get 500mg Glucosamine twice a day. It's hard to find human capsules in 500mg doses.

She also gets it in her Purina Pro Plan Senior dog food.

The food and the treat don't have much so she isn't overdosing on it.

 

[ScottM]

They're supposed to get 500mg Glocosamine twice a day. It's hard to find human capsules in 500mg doses.

They have it at horse and farm fleet sometimes. It is not the human version but the version for animals. Same stuff though, cheaper too.

 

[Henning]

Anyone have any advice about introducing an old dog to a new trick?

It is springtime in Denali National Park, which means a select group of our employees will be attending their retirement party soon and then moving to their new home. In their ninth year (generally) NPS sled dogs are retired and adopted out. Most go to employees or locals, some are adopted by people from all over the (northern) United States who have expressed interest and meet certain criteria.

I'm considering adopting Minke. She will turn nine in early summer. She's a great dog, rather mellow for a sled dog, and only 58 lbs (at last weigh-in.) Problem is...I and my girlfriend have a 18 month-old cat in the house too.

Minke has been getting a little stiff in the hindquarters so she stayed home this time during the long patrol to Wonder Lake, and has been feeling a little lonely without her pack. So she stayed with us this weekend. We tried all sorts of ideas to introduce her to our cat (spayed female.) The best we could do is get within about four feet of the dog with the cat in our arms.

Minke got zapped in the nose when she first came over Friday night - she broke through a baby gate and stuck her head inside a closet where Lizzie was hanging out Now both animals are nervous of the other. But if Minke sees Lizzie moving at any speed other than slow motion that "chase instinct" takes over and she is after her. I believe she thinks Lizzie is a rabbit with extremely sharp claws Lizzie is rather small for her age - malnourished as a kitten until we found her, and the sled dogs lead a sheltered life...the only cats they may have ever seen are lynx!

These things are much easier when you are dealing with a puppy! Any advice?

It can be tricky, but it can work out. On the ranch we always had a rotating and ever growing contingent of cats and dogs. One of the tricks is to have cat accessible shelves in every room so she has a place to go. A single dog rarely gets the best of a single healthy cat, but it can happen. Just don't clip the cats claws until things work themselves out. Typically though, working dogs aren't the greatest pets.

 

[bsdunek]

I've got suggestions for the the stiff hindquarters.

Pancho is doing great on prescription Metacam and Glucosamine. My only problem is getting her to swallow the doggie glucosamine tablets. I have to coat them in peanut butter and put them on a senior cookie, which also has it.

I just bought 2 bottles of a new supply and after 6 tries she keeps spitting the tablets out. I think i"m gonna try breaking them up and adding them to her meals.

They're supposed to get 500mg Glucosamine twice a day. It's hard to find human capsules in 500mg doses.

She also gets it in her Purina Pro Plan Senior dog food.

The food and the treat don't have much so she isn't overdosing on it.

Interesting - my wifes 14 year old Lab loves her Glucosamine, thinks they are a treat! She gets Medicam too, really helps her hind quarters.

We've only been married 4 1/2 years, so my Corgi still chases my wifes cat. They have an understanding though - my Corgi will only get so close. Sometimes the cat will sneak up to my Corgi and meow and then run. I think it's just become a game. Hope Minke and your cat come to that kind of understanding.

 

[rottydaddy]

When I fist brought Peg (the Wonder-Rotty!) home, there were two cats living here. Peg wouldn't hurt a cat, but she sure likes to get close to them (the urge to chase is there, but not the urge to kill, apparently), and of course the cats were not too keen on that.

It was chaotic for a while, but next thing you know I was catching them napping together.

The key factor was that the cats could get away...this loft is huge, and there are many good hiding places and high perches. They could flee, and eventually Peg would lose interest.
This is important... otherwise the cat is going to get desperate, freak out on the dog, and even a mellow dog could then get ramped-up sufficiently to hurt the cat or kill it.
Barring an escape route, definitely separating them for a while is a good idea, as stated above.

Another key thing is to make sure the dog can't get at the cat's food- put it up on something or whatever. As for the cat raiding the dog's food, that is the only thing that really ****es Peg off, but the cats responded favorably to her warning growls and things never got out of hand.

Once some order is established, you'll find that despite the mythology of cats and dogs, they will provide each other with stimulus and even affection, which is good for all concerned.

 

[Skip Miller]

My brother introduced Eric, a full grown German Shorthair, to his family which included Fuzzy, the family cat. Fuzzy was racked out on a shelf in the linen closet and the first she knew of the dog was staring at the dog's nose from short range - must have been the equivalent of a double-barrelled shotgun at point blank range for the poor cat.

The chase was on, and it went through three floors of the house up and down the drapes, etc. before we corralled Eric and let Fuzzy retire to safety outside. She came home to reclaim her territory. It was years before they were truly acclimated but they made it. Fuz did learn to never NEVER run. Every time she paraded through the living room at a sedate pace, that shotgun was pointed right at her, following her every move. But they made it, and even enjoyed each other's company eventually.

What made this work? IMO, Eric was a very well behaved dog, responding well to the usual commands. My brother and his kids gave very consistent verbal commands that Eric was to lay off every time he got excited at Fuz's presence. If it weren't for Eric's high state of training and a consistent, constant message to lay off, I don't think it would have worked.

Best of luck. Thanks for giving a good dog a good home!

-Skip

 

[Ghery]

When I was young we had a black Cocker Spaniel who was a confirmed cat chaser. Had a running war going on with the cat across the street (who would have killed the dog had the dog ever caught him). We got a couple of kittens and the dog had to learn that they were off limits. Also had a Golden Retriever at the time who was going through a false pregnancy and was giving milk. One of the kittens took advantage and grew up thinking he was a Golden. Poor old Cocker would be sitting there with the cat rubbing up against him and sticking his tail in the dog's face. The pained look on that dog was priceless. You could just hear him, "Get this cat AWAY from me!" Took all the self control he had.

Then there's the Golden we have now and a cat we had when we got the dog. The cat had no trouble with the previous dog, but this new one was unacceptable to him. More than once we saw 6 pounds of cat chase 80 pounds of Golden Retriever out of the room. The cat died a year or so ago (at 17 1/2 years of age) and life has been much calmer for the dog. The cats in the house now ignore her.

 

[Anthony]

The strangest interaction I ever saw between them was one day when I heard a lot of activity and went to investigate. They were both playing with a (semi-live) mouse...

Interesting. My dog and cat "tolerated" each other. (We had to put the cat down when she was 18 y.o.). Actually, they got along pretty well, the dog would get playful with the cat and the cat would swipe and the dog would leave her alone. Rinse and repeat.

I heard some activity in our basement and went down to fine the dog (German Shorthaired Pointer) and our cat acting as a "Hunter/Killer" team. They had a mouse cornered and were acting as a team to contain the mouse. I quickly put a stop to that after laughing my ass off. I trapped the mouse with a box (I became the third team mate) and took it outside. The cat a dog were dissapointed, Daddy is such a spoil sport!

I say go for it!