Dog and Cat Meet-n-Greet

June 8, 2018 11:17 AM

I have a cat. He has a dog. We want to introduce the dog to the cat. I have no idea how to go about this.

Me: Live in 1250 sqft condo with one cat, 14, who has literally never in her life seen or interacted with anything other than another cat. She's been an only cat for 4 years now. She's extremely bonded to me. Possibly relevant, she has an ACL injury and some loss of upward mobility because of this.

Him: Lives with a ~40# lab-looking mutt. Dog is extremely affectionate and people focused and has interacted with cats and other dogs. Has not displayed any cat centric aggression. In my interactions with Dog, I am not sure Dog even knows what aggression is. Has reportedly barked once in the entire time she's been owned by this particular human and never in my hearing. Dog is sweet but kind of dumb and not especially well-trained.

For Human Reasons we'd like to introduce the dog and the cat and hopefully they would be able to coexist peacefully for short periods of time. I have concerns, mainly that my cat has literally never interacted with a dog, and also that the dog will get into the cat's food and litter box. There is basically nothing I can do in my space to sequester those things - it's a one-bedroom condo and stuff is where it is. In theory, I could move stuff into my bedroom and close off the cat in there, if I had to, but that's stressful for the cat and I'd prefer a peaceful co-existence. Also I need to sleep at night and the dog is pretty bonded to her human and would be inconsolable if she were shut out at night. Cat is also used to having the run of the house, obviously.

How do you do this? I am not a Dog Person and I have never been a Dog Person. I have a really strong desire to protect my cat and her territory from interlopers, but uhhh . . . I also want this dog to be able to be in my space. I have a covered balcony that the dog could go out on if we need to separate them, but the cat would be able to see the dog through the glass wall.

How do you do this kind of thing?

posted by Medieval Maven to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

For the litterbox issue: Where is the litter right now? If you can put the box in a cabinet/hutch/bathroom/whatever and then keep the door open a fixed amount using something like this (or a regular hook and eye screw, or a hook and a piece of rope, or whatever feels sufficiently secure), then the cat can travel freely while the dog is securely excluded. If nighttime is the particular concern, then maybe you could keep the bedroom door open a fixed amount and keep the litterbox outside of the bedroom (with the pup inside and the cat given free range).

You could use the same technique to give the kitty access to a dog-free space, even if that space is just the bedroom during the day or the bathroom or something. Also, most baby gates are (somewhat)-dogproof-but-not-catproof, and can create similar zones (kitchen? hallway? doesn't need to be huge.)
posted by mosst at 11:32 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Is Dog crate trained? Bringing her over and having her in a crate during the initial introduction is a good way to control the situation and allow the cat to get comfortable with the dog, otherwise the cat will likely just hide under the bed until the dog leaves. A second option is to keep Dog on leash under the humans control until the cat is comfortable enough for an introduction, but that could be a long time.

Untrained dog + household that is not dog-proofed doesn't sound like a good idea to me in the first place. You mention kitty litter & cat food, but what about human food, the bathroom trash, your favorite quilt? Personally I think I would rely heavily on a crate (if she is crate-trained) and/or baby gates to keep the dog in the same room as humans at all times, then let the cat do what she will. You can install the baby gates up off the floor about 6" so the cat can squeeze underneath but the dog can't.
posted by muddgirl at 11:39 AM on June 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

The way we did it was to keep the dog confined to his own room for the first while. That way, the cat can still be secure that he owns the house, and can sniff that there's a dog over there, safe behind the door not bugging him. Then bit by bit, allow the dog to roam around in small areas and for limited periods of time. A lot depends on how cool the dog is, in terms of not "playing with" (chasing) the cat.

Be mindful about the placement of the cat food! We had to put it on a shelf that the dog couldn't get to, because they will just scarf it down which will make the cat hate him forever!
posted by jasper411 at 11:41 AM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

can you babygate the kitchen so the dog cannot get to her food, and so that there is a dog-free area?

I'd introduce them with the dog on a long line, but if the cat has access to a bedroom during the day and to the kitchen for food and water, it sounds like the dog is highly unlikely to be agressive towards the cat and the cat can ignore the dog without much stress.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:43 AM on June 8, 2018

I used baby gates and put the cat food in the bathroom with the door propped closed so only cat could go in but not dog. Also leashed dog to couch for a while to preclude chasing (while in the room with them, never alone). Dog eventually chased cat anyway. Cat bopped dog on nose. Dog is afraid of cat despite being 6x her size. Wins all around. She sometimes tries to engage cat now, and cat makes it clear that is a mistake, and things are peaceful. It’s stressful no matter what initially, but they adapt pretty quickly and establish an order. Supervised interactions are key.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 11:56 AM on June 8, 2018

If the baby gate method will work for you, they have gates that have a door in them, so you don't have to step over them all the time. Also, they have them with little cat doors - so you could have a way for your cat to easily get through without having to jump, but the dog would be on the other side.

Here is an example of one. My pug can fit through the cat door if she tries, but she is 22ish lbs.
posted by needlegrrl at 12:18 PM on June 8, 2018

SureFeed Microchip Small Dog & Cat Feeder can protect cat food from unintended recipients.
posted by srboisvert at 12:59 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Before you introduce them, trade favorite bed/blankets or even towels you've rubbed them down with, so they get familiar with each others' smells.

Feed them on either side of a closed door. Graduate to a baby gate so they can see and smell each other. If that doesn't go well, you can use your patio so they can see each other but it's a little more separated than a baby gate.

At first, keep the dog on a leash whenever dog and cat share a space. You do not want the dog to learn how awesome chasing cats is (so I'd start with a short leash, and move to a long line later). Redirect the dog's attention with treats and praise anytime she seems too focused on the cat.

Make sure the cat always has a safe space the dog can't get do. Traditionally, this would be a cat tree or shelves, but that probably won't work with your cat.

Or maybe you won't need to do all that. It sounds like your dog is much chiller than ours. (I could tell you some stories...)

If the litter and/or food are in a bathroom or laundry room, you can use these to limit how far the door can open. I optimistically bought one when we got our dog, but we haven't needed to install it yet.
posted by natabat at 1:58 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Bring the dog in on a leash. Let the cat come to the dog at her leisure. The cat is likely going to set the terms of the dog/cat relationship. As long as the dog is non-aggressive (which it sounds like this dog is a sweetie marshmallow of a dog) it's likely peace can be achieved pretty easily. If the dog gets up in the cat's personal space too much it's likely to get popped on the nose by the cat and that normally draws the line quickly.

Or the cat may just do its cat thing and find a hidey hole.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 2:28 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

It’s worth mentioning I think that even when you are in the same room and things seem chill, it is concepually possible that the dog pounces on the cat and kills it before anyone can stop it. All it takes is one hard tail pull to kill a cat (ok, spinal damage but that’s pretty much a death sentence for an old cat)

I say this not to make you paranoid but to urge caution. I would not even start this process if I were you unless guy makes a serious committed effort to start training (and crate training) dog right now, before they meet and while you are still planning.

My policy is untrained 40lb dogs don’t get to meet my cat.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:02 PM on June 8, 2018 [8 favorites]

You can put catfood and litterbox inside enclosures (separate enclosures!), with a catflap for the cat to enter by. If you pick one that is either too small for the dog, or worst case scenario, that is microchip controlled, the dog won't be able to enter.

A repurposed cupboard or cabinet, can work fine for these purposes.
posted by lollusc at 10:21 PM on June 8, 2018

I have a smaller dog + cat but we keep the food up high enough that the dog can't reach it, something like a bathroom counter if you have the space? We also have a top-entry litter box which the dog is too small to be able to fully reach in to in order to get his favorite "treats"
posted by magnetsphere at 9:56 AM on June 9, 2018

Response by poster: Just checking back in to say you all have given me a lot to think about. I have some limitations (condo is very open-plan so there aren't a lot of ways to sequester things).

The cat being older and the dog being younger certainly concern me, but I think what I'm going to do ultimately is have some scent swapping at least of Dog-Smell into Cat territory so the Cat can get used to the smell of the Dog. When Dog comes over for the first time, she'll be leashed and the cat will be free in the space, and I'll make sure she's alert so that she's not surprised by her visitor - first visit will be very very very supervised with the Dog leashed and the Cat free to escape to safety. We can put the Dog on the (covered, safe, totally enclosed) patio if needed and she will be safely away from the Cat. Dogproofing her food is another problem that I'm not sure how to solve, but I might just have to put the catfood away while Dog is in the house, and put the food back down for her once the Dog leaves. At the moment, I don't expect to have the Dog in the house for longer than this would work as a plan. This feels, however, like trying to prepare my house for a 2 year old.
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:07 PM on June 11, 2018