Dog/Cat Relationships

[TishaMoon]

I was wondering how many people, like me, had a cat (or cats) before getting a yorkie. If that was also your situation, how long did it take, if ever, for them to become friends?

It's only been a week since Bailey came home, and I'm not trying to rush things, but I'm curious. My cat Rory has actually done pretty well. She's never hissed and she comes up close to the gate to investigate this little puppy. However the problem is Bailey gets SO excited when she sees the cat. She jumps and whines and *really* wants to play with the kitty. A couple times when family have come over they put the cat in with Bailey and of course Bailey runs toward her and Rory runs away, causing a chasing problem.

So should I continue keeping them separate and hope one day things will work out? Or is there a way I can calmly introduce them again without letting Bailey chase her?

[enge55]

I brought a puppy into a house with three adult cats. I let them work things out on their own and it hasn't been a problem. The cats have different personalities so one cat wants the dog to leave her alone and after hissing a few times, the dog learned to avoid this one. Another cat is pretty indifferent and will sometimes play with the dog. The other cat is very tolerant so the dog loves to play with this one. When the play gets too rough, the cats just jump up on something high. It seems the less I interfere, the better they get along.

[yavenay]

I do had a cat about 10 yrs before I brought home Brandi. Once the curiosity wore off, they pretty much just ignore each other now. However, my cat is 11 yrs old and Brandi (my rescued yorkie) is 7yrs old so neither one of them are in the cute playful kitten or puppy stage.

It's really weird in my situation because it is my 11 yr old cat who is the one who wants to play. Even at her age, she is still very playful and have bursts of energy through out the day. While it may seem a little sad, Brandi doesn't really play that much except with me. She doesn't play with toys or the cat so I have been lucky.

I can tell you this, be very careful when letting your little one around your cat until they are thorougly comfortable with each other. Your cat may take a few swipes at Bailey. My cat did this to Brandi and you could actually see the scratch just above her eye. I think this is the reason why Brandi tends to stay away from the cat. She will still swipe but she no longer extends her claws, its more of a warning kind of swipe. It's her way of letting Brandi know you are getting too close.

For the most part they do tolerate each other which is okay with me. One thing I had to nip in the bud was Brandi's jealousy whenever the cat wanted my attention. Brandi absolutely hates it when I show my cat any attention. It's really kinda of cute but I am the alpha in the house so I don't let Brandi dictate who I am can show attention too.

They should be okay, just make sure your cat has a place to escape too when he get's tired of playing with Bailey.

[mkawczak]

I could'nt agree more with post #2. I have 3 adult cats. Oldest is 5. He is the one who avoids or admires from afar. My middle one is very tollerant. They chew on him,and he just lays thereand takes it . The youngest is 2 and he runs right along with the dogs ,and sometimes swats and hisses. They have their own way to comunicate to each other. If I give my cats cat nip,they'll play with the dogs...too funny.

[BellaAmore]

When we first bought Bella home my giant solid black cat BAD KITTY couldn't figure her out. I think his thoughts were what the heck is this thing that keeps attacking me and getting in my face. After a few whacks with his paw and a screech or two from her they play pretty good now. Now we have Luigi he is still learning. He gets the occasional whack but mostly without claws. They can actually all play together and when BAD KITTY has had enough he leaves the area or goes up high on something.

[kindness_001]

My neighbor had kittens, well my grandson wanted one.I'm not a cat person. Well I told him he could have it if he fed it on the pourch of our shed, and opend the door for it to get out of the cold weather. that went for a while, the next thing i know the kitten is setting on the pourch railing of the house watching the dogs, and the next day they tought kat-dog to come in through the doggie door. So now we have a nutered, mirco chipped, cat.

[chachi]

We have one cat and 2 yorkies. The cat is pretty young and trys to play with them but they wont play with her. They all get along though. I would just let them sniff each other and give them time together

[BubblPopElectrc]

I have 3 Yorkies and a cat. We had 2 dogs, got the cat, and then added another dog.

They all get along great! Brooklyn and Coral were cat-friendly so we decided to look for an outgoing kitten that would hopefully be dog-friendly. We got lucky! Gloria is great and loves the dogs! They run around and play together. They even sleep on the bed together.

[TishaMoon]

Thanks for the stories!

Part of my problem with letting them sort things out on their own is that they're never in the same place. Bailey is contained to the kitchen, or sometimes in the living room with me. The baby gates block Rory and she doesn't jump over them. All that's really left to her is upstairs. If I did dare to put her in the same room, Bailey would just chase her. Or if I put Rory up high, Bailey jumps at her. For some reason Rory won't jump up high on her own. She grew up without a mom so maybe she never learned that stuff.

I feel guilty becasuse Rory (the cat) used to always be with me in the living room. Now she can't even get there without my help and when I do put her there she gets chased by this wild little puppy!

[Baileyrosemomma]

We had 2 cats before we had Bailey. Bailey drove them nuts but they soon learned they could jump up on the couch and Bailey could not. Of course bailey would sit and bark at them. They now seem to get along great. We have also added another puppy to the mix. We figured Bailey needed someone that would allow her to play with them. We no longer have one of the cats but the other 3 get along great. They all sleep together and everything. Sometimes you would think they were all from the same litter..lol. The cat just pretty much ingnores the puppies when they start going crazy and they give up and chase each other.

[dogbert]

We brought a 4 year old rescue Yorkie into the house with a cat about the same age, only bigger than the Yorkie. The cat had been around our last dog and they were buddies. The Yorkie had never seen a cat before so it was the cat trying to play with the dog. The dog yelped and set everyone in motion, which scared the cat. They stayed far from eachother for months, we have had the Yorkie going on 9 months now and they play together sometimes.

[MissSophie]

We had a BIG neutered male cat when we got Sophie as a puppy. Our cat, Reeses, is a very sweet guy, but I had seen him chase and hold down another cat once and was worried what he would do with a puppy. He didn't do anything. However, once Sophie figured out that he wasn't a threat, Sophie became Queen Bee, and I mean that literally. She watches his every move and lets us know if he is into things. She won't let him near us (jealous) and won't let him sleep with us, even though they will both sleep on the bed (at the same time but not next to each other) when we are not there. They get along okay and do just fine as long as we don't pet or hold Reeses when Sophie is around. If she thinks we are giving him attention, she will attack him. He has never been aggressive toward her. Sophie is 7 1/2, and Reeses is about 14.

[HChellette]

I had two four year-old cats when I brought Silvia home. They had never been around a dog before, so they were very curious of her at first. They even "batted" at her a few times (they're both declawed), but eventually, they adopted her as their own. I was cautious with allowing her to be around them out of my sight until I was SURE they were OK together. The real test is if your puppy bites a tail and they don't attack her, but instead roll over and "bat" at her! LOL

[LilDaysha]

I have my 20 year old kitty before I got Cookie. My cat is usually confined to the bedroom, shes older so she spends most of her time sleeping and being grumpy. At first she couldn't even look at Cookie without hissing. My cat was the only pet for her 20 years of life (parakeets don't really count). Just about 2 or 3 months ago when Cookie was about 8 months my cat and dog were actually nose to nose sniffing each other for the first time(I was so mad I didnt have my camera handy). I still keep them seperated cuz Cookie is a hyper little thing and starts hopping around like a rabbit from excitement and my cat gets very irritated and startes whacking and hissing at her. But when there both calm they can be in harmony.

[Peters]

my male yorkie loves his cat she loves him back she was hand raised bottle fed he loves everyone and everything