YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post - Old dog meets cat! How do I do the introductions?

Flakes · 08-14-2005, 10:09 AM

My son sent his cat to us to care for while away in the Gulf. I have two yorkies both who we thought hated cats.

When I brought the cat into the house I left the cat in her crate and only allowed one dog at a time to approach the crate sniff. I then put the cat still in crate in a separate room so that the cat could have some time to settle down and adjust.

I reintroduced the dogs one at a time, sniff investigate, no barking allowed. I did this several times over the space of a few hours and then I let the cat out of the crate, still in a separate room. I then took the cat out of the room in my arms so there'd be no chasing etc and allowed the dogs to go in and investigate the crate etc. I held the cat in my lap while the dogs said hello, sniffed her out etc and then took her and put her back in the room with the crate. The next morning I allowed the cat and dogs to be together. There was one hiss and a swipe by the cat and the dogs soon realized it was best to be friends not enemies. A cat will only attack if it is cornered and most dogs will run like mad if they get one swipe from a cat.

My guys became the best of friends and in a matter of days all three of them were sleeping in the cat's crate.

Be sure and provide your dog sitter with your dog's crate so he has a safe place to go to.

08-14-2005, 10:09 AM	#4
Flakes Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Victoria Posts: 218	My son sent his cat to us to care for while away in the Gulf. I have two yorkies both who we thought hated cats. When I brought the cat into the house I left the cat in her crate and only allowed one dog at a time to approach the crate sniff. I then put the cat still in crate in a separate room so that the cat could have some time to settle down and adjust. I reintroduced the dogs one at a time, sniff investigate, no barking allowed. I did this several times over the space of a few hours and then I let the cat out of the crate, still in a separate room. I then took the cat out of the room in my arms so there'd be no chasing etc and allowed the dogs to go in and investigate the crate etc. I held the cat in my lap while the dogs said hello, sniffed her out etc and then took her and put her back in the room with the crate. The next morning I allowed the cat and dogs to be together. There was one hiss and a swipe by the cat and the dogs soon realized it was best to be friends not enemies. A cat will only attack if it is cornered and most dogs will run like mad if they get one swipe from a cat. My guys became the best of friends and in a matter of days all three of them were sleeping in the cat's crate. Be sure and provide your dog sitter with your dog's crate so he has a safe place to go to.