I have had Bailey for 5 1/2 weeks now.
One of the big problems that is still bugging me is that my cat Rory won't co-exist with Bailey. I have tried to give them time, but the problem is that Rory always just runs, causing a huge chase which gets Bailey WAY too exited. I always wanted Rory to just stop being afraid of the puppy and stand up for herself (after all, Bailey is still getting bigger).
I know people usually say not to worry about it, but I feel like I've abandoned my cat since I got the dog. She's now locked out of the majority of the downstairs, not that she wants to be around the dog anyway. So she's alone upstairs all day. She still gets time with me at night as she sleeps on my bed and Bailey sleeps in her crate. Last night though I let Bailey sleep in bed with me. I had to lock the cat out of my room because Bailey WOULD jump off the bed if she saw her. So poor Rory was alone all day AND all night.
So anyway, cutting to the chase (too late I know
) I just out of the blue grabbed them both and put them in the office with me with the door closed. I figured there were high places the cat could jump if she needed to get away, but she couldn't really escape. I didn't actually let Bailey go completely, I held her and let her get close to the cat. Rory actually never jumped up anywhere, but she did get backed into a corner by the puppy. Finally she did what I'd been waiting for her to do, batted at Bailey and hissed. Bailey tried it again with the same result. Finally, she backed off! I let her go and both the cat and puppy sat there about a foot apart with no biting hyperness from the dog and no chases! It was a bit mean for both of them because I'm sure I traumatized my poor cat and I am afraid she'll scratch the dog. But hopefully a couple more times of this and Bailey won't think the cat is just a chew toy anymore.
But, was this "bad mommy" of me? Or okay? Anyone have better suggestions other than simply "give it time" or "let them live apart" (because that forces my cat to live apart from me)?