I brought home my puppy and my cat, 5 years old, was not happy. You have to know the temperment of your cat, mine is really laid back and doesn't attack anything, so I knew that having an annoying puppy around him wouldn't cause him to get aggressive. How does your cat react to strange animals? If he is agressive then you're going to want to start off by keeping the new puppy in a completly separate room for the first couple of days. When it comes time for feeding during those first few days, place the food bowls right next to the door so they can smell eachother through the door, and will associate eachothers smell with something they enjoy (food). There are a ton of tips, and I would be prepared just in case your cat does get agressive with the puppy, you dont want to have to rush your brand new puppy to the vet with a scratched cornia (sp?) on the first day.
It will take some time, it took my cat 3 weeks to finally be okay with ME after I brought home the puppy, and he has just recently decided that the puppy can be a source for entertainment.
For the feeding, my cat has no interest in my puppy food, but Rizzo (the dog) will eat anything he sees, so I leave my cats food on the counter where only he can get to it, and the dog food on the floor for the puppy. Have a few different places each pet can get water from, maybe one next to each food dish. And for the litter box, I took the cover off of it and placed it in a cardboard box prior to the puppy getting here just to test out how my cat reacted. He is alright with that situation, so for a temp fix in case you dont have a nearby home supply store to build a fence up around the litter box, you can always try that.
Again, your cat will probably be angry with you for a while, they are jealous and vindictive and seem to know what to do to make you feel bad, lol. I love how evil and loveable they are, so try to spend some "alone time" with just the cat. Mine still get's all of bedtime, bed is too high for the puppy, and he is so small and I roll around so much I'd be afraid of sleeping in the bed with him.
Good luck! |