Cats and Yorkies
 

Hello,

I got a Yorkie puppy a little more than a month ago.
I hadn't have a dog for more than 20 years... Since, I only had cats.
I have 2 of them now, 1,5 year old, female Norwegian woods.

The breeder wanted me to get my puppy when she was 6 weeks old, I thought it was too soon, but she assured me that she always send them away at that age, and I thought maybe it would be a good idea because of the cats. Maybe it was, she was so young that she didn't react much to them.
Of course they didn't like the idea of an intruder in the house and where very jealous. They didn't "speak" to me for a week.:D
They would "fsssssss" to her (sorry, I don't know how you say it in English ;) ) an occasionally give her a slap. They didn't put the claws out and never got really aggressive. Just in case I never leave them alone together...

Now Bit doesn't fear them anymore and goes after them barking... they don't like it... they have a mixture of curiosity and fear towards her. They don't have much of a "relationship"...

My long experience in introducing a new cat to resident cats is that it takes between a week and a month or so for them to adapt. I don't have experience with cats and dogs...

Can anyone tell me about their experience?
Is it possible for an adult cat to adapt to a puppy and actually be friends?
Can I expect them one day to play, sleep together, etc... ?
Or will they just "tolerate" each other for ever?

Thank you

I found a new home for my cat, my 3 yorkies chased him endlessly. He was very stressed, to the point of being physically ill daily. I felt it was better for him to find a new environment where he would not be so upset. He is doing great and being well pampered in his new stress free environment. I had been warned there might be a problem, it just did not work out here. Since you have 2 cats, it might be different, good luck with this.

:aimeeyork :cat: I have had the same cat for 17 years now. In that time he has been with a total of 5 different dogs. (over the course of all those years) Only one of those dogs would the cat ever sleep with. He pretty much has always just tolerated the other dogs. My yorkie (being that she is only 7 months old) is most curious by the cat and tries so hard to play w/him. He goes after Autumn and she just thinks that the cat is just playing w/her. He really isnt. They will learn to coexist. Maybe you will get lucky. Good luck!

I have three cats that are inside along with two dogs and one part time inside dog (only one Yorkie) they all have times when they will play and other times they just want to be left alone. My little Yorkie doesn't understand it's all about how he feels. (he believes their wants don't count) He chases them until they get upset or I tell him no. But again, he is only 9 month old.
Dawn:animal-pa

I have four indoor cats ranging in age from 2 to 15. They really were never phased by Gracie when I brought her home (Gracie was just 8 weeks then). They have just learned to live up, up on the counters, up on the bar stools, anywhere up that Gracie cannot get to. Gracie loves to chase and play with the cats, and for the most part they don't mind. When they get tired of it, they just go "up" somewhere. (Gracie is now 10 1/2 months.)

My cat did the same in the begining but now they are the best of friends!!!

I drop off my puppy at my mom's house everyday while I go to work. She has three cats who spend their time both inside and outside the house. Although all three of the cats were deathly afraid of him when I first brought him over (mind you they are 20 pound cats and he is just now 6 pounds), they all have a different relationship with him. One cat is still deathly afraid of him and won't come near the house if she knows he is there. The biggest cat my mom has lets him do whatever he wants with him, and they play all day long. He even lets my pup bite him in the tail and will lift his tail so my pup has to jump after it. The third cat just doesnt like my pup and will swat him (without claws) every time my pup jumps on him. My pup loves to play and will try to play with all of the cats when he can't go outside. I think it just really depends on the cat. I hope that helps:)

Hi we have had our puppt lola for 5months now:aimeeyork , and we already had 2 cats, 1 who is 8ys and the other who is 1y. At 1st our youngest cat a male ginger tom, would sniff and playfight with lola, it got a little worrieing a few times as 'billy' the cat would hold 'lola' arround the neck, :eek: one HARD bite and i could have been seirous......Thankfully this has stopped as lola has grown. They still play sometimes and even sleep together now and then:) . But it seems 'billy' is fed up of playing ALL the time, 'lola' get sooooo excited EVERY time he comes in, she runs for him in a over playfull state lol!:D
Our elder cat 'scratchy' was very moody for a good few months 'lola' would try to play with her too but scratchty would swipe her!:mad: Now we are at the stage where scrachty is happy to eat along side 'lola' but wont let her too close....and it's funny.... billy has NEVER swiped 'lola' yet he gets chased all the time, but scratchy swiped a good few times and 'lola' will leave her! I sometimes wish our 'billy' would toughen up, he's the man of the house after all...lol! Good luck with yours, I find all cats adaped in the end it just takes time with some of them!:thumbup:

We have a 23 (?) pound big....male cat who was about 7 when we got our puppy. We were not sure what he would do, but he pretty much ignored the puppy. I think they would have become great friends when Sophie (our puppy) suddenly got very sick after we had her for only three weeks. She wanted to lay down with the cat and be comforted, but he wouldn't have it. Today, after 5 1/2 years, Sophie, our Yorkie is the boss. She bites at his heals and makes him go where she wants him. She makes him jump up on the chair or onto the platform where we have his food bowl. She is "in charge" of what the cat does. I have seen him have a stand-off with my daughter's dog (a beagle/spaniel cross), but she has never been mean to Sophie. Sophie on the other hand will attack the cat if she thinks the cat is getting our attention. In the evening, they both sleep on the bed, the cat on the actual bed, and the dog on top of the pillows.:p :animal-pa

Ironically, I have the biggest cat and smallest dog in the whole wide world...Leo, my cat who is 3 yrs old weighs 15 pounds...Roscoe my Yorkie weighs barely 2 pounds...Roscoe restlessly chases Leo all around the house and there is no stop to it...I have been saying very firm "no"s and "stop"s but it seems like Roscoe is too obsessed with Leo to give up...Leo on the other hand, who hates the world BTW, hisses and meowss couple times but he also gives in...Under no circumstances I would let go off either one of them but sometimes I miss the peaceful days with no barking and meows :)

Cats & Dogs
 

Hi,
I would like to share my new experience with you since I'm absolutely trilled :D
As I said before, when Bit came home we had two adult cats already, two sisters.
They never really got to like the dog, after a while they've just manage to live in peace, mostly ignoring each other I would say.
Sadly, this summer one of the cats was killed... My son was absolutely devastated... So, I got another cat, a male this time, Felix...

It was love at first sight!!! :D
Bit rushed to him and licked him all over, she just wouldn't let him alone.
He was very young (a month) and small, she looked like a monster at his side :p
The next morning we caught her helping him to climb the stairs to join us.
The same afternoon I caught him trying to feed from her.
Since then they are best friends... they just LOVE each other!!!
They have a closer relationship than the one Felix and Pussy have.
He's still very tiny (he's 3 month old now) but Pussy, who his his sister too, from the same mother, is really a huge cat, bigger than Bit. Since he's a male I expect him to be even bigger, I can't wait to see them playing then :rolleyes: Bit should really be carefull LOL
They sleep together, play together, clean each other, sometimes when I'm distracted even eat from the same bowl...

I'm loving it!!! I feel like I had a permanent National Geographic episode running in the house :D
I just can't get tired of observing them...
The last photo is the day he came in, he's all wet LOL

Oh how sweet....she's a good kitty momma. I have found that dogs take better to kittens than say...a cat to a puppy.

Also I had to laugh at this sentence in your first post -

They would "fsssssss" to her (sorry, I don't know how you say it in English)

Because that is how kitties pretty much say it in English too. :rolleyes:

It took several months for my siamese cat April to warm up to Lulu. Now she goes looking for her to play. When she has had enough she wanders off. They are good buddies. So it will happen eventually.

My 15 pound cat (2 years old) chases Noah (5lbs) all the time. The cat stops just short of catching Noah, so I think she might be playing. Noah loves it and eggs her on. When they get tired of the chasing they ignore each other.

My cat hated my two to the point of hiding until he got use to them.. lol Now they're all best friends! He's 10lbs and 5 months old.. He's suppose to be 25lbs without fat... Big boy.. Here are pics..

pic 1 is Petrie holding Bailey down
pic 2 is Bailey sitting on him
pic 3 is the girls holding him down
pic 4 is Petrie holding Bailey down and Brooklyn trying to get in on it

Wow! Nice, I love the pics. My Sasha (cat) is almost 7 and I have had Winstin since August. They still are not 100% Best friends. Although they do attempt to play, she does get tired of him. Now, Sasha with my big dogs is another story. Sasha spends lots of times grooming my almost 7 year old Golden retriever. They were both babies when we brought them home and they love each other.
Winstin likes to try to do what the cat does. It's funny. The cat does sometimes growl at him and he barks at her. I look forward to the day when they make up a little better with each other. I do not think they are friends but they are not total enemies either. However, my cat ignored me for over a month when I brought Winstin home.

Well, we had a cat (Cali) for about 2.5 years before we got Georgia (our Yorkie) this past July. We got Cali when she was about 3-4 months old. She was totally our "baby" before we got Georgia. When we got Georgia, we found out quick that training a little puppy takes much more time than our kitty did! Anyways, I wouldn't say that Cali and Georgia were friends, but they both did their fair share of chasing the other. Anyways, sadly, Cali passed away last Friday. She had been sick, and at the vets 3 times last week. On Friday morning we had taken her in for more tests and IV fluids. That day while she was at the vets office is when she died. I guess she died of "Feline Infectious Peritonitis" which is an infection of the lining of the abdomen. If they already have a virus (which can lay dormant for years), and a stressor comes along (aka Georgia), it can mutate into this infection, which is almost always fatal. It's not responsive to antibiotics. Anyways, it was very sad, I spent most of last weekend crying. I don't want another cat right now, but I'm sure we will have another one at some point. I am terrified of losing another pet, though! They are definitely like kids!

Be very careful as there is always one cat who might see a puppy as prey !
I have a very big prey killer SPARKY who is now 11 years and from the hills here in the Scottish Highlands, and totally tabby striped....we have often wondered if he is half wild-cat. See below.
He has always slept with our BEARDED COLLIE but when I got Tara my first Yorkie at 6 weeks, 7.5 years ago, he would put his teeth around her neck seeing if she was edible - everytime she went into the kitchen, and I would always be there, so could chase him off her.
She didn't grow and stayed at 4lbs and tiny. She was a year old before she got the courage to chase him off herself, but even now he will grab her by the neck and she goes rigid and still, and then barks and chases him off herself. He is playing with her, but I would never trust him - they do that with rabbits the same size ! I would NEVER leave him alone with her or my other two tiny 4lb Yorkies...as he does the same to them, but not as much as he does it to Tara ! He also whacks them with his claws as they pass him ! He is mainly outside anyway....but they sleep in different rooms.
I also have my 17 yr old daughter's 2 yr old indoor cat ALFIE who is a huge fluffy big crippled wooss. We got him from the SSPCA as a rescue who has been run over and had his hip joint removed. He is a darling and is fine with the dogs....they will chase him if anything. (He is even mothering our new kitty - see pic 3 below !)
I have just got myself a kitten called LUCIFER....he is all black, 10 weeks now, and I can see he is going to live up to his name ! He plays with the dogs, but they just run at him woofing and he takes off terrified....so he will be fine too, as he will never have the advantage over them like he would have if they had been puppies.

Personally I would NEVER trust a prey catching cat (like Sparky in pic 1) with a 6 week Puppy....they are sooo small and the cat could see it as prey !
:animal-pa Debra x x x
Sparky
My Tiny Trio
Alfie and kitty Lucifer

I couldn't love more my pets and totally understand your grief...
When Kitty was killed last August we were absolutely devastated. We were leaving for a week long vacation and my brother was staying at the house to babysit the pets. He called, we were still on the road, to tell that he had found her lying at the front door. Someone had shot her!!! :mad: She came back home to die. My 5 years old son cried for two hours without stopping, my hart was completely broken for both of them...
But it's how it works... they give us lots of pleasure and happiness and, one way or the other, since they usually go before us, they bring pain to our lives...
Yet, not ever thinking of it as a "replacement", for it's just not possible since each individual is unique, I've always taken another as soon as possible. ;)
The happiness they bring me largely overcome the final pain.