Cats and Yorkies

[Tuga]

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.
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

[DixiepeachVA]

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.

[autumn star]

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!

[TinyBit]

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

[Gracie2006]

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.)

[mommafish]

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

[goldybb]

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

[laura-jayne]

Hi we have had our puppt lola for 5months now , 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, 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!
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! 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!

[MissSophie]

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.

[misilmisil]

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

[Tuga]

Hi,
I would like to share my new experience with you since I'm absolutely trilled
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!!!
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
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 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
I just can't get tired of observing them...
The last photo is the day he came in, he's all wet LOL

[bchgirl]

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.

[Bizzymammabee]

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.

[pepper2004]

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.

[flutterby]

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