Introduceing an Kitten into a family with an Dog ?

DaveM26 · Member Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 33

After x-mas we are looking to purchase an kitten, We currrently have an 6 month of Brittany Spanial which is very good with Children and all vistors, he is also very good with other dogs but hes never been around a cat or Kitten before, The way he rough plays with other dogs we are kinda worried that he may be too rough with a kitten?

whats the best way to introduce a kitten into a family that already has a puppy? is it probably best to wait till our current puppy is fully trained before doing this or would it matter?

thanks

Dave

P.S our kitten will be an Ragdoll Smile

Sunshinne83 · Member Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

Hello,

I had two cats when I bought my shihpoo who is now 7 months old. This has been the biggest trial for us. Maybe because we live in an apartment, I don't know. But our puppy (Emma) will not leave the cats alone. And I mean 24-7. She is always chasing them, barking at them, and even tries to, whats the word I am looking for, have sexual relations with the one smaller cat. And my puppy is a girl and so are my cats!!

I am hoping it is just because we are in an apartment and space is limited and when we have a house there will be more places for the cats to hide, but if you are living in a small place, I would not recommend it.

tuttifrutti · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject:

We have done the whole dog and kitten/puppy and kitten thing before. What I suggest is gradually introducing them. We used to put the kitten on the trampoline and then let the dog sniff it form under and around and stuff, since teh dog couldn't reach it, but the kitten could appraoch. Another thing to do is put teh kitten in a carrier and let the dog sniff, or vice versa. Although, i think it would be best to put the kitten in teh carrier since it is already your dog's turf, and I have found with my two brittanys and their curiosity, that if you let them meet the cat and associate with it, they will do better with it than if you try to keep them seperate, because they simply have to know what that thing is, and in their exuberance (sp?) usually scare it off. I think that because of the size of the kitten the puppy will probably be pretty careful, at least my dog always was, although she did like to roughhouse with teh cat when it got older. Most likely if the kitten is introduced at an early enoguh age it will do better with the puppy. THat's how we did it the first time, had a pupy and a kitten and they were best friends, lol.