Dogs and Cat’s under one roof

It has been observed that dogs and cat’s don’t really get along. It has also sort of been portrayed in the media. What I observed as a child growing up with a dog was that every time a cat would show up in the back yard it would be on brick pillars and my golden retriever I had when I was a kid would be be jumping up trying to get it. My thought at that time was that my dog was trying to eat the cat. Probably when I got more into my pre teens and teens I would have said my dog was trying to attack the cat. When I say the media portrays dogs and cat’s not getting a long I mostly mean Cinderella, lady and the tramp, Homeward bound the incredible journey.

I think I was in the 4th grade when I found out that dogs and cat’s actually can get a long and they can live in the same household. I remember that it wasn’t long after that until we actually found a cat an brought it home, this was when me and my brother were visiting our grandmother and we were driving around looking at historical sites, but when we brought the cat back to the home where we lived with our parents in a town about four hours away. I was amazed at how well our dog and the cat actually got along. They would lay together a lot. That cat would make kitten biscuits on the dog. That cat died that same year we got her and we got another cat. It was a kitten at the time we got him and that cat was more active than that calico we had. The kitten just really liked to play a lot and although I think they did have an adjusting phase the dog and the 2nd cat became really good friends.

Since then I have known people and families that have had both dogs and cats at the same time living with them and it worked. In writing this I wonder if what we have observed of dogs and cat’s isn’t that they hate each other but dogs are curious and just want to see if they can be friends with the cat or this animal that sort of the opposite of them. I say that because when I was working at a veterinarian hospital and I took in a kitten for the intention of giving it to a cousin of mine. Before making the trip to meet my cousin I stopped by a friends house to show them the kitten and this buddy of mine’s girlfriend was there with her chihuahua and the chihuahua got all excited when she saw the kitten and it made me a little bit nervous. This friend of mine’s sister assured me she just wants to see the kitten. I say that dogs are curious and probably just as curious as cat’s because when my calico cat recently had kittens I met a friend of mine in another city to bring her a kitten and when she got home with it her dog wanted to be friends with the kitten and check this out but the kitten was not having it. the dog was checking out the situation because she was curious because it was something different in her usual surroundings. Looking back on it I think that was the case when my dog would see a cat coming into the yard and he would go towards it or jump up onto the side pillars of the fence when he saw a cat perched on it. He wasn’t trying to hurt it he was just curious.

A girl from out of town that I gave one of my kittens too also had a small dog. A yorkie, when she brought the new kitten home the yorkie was excited about his new playmate and instantly wanted to make friends. The kitten just wasn’t having it. For other reasons the girl whose name I am leaving out for privacy reasons decided the new arrangement was not going to work, and she gave the kitten back. However it is not unusual for a new kitten or cat to not get along with your other pet’s when he or she is first brought in. According to Carolyn Janik and Ruth Rejinis both author’s of the complete idiot’s guide to Living with a cat it is good to give the new cat or kitten an adjustment period of about three weeks. They also recommended utilizing other rooms in the house or whatever type of dwelling you reside in when introducing your new cat or kitten to the other animals in your type of dwelling house apartment whatever. When I say utilizing other rooms in the house I mean if the new cat or kitten is fighting with the current pet’s in the house put the new cat or kitten in another room. However Carolyn Janik and Ruth Rejinis have said in their book to keep the new cat or kitten in another room for at least two days once you have brought the new cat or kitten home.

My advice is if your going to bring the new cat or kitten out of isolation during that time period really keep a close watch on the new cat or kitten and observe it’s behavior and the behavior of the other animals, and go by that to determine how long you should keep the new cat or kitten isolated from the other animals in the home. There are times when you just have to use your judgement on certain things.