[lmsherm]

I am getting a golden retriever puppy in a few weeks and am so excited I can hardly stand it

However, I have some questions about how everything will work out with my cat. I have an 8 month old ragdoll kitten, Goose, who I absolutely adore and is my biggest fan. He follows me everywhere and is so well behaved.

Does anyone have experience introducing a puppy to a kitten like my little Goose? While I know Goose loves playing with dogs at the vet and at friends' homes, I'm not sure if it makes a difference if the dog is now in our home. I want to do everything I can to introduce them properly so that Goose does not get jealous or territorial and start spraying.

 

[Bayli126]

We just went through a similar experience. We have had our male cat, Henry, since June. We added a beautiful golden girl midNovember. When we went to visit Cheyenne prior to bringing her home, we would bring items back home that carried her scent. I don't know if it helped the situation for Henry, or if he would have been fine without it, but our homecoming went just fine. Now they play very well together!

 

[quilter]

Our cats and dogs have always gotten along just fine. It's the cats that don't get along with each other that's the problem.

 

[lmsherm]

We just went through a similar experience. We have had our male cat, Henry, since June. We added a beautiful golden girl midNovember. When we went to visit Cheyenne prior to bringing her home, we would bring items back home that carried her scent. I don't know if it helped the situation for Henry, or if he would have been fine without it, but our homecoming went just fine. Now they play very well together!

Do you find it hard to get Cheyenne to focus on you when you have a playful cat around?

 

[Bayli126]

She is only 11 weeks old. It is hard to get her to focus a lot of the time. We have found that she has a few toys she really loves and will focus better when we're holding those. We are planning to start a training class with her in January, but for right now my husband is working with her. While our cat will play with her, he gets tired of her before she gets tired of playing with him.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

Just stepping in to say Congratulations! on getting your new puppy! We only have Penny in the house but she's great with the cat at the barn.

 

[IowaGold]

I have 5 cats. Baby gates will be your cat's friend when the puppy is getting too rambunctious. A cat won't think twice about going over the gate but the puppy won't usually try if the gate is introduced when they are little. I have a whole room that the cats have access to that the dogs don't. I keep the litter boxes here (wish I had a basement for them...) and feed them here (it's a big room). The cats can come and go at their leisure. Even the 15+ year old sickly cat can do the baby gate.

 

[Brandiann]

At the very least they will learn to co exist, but since they are both young, I'm sure they will be best friends.

This is MJ ([email protected] years) with Lola ([email protected] months)

 

[mrssp]

I have two cats who were both 5 when we brought Baxter home.

We tried to introduce them gradually and make the experience positive and friendly for all three animals.They weren't too interested in him at all at first and would only come over and sniff him while he was sleeping.

Now, they more or less tolerate him with pretty open displays of hostility every now and again (our female cat often swats Baxter in the face for no reason while he is sleeping). I think most of the time when they get mad at him it is because he just wants to play and they don't get it.

 

[lmsherm]

I have 5 cats. Baby gates will be your cat's friend when the puppy is getting too rambunctious. A cat won't think twice about going over the gate but the puppy won't usually try if the gate is introduced when they are little. I have a whole room that the cats have access to that the dogs don't. I keep the litter boxes here (wish I had a basement for them...) and feed them here (it's a big room). The cats can come and go at their leisure. Even the 15+ year old sickly cat can do the baby gate.

I do have two baby gates set up to block off the kitchen and the bedroom/bathroom area from the living room. They have those little doors for cats to go through and so far Goose seems to have figured those out pretty well. His food is in the kitchen and his little "den" area is in my bedroom. Although, I did set up the crate already in preparation for my pup and within minutes I found Goose laying in there cozy as can be. Perhaps I should close the door so he doesn't get too comfortable!

 

[monarchs_joy]

Ditto on a separate room for the cat and her litter box/food that is gated off. My GR is a big fan of the litter box and will wolf down a bowl of cat food in record time if given the opportunity. The cat will also go in there if she needs a break from the rest of us. I would come up with a plan of how you'll manage cat litter/food when you bring your puppy home. I introduced our cat and dogs through a baby gate and it worked great. I love the idea about bringing items that smell like the cat and puppy and introducing the smells beforehand if you can.

 

[IowaGold]

I do have two baby gates set up to block off the kitchen and the bedroom/bathroom area from the living room. They have those little doors for cats to go through and so far Goose seems to have figured those out pretty well. His food is in the kitchen and his little "den" area is in my bedroom. Although, I did set up the crate already in preparation for my pup and within minutes I found Goose laying in there cozy as can be. Perhaps I should close the door so he doesn't get too comfortable!

Using the cat doors depends on how big the pup will be. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my pups had been able to get through those doors when they were tiny. Heck I use the cat carrier as their crate for the first few weeks!

 

[lmsherm]

Like I said, I have a strong feeling they will be best of friends because Goose is very puppy-like himself. As you can see, he is thrilled with the idea of a crate.