Introducing a puppy to two older cats

[dreamisawish]

We have two 12 year old cats. One is very placid and will sleep for hours and the other is very anxious, is rather scared of the other cat (with good enough reason, we have seen cat no.1 lash out at the more anxious cat at times unprovoked). The anxious cat mostly stays in my bedroom and avoids conflict with the other cat.

We’ve been discussing getting a puppy for years and years now but we’ve always been so worried about the way the cats would react- especially the anxious cat- and I couldn’t do it if I thought he would run away.

But we also know getting a dog would do us some good and get us out of the house, I have arthritis and really should be walking more then I do currently, and it would never be left alone because my dad has now retired.

So back to the cats.

I do think that my anxious cat is so overly clingy to me that he probably wouldn’t leave home, but even the thought that he might makes me very upset.

Has anyone successfully introduced a puppy into a home with older cats? Or not successfully- I’d rather hear the cold hard truth and figure things out from there.

TIA

[Guest]

I got my first puppy three and a half years ago and had two cats aged 7 and 5 who had never lived with a dog before. They were not anxious cats, just normal cats, hmm well one of them was the alpha cat in the entire neighbourhood.

We had a private dog trainer in for a couple of hours each week for first few weeks and she taught us how to introduce them. At first we kept them separate but introduced them to each other's smell by swapping bedding etc. Then we let the cats into the room but kept the puppy preoccupied with treats, the idea was to make the cat less interesting to him.

I think we only needed to do this a few times and the dog became indifferent to the cats. One of the cats became totally accepting of the dogs, the other cat, the alpha cat of the neighbourhood would not tolerate the dog however. But he wouldn't tolerate any animal in the vicinity other than our other cat.

Sadly, when we were on holiday and had neighbours daughter coming in to feed them, he disappeared and we don't know what happened. We have since got another puppy and now the two dogs and one cat live in harmony.

[Taffy1959]

When we got our dog almost 2 years ago we had 3 cats.
They were 8,4 and 3, the younger 2 had never been around a dog before but the older one had.
They wern't impressed at first and there was a lot of hissing and spitting at the dog but after a few days they got used to him and now they're fine, the younger 2 often go to Walter to give him a fuss.

[floridasgirl]

Our cat is an indoor cat (she wasn't but her brother got run over so kept her in after that as it was heartbreaking! )
As she is kept in we do generally have a door shut separating her and the dog as we have a door open for him. When tbey do meet he wasn't to play but she prowels round him giving him the occassioonal swipe if he gets too close.

[Guest]

One of my ds friends got a dog after having a cat. The cat stays upstairs, the dog downstairs.
If I was you, I wouldn’t get a dog with an anxious cat. I don’t think it would be fair to that cat at all.

[Snowball24]

I would say don't do it. We considered it as have a v anxious cat also who rarely goes outside,only the back.garden occasionally. We were advised the cat could end up starving herself or hiding permanently upstairs, or even running off with fear and stress. Ours became ill with stress last summer because we went away and built an extension ,the vet said was too much for her x

[Princess Alison]

We don’t have experience of introducing a puppy to the house but we did introduce new kittens to our home which included an elderly cat who is very anxious.

It’s not been easy at all and two years on, the new kittens - now cats- will be tolerated by the old cat but they don’t get along and I do thinks it’s caused unnecessary stress.

You can buy plug in devices to help provide a calming atmosphere but I would be concerned about introducing a puppy, which I expect is far more boisterous than a kitten, to a household with a sensitive cat

[jools1302]

Hello,

I could almost have written the same story as you, we got our dog as a puppy 4 years ago. Had 2 older cats, one very bold and dominant, the other anxious and scared (i think due to bullying from the other one.). I always had very seperate sleeping areas for my cats as I was aware of the ‘bullying ‘ that went on. Anxious cat always had a safe, kinda hidden away spot that was hers. When puppy came I made sure that she was not allowed near the cats safe place at all. Puppy wasn’t terribly interested in the cats for the first few weeks so the cats had the opportunity to get used to her smell etc from a distance. I made extra fuss of cats for the first wee while, treats and special food etc. There were a few run in’s! Of course... but the bolder cat would firmly put puppy in her place! Once she realised that there was a sharp claw attached to that paw she very quickly stopped pushing her luck and if anything is she became very wary of the cats! Even now (they get along absolutely fine) if we are playing in the house and her ball happens to roll too near to the cats ‘armchair ‘ the dog won’t go for it... just looks back at us and waits for us to retrieve it haha! Totally irrelevant but my more dominant cat died a year ago and it’s been wonderful to see my other cat relax, she is no longer the scared one hiding in the corner anymore... they were sisters too don’t know what happened with them!
But back to your situation and if you really want a puppy then go for it... I am sure you will put all precautions in place to ensure your cats still feel safe x