Tips for new puppy in house with grown cat?

Question

Hubby and I have a 6 year old siamese who is extremely cuddly and loving, and want to adopt a puppy. We’ve had dogs before but never had cats and dogs in the same house at the same time. How do we introduce pup to our cat without making our cat feel threatened? Should we keep them in separate rooms at first? How far apart should we put their food bowls?

Answer

Feed the puppy in a separate room until they're used to each other. Take puppy for a long walk to make him/ her tired the first time they meet so puppy isn't all over your cat and over-excited. Expect a slap from your cat in case puppy does get too excited. Make sure your cat has plenty of safe, high spaces to escape from puppy, and immediately discourage ANY chasing, domination, biting by puppy. Also keep your eye that puppy doesn't become obsessed with your cat (try distract puppy when you find he/ she is constantly staring at your cat or not giving her enough space).

Answer

Introducing a puppy would be the same as introducing a new kitten - start in separate rooms, then open the doors once both are a bit settled so that they can get to know each other.
When I got a new kitten, with three other cats in the house already, the kitten just stayed in the bedroom until they were ready to explore. Lots of hissing ans and growling at first, but within a few days they'd all settled down. Within two weeks, they were all eating next to each other.
The most important thing is to not interfere in the boundary-setting stage, unless they attack each other (which is usually highly unlikely). Plus you need lots of patience! If it doesn't calm down within two months, however, it's unlikely it ever will.

Tips for new puppy in house with grown cat?

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