Ted Davis
November 16th 03, 01:52 AM
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 22:10:05 +0100 (CET), Nomen Nescio
> wrote:
>I have 2 older Siamese cats (seal point) and I want to adopt a large breed puppy. What kind of problems sould I be prepared for? Will the animals eventually bond to each other?
SOmetimes they bond; sometimes they merely tolerate each other.
Kittens and puppies raised together have the best chance of bonding,
but keep in mind that dogs bond most strongly to members of their
pack, including their people, while cats bond most strongly to their
territory, especially their food supply. Cats condescend to be nice
to us while dogs feel obligated to.
Three weeks ago I brought a young adult dog and an old puppy (rather
large) into my thirteen cat household. The dogs live mostly outside
and the cats live wherever they want: outside in nice weather, inside
in bad. The nine-month old puppy doesn't hurt cats, but will chase
them. After a couple of weeks I was able to let the dogs inside, but
had to restrain the puppy for a minute or so until she settled down or
she would chase the cats.
Then the dogs were stolen - the puppy got away and came back five days
later (the last time I saw her, she had a loose collar and a rabies
tag - when she came back she had a tight collar and no tag (tags are
traceable)). I still have to restrain her when she comes in, but once
in, she ignores the cats, and they largely ignore her. I'd have to
say that the dog has been successfully introduced into a cat
household, and without loss of a single cat, though some of them are
spending more time away from home than usual.
I think that if you get a young enough puppy (nine months is a bit
old) you should be able to at least train the dog to be cat safe,
whether there is ever any bonding between the cats and dog or not, and
I really wouldn't expect anything much beyond toleration. I would
also recommend more than one dog unless there will be someone at home
all the time to keep the dog occupied - they need playmates even more
than cats do, and the cats might not appreciate being dog toys. If
Buddy can't be recovered, I will be getting Brandy another cat safe
adult companion, if I can find one.
T.E.D. - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body)
> wrote:
>I have 2 older Siamese cats (seal point) and I want to adopt a large breed puppy. What kind of problems sould I be prepared for? Will the animals eventually bond to each other?
SOmetimes they bond; sometimes they merely tolerate each other.
Kittens and puppies raised together have the best chance of bonding,
but keep in mind that dogs bond most strongly to members of their
pack, including their people, while cats bond most strongly to their
territory, especially their food supply. Cats condescend to be nice
to us while dogs feel obligated to.
Three weeks ago I brought a young adult dog and an old puppy (rather
large) into my thirteen cat household. The dogs live mostly outside
and the cats live wherever they want: outside in nice weather, inside
in bad. The nine-month old puppy doesn't hurt cats, but will chase
them. After a couple of weeks I was able to let the dogs inside, but
had to restrain the puppy for a minute or so until she settled down or
she would chase the cats.
Then the dogs were stolen - the puppy got away and came back five days
later (the last time I saw her, she had a loose collar and a rabies
tag - when she came back she had a tight collar and no tag (tags are
traceable)). I still have to restrain her when she comes in, but once
in, she ignores the cats, and they largely ignore her. I'd have to
say that the dog has been successfully introduced into a cat
household, and without loss of a single cat, though some of them are
spending more time away from home than usual.
I think that if you get a young enough puppy (nine months is a bit
old) you should be able to at least train the dog to be cat safe,
whether there is ever any bonding between the cats and dog or not, and
I really wouldn't expect anything much beyond toleration. I would
also recommend more than one dog unless there will be someone at home
all the time to keep the dog occupied - they need playmates even more
than cats do, and the cats might not appreciate being dog toys. If
Buddy can't be recovered, I will be getting Brandy another cat safe
adult companion, if I can find one.
T.E.D. - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body)