Introducing a kitten to dogs.

Danielle0211 · 09-10-2010, 09:00 PM

Hiya I am not sure if I am posting this in the right place but I am really after some advice.
My friend has a kitten but she is allergic to it - she has tried every trick in the book to alleviate it but can't. A while back I offered to take the kitten but she wanted to try some other advice first.
Well now the kitten is 6 months old and the allergies haven't got any better and she has asked me to take her.
My question is do you think 6 months old is too old to introduce her to my dogs - especially bearing in mind they are used to a cat that plays with them.
I am sure it is possible but don't want to traumatise the poor thing or have to rehome her again!
Also Bhindi is female could this be an issue - she has only ever lived with the dogs.

angieh · 09-10-2010, 09:14 PM

Sorry not to be able to help Danielle0211 - I have never kept a dog. Lots of members have both cats and dogs though, so I hope someone will be along shortly to offer practical advise.

Danielle0211 · 09-10-2010, 09:16 PM

Thanks hun. I have always had kittens from the 8-12 weeks age range and not had any problems then but I was just wondering if there was a 'cut off' with the age!

dandysmom · 09-10-2010, 10:26 PM

I too am not a dog person, but as Angie said, many members have both and I'm sure will have some good advice for you. Good luck!

niki71uk · 10-10-2010, 12:07 PM

my oldest cat was 10 when i got the dog,there was never an issue with them,they got on from day one,if anything the dog is scared of the cats not the other way round,i introduced my younger cat to the dog when i got her at 6 wks old, same again no issues

the oldest cat is male the younger is female,and the dog is male

Manyana13 · 10-10-2010, 12:45 PM

I am not sure if this helps, not the same situation, but I have 3 cats (2 aged 2 and a half and one is 18months old) , we got a puppy in June.To be honest, the really were not happy about it and the cats did get stressed out, but they are all great friends now. So I don't think there is a 'cut off' age. What I would do if I were you, is get the cat used to the scent of your dogs and visa versa, you can do this by making sure you have the dogs scent on your clothes or hands when you visit the cat and then let the dogs smell your hands etc when you come back from visiting the cat. That sort of thing. It will be more stressful in this situation, as it is a whole new home etc that you are introducing her to. Make sure she has a safe place in your house that she can go to if she wants to get away from the dogs if she wants to. I think after the initial stressful period, she will be fine with the dogs. She will either get along with them or she will have showed them that she isn't interested in being 'friends'! Good luck and I hope it goes well... let us know.

Shelley123 · 10-10-2010, 04:22 PM

I have nearly always kept cats and dogs together and it usualy works out but can be scary and tricky at first.
I don't think 6 months is too old at all. Just be prepared for lots of hissy buisness at first. It's good that your Dogs are used to cats already.
We recently introduced a puppy to out two old boys, they had lived with 2 elderly dogs. The pup was a little boistrous at times and we found a water pistol useful in the short term.

lisa01uk87 · 10-10-2010, 05:30 PM

i brought in a kitten at 4 months who was petrified of ty (my gsd) he would hiss and scratch the hell out of anyone who was sitting near him at the time, honestly i just left them to get on with it, i seperated them at night or when i went out, and left them be when i was in, didnt molly coddle either, you wouldnt know it now too look at the two of them but they get on like a house on fire, playing and running around the house, cat hanging off his face (only saw this once and tried to stop it but ty just wasnt bothered) only advice id give, seperate them at night when you are sleeping and when you have to go out and watch closley that your dogs dont get too over the top and other than that just let them get on with it, within a couple of weeks - a month you will see a difference in the kittens behaviour, good luck and keep us posted

Velvet · 10-10-2010, 07:01 PM

Tim was just under 8 weeks when we got him. When we got home we went in first and greeted the dogs - two Boxers aged 6 + 3. Then let the dogs out into the garden/utility room [which leads into the garden]. Brought Tim into the living room and let him explore for a while by himself with no dogs - about half an hour. Then we let one dog in at a time - spaced about 10 mins apart. At this point I held the kitten, once the dogs had settled, Tim went down on the floor. Lots of hisses and spits from the kitten and for a few days he gave the dogs a very wide berth.

When we brought Amber home. Lots of hisses from Tim, the dogs adored her on sight and Katie [older dog] was enchanted because here was a kitten that didnt bite her

Things between the kittens settled down within a couple of days and now they are best buds.

Now Tim has another kitten to play with he doesnt bother the dogs - Harvey [younger dog] actually misses the rough play of the kitten hanging off his jowls + will try and initiate play with Tim and Amber - to no avail

Last night Amber was wrapped round Harvey's head fast asleep

Our Tim is nearly 6 months and if someone asked me to take on a kitten of that age, I would have no hesitation. As someone else says for the first while keep them separate at night from the dogs or when you are out. After a week we would go out for 15 mins max and leave them all together and if all ok, build it up from there

Good luck and look forward to seeing photos of your new arrival

Danielle0211 · 10-10-2010, 07:36 PM

Thanks thats great.
I already keep the dogs and Bhindi seperate when I am out, mainly because I don't trust the dogs with free run of the house! Bhindi has her own room which has her litter tray in and the dogs (not so much the puppy as he will be cheeky and sneak in!) know to keep out.
When I got Bhindi she just walked straight up to bailey inbetween his legs and basically said "yep I am boss now!" but she was so much younger and used to large dogs.
Looks like I had better get back to my friend and say that Mitsy has a home here!
Looks like I will have to wait a while for my longed for Siamese! Oh well everything happens for a reason!

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