Shelties and a new cat

C

ckoschik

Forums Novice
I just adopted a new cat (1 year old) and Rusty, my Sheltie, will NOT leave her alone. I know he's not being vicious, but the kitty doesn't know that. After two months now, she is still afraid to come out of the back of the closet.

Does anyone have any suggestions for safely and successfully introducing a cat to a sheltie? My dachshund seems to be taking it well and only barks when Rusty does.........well, which is all the time. Shelties...go figure!:rolleyes2:

But seriously, I want this to work and have tried all the normal things like a) introducing them in short sessions, b) having them sleep on each other's bedding to get used to the smell, c) keeping the dogs on leashes during the sessions, d) rewarding the dogs with treats when they don't bark. Just when I think I have it all figured out, I turn my head in time to hear more barking and crying and hissing.

Is there anyone out there that has gone through a similar situation? Did all animals come out alive at the other end?

Thanks!
 
Welcome

I have had many animals dogs with cats. at one time I had 3 cats and 2 dogs. They all did well. I was able to get them use to each other the usual way of slow introduction. And you have to make sure they all feel like the other is not an intruder taking their time away. It certainly sounds like you are doing all the right things. Things should have been ok by now. Maybe try keeping one area where only the dogs are allowed and not the cat. I don't know how that will work because it's not easy to keep a car out of any area unless it has a door.:confused2: Good luck ! Sounds like you just have a feline dispising sheltie.:eek2:
 
I wish I had some good advice, too, but it sounds like you are doing the right things. It may just take some more time.
I've always had cats and dogs, and it never took more than a week or so for things to settle down with a new addition. But all dogs, and cats, are different.
I hope things get better, let us know!
 
Depends on the dog, and depends on the cat.

We were very concerned about this problem when we brought a cat into our household. My Sheltie, Ginger, is rather a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to... well, anyone or anything that isn't my immediate family. And we figured a cat wouldn't be an exception.

We did some shopping around. I didn't want a kitten, being that kittens so easily find homes and adult cats get the short straw and often wind up being put down for lack of homes.

We lucked out a bit. A local no-kill shelter (Animatch) which normally specializes in dogs happened to have one lone cat kicking around. A three-year old black-and-white guy named Sylvester (who we've affectionately dubbed "Silly" for short). A cat who loved dogs, and who the shelter coordinator wouldn't let go to a house that didn't have a dog. And since Animatch has this 14-day trial period to make sure you're the right match, we leapt at the chance.

We brought home the ten pound "new baby", fully expecting Ginger to try and eat his face.

I wouldn't call them "best friends", but they've certainly achieved "sibling" status. They get into scuffles. She tattles on him, he teases her until she starts yapping and gets in trouble for it, but at the end of the day, take one or the other out of the house and they mope.

It took about two weeks for them to get to tolerating each other. Well, it was more like the cat annoyed the dog into tolerating him, but certainly for the first two weeks she'd nip him and yank out a chunk of fur. He'd "murr" at her and scamper away. He has never clawed her, never hissed at her, never given her more than a playful swat - which is why my case isn't the norm, as I have a special cat.

What I suggest is give them time to get used to each other. Let the cat hide if she wants to hide, but give the dog a sound scolding when he pesters her. It could take months, it could even take years. It's far easier to control a dog's behaviour than a cat's (as generally they don't ignore you then go vomit in your shoes in revenge), so I'd say try to correct them and teach them to leave her be. She has the advantage in that she can get out of reach when she wants to.
 
Spak you're funny !:lol: It's true though , it is easier to correct the dog than the cat because cats are so independant. Lots of luck in your endevour ckoschik!:uhoh:
 
thanks

Maybe I'm just being too impatient. I, too, have had cats and dogs together through the years, but have never had this much trouble. One day I came home and Rusty had tried to hard to get to the cat on the closet shelf, that each and every piece of clothing was off the hangar and on the floor! I had lots of ironing time to try to figure out my next step!!

I'm not giving up, so I will welcome any more comments and/or suggestions!
 
cats and dogs...

Griffin and our cats have a love hate relationship too... Bella (the fat one) loves griffin and plays with him
and buttons (the skinny) hates him.... at least most of the time.... Buttons gives a hiss and griffin ignores it and keeps playing... more hissing (followed with sheltie hummumphing ... he seems to be talking to her.... not sure what he is saying though...
The best thing I've heard is "The dog will stop chasing when the cat stops running..."
p.s. we keep everyone's nails trimmed to try and prevent any serious damage.
-good luck
-Scott
 
My Sheltie and cats have an odd relationship. The cats love her, and she hates them, and lets them know it anytime they get near.
Here is a short video example!

Snowy and Remy
 
I just love this Forum!

It's informative as well as entertaining. We have some stand-up comics on hand.:lol: Snowy is just so darn cute, I could never get upset at that cute face. I noticed you have claw protectors on Remy so he can't injure to badly.:yes:
 
Yes, we keep SoftPaws on both our cats, so they can't scratch when playing.
They don't seem to know what to make of Snowy's 'barking'!
 
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