When a dog and a cat meet, anything can happen. One starts chasing or shooing the other away, one party flees from the other, they don’t care at all or become best friends immediately. So that you are prepared for all situations that do not happen to run smoothly, we will inform you in this article how you can get your dog and cat used to each other.
Key facts at a glance:
- A merger with young animals is easier than with adult animals
- Make time for the merging and vacation
- Make sure there are enough retreats for dogs and cats
- In the event of a dispute, intervene immediately and try to find the trigger
- When matching, consider the character of the individual animal
Free days for the merge
As soon as you bring a new dog to a cat that is already settled, or a cat to a dog that is already settled, you should have free time. You always need patience with pets – you have probably already experienced this when raising your pet.
Take time to bring the animals together under supervision. Keep calm even when mishaps happen. If being brought together is stressful for the animals, even housetrained animals may urinate indoors. In the situation in which dog and cat are supposed to get used to each other, it is not the right situation to complain about such a mishap.
The animals need a more or less long time to get used to them, during which curiosity and fear can alternate again and again.
Cats and dogs are different breeds, which is why they cannot read their body language intuitively. While the dog greets its fellows with a happily wagging tail and sniffs at each other’s hind quarters, cats are more likely to wag their tails when they are upset and stressed. A drooping tail in the dog means he is rather anxious, while the sign in the cat means he is completely relaxed.
Make sure that the animals can sniff each other but also hide when brought together. Dogs like to leave the room when it’s too much for them, cats quickly disappear under the sofa and hiss at the mostly playful new pack member. And this is exactly what is important:
The animals should perceive each other as further members of the family and not as competition.
When bringing them together, please also pay attention to the character of the animals. Some cats and cat breeds are more relaxed than their peers. In the case of dogs, for example, one must also take into account the different levels of hunting instinct.
For this you need patience and free time in which you can carefully get the animals used to each other and intervene in the event of arguments.
The merge
So that no animal suddenly runs away, the reunion should take place within your own four walls. Be sure to put the dog on a leash before it meets the cat. When he starts chasing the cat, there is rarely anything you can do as a pet owner. Once a cat has been chased by another animal, it develops a fear of dogs that is very difficult to undo. What can be a play instinct for the dog immediately becomes pure seriousness for the cat and it believes that it is at the mercy of a predator that wants to eat it.
It is generally easier to bring a new cat to a dog than to integrate a dog into a cat’s territory. This is because dogs are pack animals and cats tend to be loners. This means that dogs hunt in packs and cats hunt individually – not that house tigers can be kept alone unless they are free roamers.
Also applies
The younger the animals, the easier it is for them to get used to one another. This is probably the same for almost every animal on the entire earth: This also applies to ornamental birds, and even humans have increasing difficulties getting used to new things with increasing age and experience.
Before the new animal moves in, you should introduce the newcomer’s smell to the domesticated animal. Bring a blanket that you previously gave the new animal at the shelter. If you bring a dog to a cat’s territory, you can also play barking sounds for the cat beforehand so that it gets used to it and learns that nothing bad will happen if a bark suddenly comes from somewhere.
Separate the feeders from each other. Pets only eat when they feel comfortable and safe. If the dog and cat have their bowl right next to each other, one of the animals will not dare to eat its own food.
Within the first few days, especially at night, you need a separate room where the newcomer can be alone. In this way, you can «measure» the bringing together, where you want to get the dog and cat used to each other, and sleep relaxed at night yourself.
The first encounter
When the animals meet for the first time, everything should be the same for the already acclimated animal. It is important for the new animal that there are no frightening sounds, noise or other distractions. Children who are looking forward to the new pet also need to be prepared. If the dog and cat are to get used to each other, children’s hands must not carelessly stroke or pick up the cute animal, as this is absolutely overwhelming.
With the dog leash you limit the radius of the animal and give a cat the opportunity to keep its distance and observe the situation at any time. The first merge goes well if the cat is watching and not hissing by the end of the first session. Then give the animals a break and repeat the merge again after a while.
If you have several rooms, you can let the animals sniff around in peace through a playpen or other partition.
Conclusion:
With perseverance and patience, you can get your dog and cat used to each other. Make sure that both animals feel safe and loved and always give them a place to retreat that is off-limits for the other animal. While the cat hides in the cave of the scratching post or on the wardrobe, the dog can be kept at a distance with a leash or a room prepared for him for the time being.