introducing a cat to your shiba

jessefritschzyjessefritschzy
edited March 2009 in General
When i first got Zoe, I lived at my parents who have two yorkies and four cats. She got along fine with them. She even would clean one of the cats, the other three just kind of ignored her.

Now that she has been an only child for a year and a half, I am not sure how she will do with another animal coming into the house. I want to get a cat, how should I go about introducing them, and keep her from being territorial?

Comments

  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    Use baby gates and have a separate area for the cat to go. Also you want to make sure there is a place for the cat box and food that the dog(s) can not get to. Maybe adopt a cat that is used to dogs and integrate gradually.

    I think maybe Jessica had some good pointers ....I know there are plenty of folks who have cats here. My cats were much older and hence all the dogs were puppies when the got to know their feline companions. It all balanced out in the end since they could get away from the dogs easily to their own places.

    Snf
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    When we fostered during kitten season, we kept the litter box in a dog crate and had metal d-rings on the door that only let it open a few inches so the cat could fit and shiba couldn't.
  • SophieMonsterSophieMonster
    edited November -1
    Hey. So we recently dealt with this too, only the other way around. I have a 15 year old cat and she had been around our dogs growing up but now that she has been getting old and cranky she prefers to be the only child, and when my boyfriend and I decided to get pups, I was really worried about it. At first our cat was cranky about the pups. but now they all know what boundaries they need... they actually are both sleeping on my sides right now, something I thought would never happen. I always corrected the pups if they got the urge to try and chase the cat. Let them know that is not acceptable, even if a dog is just playing, in the end a dog is much stronger and could hurt the cat. I agree with the other comment as well about giving your kitty a separate bedroom for her litter box and food by putting up a gate. this has helped a ton. Maybe get the kitty a Cat Castle (you know those carpet towers) to climb on as well so if they want to get away they can climb up on that. I thought my shiba would climb it up after the cat but she doesn't.
  • KenshiKenshi
    edited November -1
    I hoping to get a puppy this fall. My cat grew up with my two former dogs and I'm not concerned with how she handles the newcomer that much, mostly my worry is how do i keep the dog out of the kitty litter and kitty food. That's a great idea about using a crate for the litter box. The problem is the food - my cat has never been a climber and I just haven't figured out what I am going to do with my cat's dry food yet.

    Since I think I am going to train the puppy to kennel up at night, I might restrict the cat's freefeeding of dry food to night time. Hmmm...
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Why not find a friend with a dog friendly cat, and take Zoe to meet it. You can get an idea of how she may act around cats, and if it might be safe to get one. This may also help you in getting an idea of what you would be in for when bringing a new cat home.
  • andreamg4andreamg4
    edited November -1
    here are some of the things we have purchased to help with the dog and cat situation:

    Photobucket
    Photobucket
    *works great. lots of reviews too! people say dogs cant get into them due to the depth and angle. Our cats adjusted quickly*

    Photobucket
    *I chose this cat tree because it has a large platform to put food/water dishes on. I also have an older kat that can not climb well, so it also has a gradual step up in levels. I was told it will come in handy as an escape haven for the kitties if they want to be away from the dog too. we just got this 2 days ago. It asembles easily but rocks a bit. we are reinforcing it w/wood dowls to keep it from doing so, but it by far is the best option (for us) for feeding.*
    here is the link to the cheapest site I could find for the trees:
    http://cat-scratch.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=16

    Good luck!
  • maxwellsmaxwells
    edited November -1
    We have a clever cat box, and allow me to say - IT ROCKS! Yes, I am excited about a litter box. It's also crazy easy to clean out and is less stinky, we've found.
  • tobyshibatobyshiba
    edited March 2009
    I introduced my 1 year old cat to my Shiba puppy, and my puppy still chased him and wrestled him ( when they were the same size ). My parents thought it was cute, so they never discouraged it. Now they literally fight (jumping on one another, biting), and my cat always wins. Mind you, my cat also happens to be the biggest pest ever, and will bother Toby when he is sleeping, or go where Toby cannot and then just dangle his tail down and tempt him over. My cat is evil.



  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Our Cookie thinks she is a Shiba. She plays and wrestles with them as if she was a dog. Nutty.
  • SophieMonsterSophieMonster
    edited November -1
    Or you could put the kitty food up on the kitchen counter, if that doesn't bother you. We did that when we had great danes so they couldn't get to it so easily.
  • jessefritschzyjessefritschzy
    edited November -1
    haha thank you guys! The cat I am thinking about adopting can actually go to the bathroom in a toilet. weird right? I hope he doesn't hiss at me when I get up in the middle of the night to pee, and I walk in on him sitting on the toilet!
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