So we have two cats we've been introducing to Kiko through his pen. My big concern is his safety at the moment since he's so small....one of our cats is scared of him and leaves him alone, the other is the 'alpha' cat and he has been hissing and striking the pen pretty dang hard. The thing is Kiko is not threatened in the least and barks at him, and looks like he just wants to play with our cat, but our cat looks like he would love to kill Kiko. Anyone have any advice, I don't want Kiko getting hurt now......but I also don't want him thinking he can beat on the cats.....is this just the normal 'adjustment' period.....or is there something I should do now so they'll get along better in the future? Thanks for any advice!
In the very first photo of this thread I was like, "Um...where's the Shiba?". He's so tiny, I thought he was a cat! He's so cute and tiny and snuggable.
Just keep Kiko and the cats separated by a barrier but also where they can see each other and sniff if they want to. If the one cat is aggressive becareful, allow some time. You could probably put Kiko on leash and harness and allow him to walk among the cats. Make sure the cats have space to run away if they like but be leery of your potientally dog aggressive cat lunging and taking a swipe at him. Once the cats have adjusted to having a little dog around, they should be somewhat "okay" but probably still "on-guard". When Kiko is older, he should be able to dodge and take a few swipes to understand this kitty means *business. However, now he is way too young, so make sure all your cat/dog interaction is heavily supervised.
If you happen to know of a friend or family member with a kit or doggy-friendly cat, you could try socializing Kiko to their kitty.
Kiko is doing well with the cats so far. We never leave him alone with the cats, but we do let the cats and him interact while we are watching. For the most part they want to just get away from him now. One of the cats is scared of him even though he's half his size. The other one is somewhat scared and runs away from him, though if cornered he will hiss and I'm sure he'd strike out at him if we weren't there to quickly separate them. He is my concern at the moment because I think he could really hurt Kiko. Kiko really just wants to play with them, his tail is wagging constantly and he loves when they come around. The cats have plenty of places to escape away and up to. It is going better than I was expecting so thats a nice surprise.
My cat hates my dogs, and she will strike at them if they get too friendly. What really helps is trimming the cats nails whenever you feel a sharpness to them. With her trimmed nails, my cat can still defend herself and 'hurt' the dogs without inflicting any wounds.
He is so very cute : ) congrats and enjoy the nice calm before he gets nuts!
My cat hates my dog too, he is declawed though (adopted that way) so puppy feels nothing. my cat's also huge (not fat but about 15 or so lbs) compared to the puppy (3.5lbs) . We've been taking the puppy out of the room as soon as he gets too excited around the cat.
I took this photo and its too bad it doesn't show what he was seeing. Kiko was playing while I did some work and he just started barking and trying to bite the floor. I was confused for a few minutes, until I realized he was seeing his reflection in the floor. Cracked me up anyhow!
Comments
Just keep Kiko and the cats separated by a barrier but also where they can see each other and sniff if they want to. If the one cat is aggressive becareful, allow some time. You could probably put Kiko on leash and harness and allow him to walk among the cats. Make sure the cats have space to run away if they like but be leery of your potientally dog aggressive cat lunging and taking a swipe at him. Once the cats have adjusted to having a little dog around, they should be somewhat "okay" but probably still "on-guard". When Kiko is older, he should be able to dodge and take a few swipes to understand this kitty means *business. However, now he is way too young, so make sure all your cat/dog interaction is heavily supervised.
If you happen to know of a friend or family member with a kit or doggy-friendly cat, you could try socializing Kiko to their kitty.
Good luck! Keep us posted on all the progress.
congrats and enjoy the nice calm before he gets nuts!
My cat hates my dog too, he is declawed though (adopted that way) so puppy feels nothing. my cat's also huge (not fat but about 15 or so lbs) compared to the puppy (3.5lbs) . We've been taking the puppy out of the room as soon as he gets too excited around the cat.
http://web.me.com/ddemorest/Kikosden/Kiko_Sits.html