Please help! I have had a tortoiseshell female cat for almost a year and altho she CAN be quite tempermental and aggressive with me, she is usually quite tolerant of her surroundings. I recently (2 days ago) brought home a 1 year old rat terrier and my cat has gone insane. The noises she makes are horrible and she will NOT come out of my bedroom to eat, drink or use the litter box. I am considering getting rid of the dog but hope to find another solution. Please, any suggestions would be so appreciated!

When we first brought a dog into our home, our car lived upstairs for 4 months! lol
She used to spit and make noises at him too, but eventually she came round, we never tried to force her to do anything, then with our 2nd dog she lived upstairs, but not for so long only a few weeks, now that she has lived with 2 fairly big sized dogs, when i brought home my pup a couple of weeks back, she didnt really mind at all, she was more curious of him than he was of her, they sniffed each other and although shes still a bit wary, she goes where ever she wants to in her home :) So in our case we just let her come round in her own time and gave her lots of cuddles so she knew we still loved her :)

Our car did not live upstairs, our CAT did! oh dear, maybe i need to go back to bed! lol

Its only been 2 days........dont make any hasty decisions. It is likely to take a few months for things to settle. Just persevere for AT LEAST another month before reconsidering.

I have 4 cats and three dogs and the cats are definitely in charge!
as long as your cat has access to food and water ie: putting her food up stairs for a little while she will get used to the dog being in the house and gradually they will decide whether they will tollerate each other themselves... dont force the issue by trying to introduce them just leave them to it.
In my house  a swift clout on the nose from the cat and they realise its time to go and play with the other dog .....not the cat!!!

Dont give up yet it can be a bit hectic at first and make you wonder what you've done!!

Thanks for all the input and support guys. My nerves are quite shot altho I have moved food, water and litter box into my bedroom where the kitty seems to feel a little better and a little calmer. I am leaving the dog out in the house today but have shut my bedroom door. I guess I will leave the cat in the bedroom safely closed up and then open the door when I get home from work. Should I allow the dog to go in the bedroom with me when I am changing or putting make up on or should I make her stay out cos that is the cats safe haven?? I feel guilty that the cat was here first and now she can't even come out of the bedroom!  :-(
Pam

I have a cat and since we brought our Bulldog puppy 8weeks ago she hasnt been down once. She spent alot of time upstairs anyway as her bed and that are in the spare room. We brought her down to introduce them at first see seemed Ok until our puppy charged at her and she hissed at him. Shes a very affectionate cat she has never been hostile to me or my partner. But she is very nervous we took her in as her previous owners (neighbours) beat her then chucked her out.
Shes getting used to him being there now as when he barks she doesnt flinch and hide away in the corner. But our puppy is too nippy at the moment and i would never force her to come down. She will come dwon when shes ready.

Our puppy isnt allowed upstairs. We have a crate we put the dog in when we go upstairs when we sleep and when we go out, so we know 100% if the cat did want to go down stairs in the night or while were out the dog is safely in his crate so no accidents or fights can happen

I think I will try crating the puppy and seeing if the cat will come out and check her over. I have been putting the pup in the bathroom at night and letting the cat have freedom over the entire house but she refuses to leave the bedroom. I am heartsick because I feel so bad for the kitty!! I got the cat as a very small kitten and I am sure she doesn't even know what a dog is so she has a right to be upset.

Crating the puppy is a good idea.

You think so?? I hope it works. It did briefly yesterday. However I went and bought a large crate with a fluffy cushion and new dog toys in case Abby (the dog) got upset being crated. She was fine tho. I will keep you all updated.

Putting the dog in a crate at least some of the time every day is the way to go, so the cat knows she can come and go safely. Also may be worth getting some cat appeasing pheremone from the vet, to help her fee more relaxed, or maybe some rescue remedy.

I actually did buy a Comfort Zone product and can't tell any difference in the cat. The vet told me being a tortoiseshell she will have quite an attitude and she did even before the pup arrived. I am going to refill the Comfort Zone diffuser this afternoon and pray the 2nd bottle is stronger!! Thanks!

I have two cats who were there before the dogs.
Brought dog number one into the house as an 8 month old puppy.
The cats were not impressed and went upstairs.  After a week or two things were fine and they all adore each other.
I would say keep the dog out of the bedroom for now.  The cat must be allowed to have a place where it knows it is safe and be left alone.
Also in the lounge, make sure the cat has got some high ground escape so it can always get away from the dog if it wants to.
How does the dog behave by the way with the cat? 
I did things the other way round. The cats were there first so why should they be restricted. I restricted my dog to the kitchen with the door open with a dog guard across.  That way the cat can go and investigate and get used to the fact theres another furry animal in the house.
If you shut the cat in all day. You are not giving it the chance to investigate. Cat comes first. After all its the dog thats invading its space at the moment.
Hope this helps. They'll sort themselves out eventually.

Hey, you are right. I bought a baby gate yesterday and the cat did come out for a few minutes but the dog spotted her and charged yipping and growling like a crazy thing. I then put the dog in her crate and let the cat wander around at her leisure. She eventually went back to the bedroom and then I let the dog out. The dog is already so possessive of me and my lap! When I went into the bedroom to get ready for bed, with the baby gate in place, she got so aggitated that she pee peed in the floor outside the gate. this is the 1st "accident" we have had.

I wish I could have the cat on the back of my chair like she used to be and the dog in my lap all at the same time. I will again say these past few days have been VERY long. I am so sentimental and soft hearted when it comes to animals and I am feeling so bad for my cat who used to be the total ruler of the house! Keep saying prayers for my two little ones to find common ground and learn how to get along!! ( and for the hair I have torn out of my own head to grow back!!!)  :-)

Hopefully things will settle as it IS early days yet. The main thing is for the cat to always have an escape route, something to jump up onto, a gate that the cat can jump but the dog can't etc. But do be careful. I breed both dogs and cats and have had both species together indoors for 24 years without any problems. Until a few weeks ago! I brought home my new puppy, toy breed. He's very outgoing and plays rough and decided to play rough with the wrong cat. Result: one punctured eye ball of the puppy. We still don't know if he'll be able to keep the eye or not. :(

Marianne

What do you do if the cat won't even come in the house?  My next-door neighbour has this problem.  They rescued a bassett, but now the cat won't come in!  It is a shame really, as we have also just got a new puppy, and the cat is getting it from all sides(poor thing).  I think that cats would win every time, if only they didnt run so quickly, they should STAND THEIR GROUND!  They would have the dogs in shreds, or at least nervous wrecks!

This is my first post on this site.  I suppose I just wanted to tell someone how thrilled I am with my new pup.  His name is Toby, and he is a Border Terrier.  He is a bit whiny, but hey he is only 7 1/2 weeks old!  Still a 'babby'.  He has puppy breath of death(POOOOH)!  But I love him already!

HC

i have 4 cats and 3 dogs ....one cat in particular is 15 and can certainly look after himself he stands his ground with the dogs and just pushes his way past them if they are in his way!!! if they run at him he turns around and arches his back he just doesnt move and the dogs just walk off !
I bang a newspaper on the worktop when the dogs get to boisterous chasing the cats and they stop immediately as they dont like the noise......

Roni

My two cats are quite elderly now and heaved a sigh of relief 3 yrs ago when our dog had to be put to sleep,then 7 wks ago we brought home a puppy not at all impressed,they have food and water in our bedroom and stay up there most of the time i allow the dog in if i am around and the eldest cat and dog have a boxing match the other cat hides under bed and hisses and growls and lunges at the pup but they are finding neutral ground,our cats hang around on the stairs and seem to know when the pup is asleep and then go into the garden or come back into the house they soon work it out i would just give it time,make sure you give some fuss to the cat.

Hi Pamiknows

I have four cats (the eldest 8 and the youngest 2) and inherited a dalmatian male dog a year ago.  When we brought the dog into the house the first time my cats went mad - they wouldn't come down stairs and two of them went off their food for a while.  I also know what you mean about the noise - I had never heard anything like it before.  We thought about rehoming the dog - the cats were there first, but decided to persevere.

We put a baby gate on the stairs so the dog couldn't go up, and from then and still to present day he isn't allowed upstairs.  The cats like a little space of their own where they feel safe and secure in the knowledge that the great big clumsy spotty creature can't get to them :-)

Basically, it took about six months for all of my cats to go back to normal - saying that even now the eldest one still hates the dog, but the youngest cat cuddles up to the dog at night and are the best of friends.

You just need to let them get on with it (just make sure that the cat has a safe warm place to hide with plenty of water) and eventually she will return to normal.  Maybe get the cat some fresh fish or chicken.  The cat will not starve herself and will eventually eat.

Good luck Pamiknows, let us know how you get on

I have had a bad experience with my cat and our last dog who passed away 5 months ago.  We let them get used to each other by having Chush (cross persian and tiger) on the breakfast bar and generally around the house, but at a height where the dog couldnt get to her just knew she was there.

One day the cat and dog came face to face and they had a fight, well it was actually the cat attacking the dog and the dog (cross staffy) trying to get her off him by standing on her, he never bit her or anything.  We were obviously worried about the cat and I gave them both a good look at and both seemed fine.  Billy (dog) had cuts in his head and around his neck.   5 days later Billys back legs stopped working, and to cut out the misery that followed, I will just say that during the struggle he had slipped a disc in his back which had caused damage to his spinal cord even after surgery and a 4 day stay in the Liverpool university small animal hospital he was pts.

Now I have a Yorkie imagine what the cat could do to him so I am terrified of them meeting. The cat is 2 and a half times the size of the dog.  I have today bought a baby gate to put at the bottom of the stairs as the cat lives upstair and the dog down, except at night when they swap over. Strange way to live but I couldnt go through that again.  Suppose not all cats are as feisty as mine.

Hi everyone - I'm new to the site and just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your replies to PammiKnows as I'm in the same rocky boat and know exactly how she's feeling.
We rehomed a 10year old Cairn terrier two months ago whose owner had died and it's still a real strain. Bill our very nervous and very much loved puss (I did tell the re-homing place he was very nervous and they still encouraged us) now won't come downstairs except to eat and go outside. He won't come into the sitting room and sit on my lap anymore and now sleeps on our bed at night despite never doing this before.
I feel awful as he's terrified of every noise and as a result we're having to keep the dog tethered whenever she's not in a separate room as I'm really worried she will chase him and if she did I don't think he'd come home. Which in turn is eating me up with guilt that we're not giving the dog the sort of good home she deserves to see out her days in. So 2 months in... how much longer do I leave it before we  have to make a horrible decision?!

as starryeyes said,  i to have 3 cats and 3 dog the cats were here before the dogs and 2 are feral one is very feral they def rule the roost in here more so in the garden they will NOT MOVE if my Rottie runs up to them and same for my Bullys even the young bully has quickly learnt that cats rule :-),
my Axle who we lost last year used to hate the dogs he would sit on our shed a look in disgust at the rottie when we first got him but in the end all the cats were fine ,
i think cats are very adaptable and just need alot of time to trust in anything or anyone new this is the case i found with the 2 feral cats i have , after traping the worse one to take her and get her spayed she came home escaped thu a very very small opening in the window and she would not come near the garden when i went out their it took 4 months for her to stand near me again even now she dont trust me but as long as shes eating drinking what igive her then i know she'll be ok, give it time your cat will get used to the dog being their ,

Thanks :) Just really hard cos we lost 2 kittens - 1 in Feb 08 and his brother in Oct and Bill was a friend for the 2nd kitten after we lost the first so he's my little mate and follows me round the garden and I hate seeing him skulk outside looking in at us sat with the dog. We've tried encouraging him with treats and even tuna but soon as he gets a whiff of the dog he's out. Like someone else said, if he'd stand his ground I dont' think the dog would be remotely interested but how do you tell a cat to sit there when he's terrified?!

give him time he will come mine would come up mount everest and walk past killer pit bulls if they smell jerk chicken cooking lol

our Axle would even put his paw thu the dogs cage while dog was intheir sleeping to steal his science plan balls of food