My friend's mum's cat has had kittens, they're 2 weeks old at the mo and shes looking for good homes. tony loves cats, i dont mind them (though of course i prefer a dog!), and as you may know, we have a dog, Tilly, who is about 6 months old, we've had her about 9 weeks. She is a very friendly dog, loves to 'play fight' with my mum's dog, but if another dog shows it's not into playing, she backs off. Only experiences with cats so far have been inquisitiveness, but i worry she may hurt the little thing, trying to play with it? Of course we wont have it til it is 8 weeks old.
I know loads of people have a dog and a cat with no problems but the main time i worry about is when we have to leave them. FOr example i go to the gym for a couple of hours twice a week... at the mo i hafta leave the dog in the kitchen cos she developed a taste for ripping up my hall carpet. Due to the layout of the house, unless i wanted the kitten roaming everywhere ( i dont - think of the claws...) i'd either hafta lock it in the kitchen with tilly... or leave it in the hall... or leave the kitchen door open so they can both have access the kitchen or the hall - but this option makes me worry about boisterous 'play'.

so - any ideas how i work this? or should we forget the kitten? we're going to see them 2moro night.
Thanks,
Lynz

i dont know what but something's gone wrong, i just tried to reply to a reply to this post by bulldogowner, couldnt, then when i tried to re-visit the post to try again, the reply by bulldogowner had disappeared!
Spooky...
Lynz

Hi Lynz,i have had many cats, kittens with dogs over the years and while you have to keep the kitten safe while it is tiny its been my experience that even tiny kittens seem to get the upperhand whatever the size of the dog . i am about to get a six month old pup andhave two cats(Charlie and Enzo) and when i first had them (they are now just over a year) my dog who was almost15years had to put up with a lot of spitting and cursing,but they work out their own pecking order!i have just had my mother in laws Ridgeback for a week while she was on holiday , after a slightly edgy start they finished the week cats sitting between her legs and all eating out of her bowl then they all moved onto the cats bowl ,enjoy your kitten,and im sure they will become great friends

If I were you I wouldnt worry about letting the kitten roam the house

I've got two and theyve only ever scratched the scratching post I bought for them!!!

As long as the kitten has got somewhere higher she can jump to if the puppy gets too boisterous she'll be fine.

My two sit on the kitchen table and grin down at Darcy cos they know she cant get to them!!!!!

hehe sounds funny :) i like the way cats act soooo superior to dogs.
I've heard an old wives tale about rubbing their noses together to make them mates? not sure how much truth is in that!
i've seen a 'den' i was thinking of getting for the kitty, it is a furry lined box with a fairly small entrance hole (tilly proof i think) and has a scratching post on top. mind you cats don't tend to use anything you buy with them in mind!
I've decided that between now and getting the kitten, i will work hard on getting tilly to be trustworthy when left - if in the meantime she wrecks more carpet it's not the end of the world, we have a piece wesaid we would replace it with 'when she grows out of it' hehe wishful thinking. Once i can trust her not to wreck the joint she and the kitten can have more space together with dens for both when they're tired.
by the way... they are grey and white/black and white (i want a grey girl)... names so far : whisper, gypsie, sparkle... please vote now a, b or c :)

lynz x

I've got a little grey girl called Lucy but I like Whisper the best I think. Although gypsy is cute as well

ta... i think whisper is winning here too, we'll see when we pick her out tonight :)

whisper is my favourite !.

:)

whisper is definately the best name IMHO :)

I wouldn't worry too much, even little kittens can deliver a stinging swipe to the nose of a curious dog; the dog soon gets the idea :)

liberty

i'm getting all excited now! going to see them at 6. But wo't be able to sit there snuggling them all night, hafta get ready to be picked up at 7.30 my dad s takin us all out for my birthday cos hes away on the day.
Better take the dog out wear her out... gona try to trust her in the hall while we're gone tonight. Wish me luck!
Lynz x

hi lynz,
sorry about that i was trying to word my reply correctly,i have 6 dogs and a 5 month old kitten (two of my dogs did not like cats at all) but we have had no problems infact our cat seems to rule the roost,so i really wouldnt worry about letting your cat/kitten socialize with your dog,we have not had any problems.
and your dog is still young enough to ajust to life with a cat/kitten.
so go for it,cats are excellent company, even for dogs.
jane.

HI Lynz,yep i think its got to be whisper,!! SUE T.have a snuggle for me when you see them good luck.

thanks bulldogowner! glad to hear it wasnt just me going mad!
thanks sue t ohhh go on i suppose i can find time for an extra snuggle each for all of them but ONLY cos u asked me to! :D

thanks everyone was glad to get so many positive responses. we have plenty of time to prepare anyway, they are just 2 weeks old at the mo so another 6 weeks. Unfortunately the mother cat was knocked over on the weekend, so my friend's mum is hand rearing the poor babies. Of course when she told me this i was won over :)
lynz and tilly -who just ate the remains of someones potato pie in the street and is now looking like she's going to hurl. serves her right!

well we viewed them last night - the grey and white that was left was a boy, but anyway i fell in love with a black and white girl. We've decided on whisper. Tracy let us both feed her :) (shes being hand reared - the mother was killed)
and - even better news - we left tilly for 2 and half hours last night, in the hall, and came back to no damage at all. :) so proud!
Lynz

Hi Lynz , give Tilly a HUGE HUG what a clever girl hope she has got the message! your kitten sounds lovely but speaking from experience, if you have a little girl keep your eye on her ,what will seem like the whole local population of local cats will know she is available if you dont have her neutered, and it can be really scary for them (these toms are no gentlemen) i have resorted to all sorts to scare them off (there are those who still become hysterical remembering me screaming at the top of my lungs armed with a soda syphon!!!!!!! seriously though guard her well Sue T

lol - we intend to have her 'done' as soon as the vet says. there are too many unwanted cats and dogs in the world i couldnt bear to be responsible for any more. Waiting for tilly's first season to have her done too. randy jack russel next door would prefer it if i didnt though i think!!
tilly was praised and praised that night... however i left her for just a couple of hours today, walked her beforehand, left her with a tasty treat - came home to carpet excavation hell.
Ah well i dont know when she will get completely used to being alone but i know it will happen eventually if we're patient.
it's my birthday today - tilly 'bought' me a lovely card and a teddy hehe clever girl eh

Lynz and Tilly (still in disgrace in spite of nice birthday pressie!)
x

Hi Lynz, Happy Birthday, or as they say in Italia "Tanti Aguri" hope you had a good one! "x" for Tilly after all wouldn,nt it be boring if she were good ALL of the time(she is just keeping you on your toes!!!!!!!) Regards Sue T.

Please, what does Lol mean ? Sue T.

'Laugh Out Loud'

arent i sad :D

Lynz

AWWW!! Tilly's a clever baby!!

I'm sure all will go well with your dog and the new kitten....like everybody has said, cats usually get the upper hand!! I have three german shepherds and four collies...my cats rule the roost!! (it's quite impressive really!!)
Just make sure the cat always has an escape route and I'm sure everything will be great!

Good luck, take care

Lisa

Lynz
we introduced the other way around. We had a cat before we brought pup home . We never set out to become the owners of a cat actually . She sort of appeared and never went home ( thankfully :) ) . No one came forward for her so here she is . She hated the sight of Gus at first , stayed up stairs alot but she isnt too fazed by him now . He half heartedly chases her when she passes but never makes a full effort to catch her and she sits glaring at him as though to say " just you dare"!!
The only downside is she cannot play as much as she would like when he is around because the clumsy Staffy always wants to join in and spoils her fun but it is nice when both are snuggled up one on each side of me asleep on the sofa :)
Good luck
I would love a little kitten but dont know how Noodle the cat would react rather than Gus .
By the way , the only thing she scratches on is the carpet on the very first stair . She has never attempted to scratch anything else at all .
Lesley

Hi Linz, so now i get it , what a happy bunch you all are,! there sure are a lot of you Lol ,out there, and long may it continue! and i look forward to Lol myself Regards SueT.

well what a turn up for the books!
we'd planned to wait til Whisper was 8 weeks old to bring her home... but to be honest the home she was in wasn't an ideal environment, kids running in and out all day, doors left open etc. I dont know what clicked but last night i was talking to tracy and just offered to hand rear her myself. So here she is! 3 weeks old and just purrrrfect (sorry!!! couldnt resist pun!)
Weirdest thing is... Tilly seems to think she is HER baby! To see them together today was comical, the kitten had the runs and tilly was doing her best to clean her legs and bottom, as well as whenever she wees or poos. Whisper happily lets her, and loves to snuggle up to tilly's warm tummy ( i think if tilly could suckle her she would!)
So far so good, looks like they may be the best of friends! God i hate the smell of lactol though!
Lynz, Tilly and Whisper!
x

Hi Lynz, good luck sounds like you are doing a great job (Tilly too)wish the same could be said here!cats still only seen fleetingly at the top of the garden ,Regards Sue T.

thanks sue...yesterday my friend brought round her 10 week old baby, and we were both sat feeding our babies and trying to get them to sleep!
it's really rewarding but hard work, tilly is a great help when it comes to cleaning, though sometimes when shes in a giddy mood she thinks the kitty is a toy so hafta watch her then. Shes not shown any nasty tendencies towards her at all, just playful.
I read about your cats the other day! What a mess! Do they get on any better with the pup? A few people told me it's easier to introduce a kitten to a dog than a pup to a cat... seems they were right!!
Lynz Tilly and Whisper
x

Hi lynz

Sounds like your having loadsa fun i've been considering kitting a kitten to keep roxi company for a few weeks now(roxi 14 week old lhasa) and i think I'm deffo going to go for it I've had cat's all my life and think roxi would love it :)

Al
xx

Hi lynz

Sounds like your having loadsa fun i've been considering getting a kitten to keep roxi company for a few weeks now(roxi 14 week old lhasa) and i think I'm deffo going to go for it I've had cat's all my life and think roxi would love it :)

Al
xx

wow you felt so strongly about that you said it twice! ;)
things are still going well here, wouldn't leave them alone together for more than a minute or so yet though, not til cat is fast enough to make a run for it if tilly gets too rough.
whisper is all cuddled up in her shoebox with her teddy and a piece of an old jumper tucked round her. i'm in love :)
Lynz x

aye said kitten a kitten instead of getting thought i was quick enough but obviously not :(

hehe :P

hehe never mind i'm having one of those days too, mine's down to pmt.... well, at least thats my excuse for non-stop eating and general moodiness :)
Lynz x