I just got a new puppy. However my two older cats absolutely hate the new puppy. They hiss at the new puppy and really scare him. How to I get my cats to except the new puppy? Do all cats act this way? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dont try to force them to like one another
Always keep them supervised and let the cats have their own space ( let them have somewhere to jump up onto out the way ).
Given time they should all accept each other although they may never be the greatest of friends :)
Mine will sit by each other and my cat will now rub her head on Gus's head when he sniffs her but thats all.
She too hissed when we brought a pup home :)

Just two things really never leave them alone because of the damage they can do to each other & always make sure the cats have somewhere to escape to upwards. cats like to be able to be above "danger"or something they do not like.

They will eventually settle down & the cats will always be boss I had a tiny cat who was 5 lbs in  weight & he bossed all my dogs including the GSDs. He never ran from them & was reared by my first BC from 8-9 days of age(he was a rescue)so he was never frightened of any dog & never ever ran from them.

Hi there

I have a fairly new puppy and had much the same problem.  I do have another dog as well so the cats are used to dogs.  I have put a dog gate across the stairs so the dogs don't go up stairs.  This allows them their own space.  Trial and error unfortunately.

Hi

I have a cat, Oliver 8 years, and last summer I got Luna, a choc lab. She is now 1 year old. Its only in the last couple of months that Oliver has started getting down on the floor.

You have to let time pass, and let them figure it out for them selves.

As said before make sure the cats have a place they can go to witout the puppy being able to bather them.

The puppy might get a few scratches on the nose, but hey then he/she will learn to leave the cats alone.

You must realise that for the cats this is a very strange thing, a dog wags the taill when happy, where to cats this is quite the opposite.

So wait and see.

Jeanette

Jeanette makes a very valid point there regarding the different body languages between dog and cat.
Gus wags his tail like mad when he approaches Noodle (cat) who will just sit and look to see what hes up to . He usually sniffs her head which she doesnt mind and will rub her head up against his but when he does the doggy hello thing of sniffing her other end , thats when he gets a swipe ;)

Thanks

Well we haven't gotten to the headrubbing part in our little home yet, but hopefully we will - in time :-)

oliver (cat) is now walking around on the floor, but he's still very much aware of just exactly where Luna (dog) is. He doesn't really run for more than a couple of steps then slows down to a walk, where as in the beginning he would run for his life!

So we take it step by step, its just that in these last couple of weeks we have had so many progresses, that I can get a little gready and wants it all right now - oh well patience is a virtue, as they say.! hmm

Jeanette

Another good cat sign is when they walk around with their tail vertical at 90 degrees to their body. It shows that they are comfident & unafraid.

Sounds like you're doing ok so far, but as has been said, patience is the key.  I kept 2 pups from my litter last August and when the pups were allowed the freedom of the house after the others had been sold, my 2 cats were horrified, even though they were totally used to having the adult bitch around!  I never forced the issue and always allowed the cats to escape upstairs (dogs not allowed up there) and now we've got pretty much harmony all round.  The cats will approach the pups but I am very firm with the pups in that they are not allowed to chase the cats or approach them unless I give them permission, that way, neither of the cats feels threatened.  The cats now approach the boys and rub heads with them and don't run away but it's taken a few months of the softly softly method to achieve this. 

Good luck and I'm sure in a few months down the line, you'll wonder what you were worried about! :-)

i had a 18 year old terrier which i lost last year, our cat 11 years old was fine with the terrier, but when we bought Toby into the house at 8 weeks old the cat was really p***ed off , we never let the cat go upstairs before this but now let her so she can escape and have some peace,
Toby is now 1 year old and the cat (Tasha) now only just excepts Toby, its taken a long time and for a while there i thought they would never get on, Toby isnt her best friend but she puts up with him,
i cant blame the cat one min she had a small, old, quiet dog in the house, then this 8 week old monster that wanted to play with her all the time came along :D

good luck
Heidi

My cat 'tolerates' the dogs!  He doesn't like them and has lived with Kassie for the past two years and yet they still don't get along- Kassie goes round at floor level and the cat goes round the backs of chairs, units etc.  I tried to get him and Kassie to like one another when she was a pup but it wasn't to be and he gave her a rather nasty scratch near the eye which could have ended up a lot worse :-(  Now they both respectfully leave each other alone.  When I brought the new pup home though we had it all again - except this time when the cat turned and hissed at the pup- both the pup and Kassie flew in for the cat (luckily I managed to grab them both)- the pup to defend himself and I'm afraid the motherly instincts got the better of Kassie and she went in to protect the pup too :-(  As the weeks have gone by both the dogs leave the cat alone and vice versa.  The cat is most certainly the Alpha Male of the animals in my house!

Stacey x x x

My dog also *tolerates* the cats......they have, after 2 years, learnt to sneak past him whilst he is asleep in order to come in through the open patio doors :D :D

He wants to play with them but he is a bit on the big side and they get frightened ;)

hi

Yes I know - patience patience :-)

And I know you're right about a few months down the line, because I can see how things have turned out in the last couple of months.

Oh and I'm always telling Luna to be caarefull and to stop her running after Oliver, when he leaves. And she is pretty good at it, IMHO :-)

Jeanette

Hi

Oh goody, then Oliver is allright!!!

He is walking along tail up in the air and really proud. Okay if Luna gets up he might put a little more speed to it, but nothing more :-)

I'm babysitting my friends GSD bitch puppy 10½ months old. Bella is Lunas best friend, and I have mentioned her before. She is very uh I dont really know how to say it in english, but everytime someone moves - me, the cat or Luna, she is up and about. She is fidgeting (I think I can use that word) all the time, and its really annoying - to me anyway. Oliver dont care, he just walks by her. Good kitty!
Jeanette

I have a good leaflet on introducing dogs and cats, I will send a copy to you.

Lynn

Well I would if your e mail addy wasnt hidden. :)  If you want a copy send your e mail addy to me at:  kidmal.weimaraners@ntlworld.com

Hi guys,

A word of warning if I may, please don't forget that an adult cat can do a fair amount of damage to a young pups face if its put in the position that it feels threatened.
I have 3 cats, all very active but over 13 years old, my female cat, Spooky at 15 years old is still the boss.  I have 2 dogs, and the first thing that Spooks did when I got my latest one was to try and get him cornered to 'have a go' at him.  Needless to say, I intervened when it was obvious that she meant business!  They're all friends together now, so it worked out in the end, but my vet told me that he's seen some terrible injuries on pups done by cats, mainly round the eyes and even acouple of dogs that have lost eyes because of being beaten up by dominant cats.
So please be aware, they will sort it out in the end, but you should never let a cat be put in the position that it feels that it has to defend itself.

Sorry, rant over

Ali :)