We have a new puppy a yorkie who has been with us some 2 weeks but we are having trouble getting our cat to accept the addition to the family. I always make sure the two are seperate and the cats bowls are high out of reach of the puppy. But the cat is obviously distressed by the dog. We do have a cage for the dog and our cat stays in at night.
Any good suggestions apart from the fact that maybe having a puppy was not a good idea, although apart from the cat problem we are getting on ok

Hi mollyone,

when you say the cat is "obviously distressed" what do you mean? We have two cats and have had our 12 week old pup Sam for four weeks now. Initially the cats were very wary around him, and would stay out of his way. We've tried to restrain Sam and try to prevent him from chasing them and they've slowly got used to him. It took a few weeks before they'd let him get close to them, and whenever he gets a bit overexcited they've shot off upstairs (where the pup can't go). Recently they seem much more relaxed around him though and even stay put when he approaches them, if he gets too close they swipe at him and he'll back off at that.

Our cats are generally very well adjusted and very social with people, maybe a timid cat would be different. The advise we've had from vets and books and friends is simply to keep places in the house where the cat can escape to where the dog can't go, and try not to let the puppy block its way in and out of the house (if the cat's allowed out), oh, and try to keep the puppy off the place where the cat normally sleeps as cats are easily insulted when their personal space is invaded. If the cat is simply wary of the dog, hang in there, it will most likely adjust to the situation..

by distressed I meant the same experience as you really she just is not happy with the dog around and wouldn`t come back in the house and very wary of him. We are doing all the stuff you suggest ie safe place for the cat seperate sleeping areas and escape routes. Its good to know we are having the same sort of experience and it will get better thanks for that

We have had a similar experience. I think all cats are wary of new animals on their teratory. We found the crate a big help as the cat can approach the dog without fear of being chased. It takes time but you will get there.

our cat is still not sure of the puppy even after giving her a good old smack on the nose :(
She (the cat) stopped coming in the house which i dint like because shes very much a house cat and she wasnt eating, so we started feeding her on the kitchen window sill its the only place apart from top of the fridge that the puppy cant reach yet :) And shes always been one for sleeping on sons bed so we try not letting puppy in there! shes slowly getting better just taking each day as it comes!

Bringing a puppy into a house where there are cats is always going to be a bit of a strain to begin with. Our Golden Retriever dog is now 4 years old and we brought him into a house where there were two resident cats - one was 4 at the time and the other was 3. The cats were wary of him and stayed out of his way sitting on the tops of the couch and chairs or just generally staying upstairs. We put a baby gate up to prevent him going upstairs and the cats would stay up there for alot of the time and come down when they needed to. I still feed them upstairs as I don't want the dog to eat their food. Bit by bit things just got better and better between them to the point now where the dog gets on better with my tabby cat than the cats get on with eat other. She'll come up and nuzzle him and he'll lick her face and head - it's very sweet. Only advice I can give you is it is going to take time. Be prepared for the cats to try to swipe the dog but it's just the way it will be. Guarantee you in a few years you'll wonder what you were worried about to begin with.