Thinking of introducing a kitten in a three dog inhabited house?

[Ashleighkate]

For a long time I have wanted to get a kitten, after watching all my friends and family go through cats in all different shapes sizes and personalities.

The only concern I have are my three dogs, as I am unsure how they will react to a kitten.

One of my females (a 7 year old Samoyed with diabetes) is very gentle natured and great with other animals, she does not worry me at all and especially loves babies (of any breed). Only sometimes gets excited by the other two but still wouldn't be a threat.

My oldest boy is a golden retriever, he is very lazy and cheeky (he will be 12) he is always very excited when meeting other animals, barks like crazy and gives you 'crazy eyes' but does not hurt them.

My youngest girl (golden/ Samoyed) is much like her father but more obedient and a little more unpredictable with her reactions. She will either be weary and unsure or excited, depending on the animal/ influences (such as her dad). She either keeps to herself, plays with them or growls to let them know they are invading her space, but rarely initiates any violence unless food is involved and the other animal is persistent.

They have only ever been introduced to small rodents and puppies before. With the puppies they are fine, except for the initial excitement and uncertain stage. When they are on walks they get very very excited and bark like crazy at any other dog, and cat. They have never socialised properly with cats but their reaction on walks is not dissimilar to that of dogs. From what I can tell it is primarily interest and not threatening.

What would I need to ensure before deciding on introducing a kitten? How will I know if the dogs won't except it? Or if they will?

[Barkingdog]

I had a Samoyed and she loved to go after small animals , I would not had trust her with a pet cat. You could go the shelter and see if they have any adult cats that lived with dogs and know how to protect itself.

[Longblades]

It sounds to me that you have a good chance of success if all three dogs are good with small critters of other species now. I only have one dog and he is used to cats but when I introduced the new ones I had him in a down stay so the kittens and the new cat could be reassured he would not chase them. If I was you I think I would introduce a kitten to each dog separately with the dog in a down stay. This after the time with the kitten behind another door of course. I have not actually done that since my dogs always had a cat here first but it might be a good idea for you.

I do find that most kittens LOVE dogs. Clip the kitten's little hooks short, mine have nearly all tried to climb the dog and play with him/her and might injure an eye by accident. Supervise of course. I have had kittens that will bond to the dog more than to me, become good playmates and that's not really what I want, the kitten is supposed to be mine, not the dog's. Same as if you got litter mate sibling dogs ( which is generally not advised) separate a kitten from the dogs so YOU become it's best friend, not one of the dogs.

[sugarcatmom]

Watch out for pack mentality. Even though each dog on their own might be totally fine with a kitten, when more than 2 are together, sometimes they ramp each other up to the point that a collective prey drive develops, even more so when there are high-pitched kitten squeaks involved. I would always make sure the kitten has escape routes and high places to get to, and I wouldn't leave them alone together until the cat is an adult.

http://pets.thenest.com/bring-new-ki...dogs-5367.html
http://www.labadoption.org/info/file?file=16297.pdf

[Barkingdog]

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Watch out for pack mentality. Even though each dog on their own might be totally fine with a kitten, when more than 2 are together, sometimes they ramp each other up to the point that a collective prey drive develops, even more so when there are high-pitched kitten squeaks involved. I would always make sure the kitten has escape routes and high places to get to, and I wouldn't leave them alone together until the cat is an adult.

http://pets.thenest.com/bring-new-ki...dogs-5367.html
http://www.labadoption.org/info/file?file=16297.pdf

Yeah , that is why I suggested getting an adult cat at a shelter , most people want a cute kitty and the poor adult cats end up being put down if they're there too long.

[jfn]

My puppy shihtzu goes crazy after my sister's cat when they get together.

She just wants to play with the cat. But the cat is a cat, not a dog and behaves differently. She doesn't like when my dog is too hyper. So she runs away moving up to a chair, fridge or something. She has even tried to hit my dog to get her away. But when my dog moves calmly towards her or is just laying down, the cat walks in front of her with no issue. What scares the cat is the excitment when that goes on.

One thing we do that helps break a little the excitment is to leave the cat on one room and the dog on another. Then open the door a little just enough for them to sniff at each other without full physicall contact. So you might want to start with that for introduction.

Also totally agree with previous suggestions of trim the cats nail short to reduce risk of eye injury for your dog and have plenty of high spaces for the dog to climb and feel secure when he feels like it.

[jfn]

Not that it matters for this discussion purpose, but my sister's cat that I was referring to is a "he", not a "she", although she recently got another one and now she has a boy and girl cat