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Margaret L asked:
Slightly different story here — we already have a 4 month kitten, name of Hickory. He is aggressive, curious, neutered but still clawed, and has totally dominated our purebred, 106-lb. German Shepherd Savannah. Next week we’re getting another kitten, Gabriel, to keep Hickory company. Gabriel is about twice as big and twice as old, but much more mellow, and he has no front claws. I’m wondering what the heck’s gonna happen when we put these two minxes together, and if anyone has any tips for making it go more smoothly in this specific situation. Thanks for input.
Tags: Different Story, German Shepherd, Kitten
© 2012 Pets One Stop For Pet Care | Powered by WordPress
We’ve done this several times… add a new cat to the household.
Best way is to keep the old cat in one room for a day or two. Let the new cat have the run of the house, so that the whole house has the new cat’s scent. Then let the old cat out.
There will still be some hissing…. unavoidable…. but it will be minimal and short-lived.
The two kittens should have a ball together and the poor Shepherd will get some relief.
God forbid both kittens should pick on the dog!
Well. I have done that before.. and friends of mine have done that before and what will happen is: One of the cats will be the dominant cat and they will work that out between them. There will be hissing and more hissing and meowing loudly etc but in about a 3-6 days period, everything will be normal. What I do that I believe helps is.. I use a brush for my cat.. so brush one cat and leave the hair on it and brush the other cat and then go back and brush the first cat… do that several times and the odors would be on both cats..
People say that you cannot discipline or train a cat and this is not true. I have a 9 year old cat and I have her trained. The only advice I can give you is this. Get a pet porter if you do not have one and make sure that when you go to sleep at night or leave the house you put the smaller one in it. That way you do not have to worry about anything happening. Also sometimes with cats you just have to allow nature to take its course. I promise as kitten matures things will get better. My cat goes to bed when I tell her, does not get on counters or tables, will not go outside, stops when I tell her and much more. So they can be trained. You just have to be consistent and stern and it can be done. Visit my 360 page and you can see a picture of her.
I’ve done this several times, mixing cats and dogs and a new kitten. Sometimes if you are really lucky there is no problem and they all get along from the start. That has happened three times to me.
Two years ago when we introduced our female kitten to our older males it was a bit rougher. We were advised to keep the kitten separated from the boys for at least a week and give them as much run of the house as possible. Well, our little girl was having none of that! Inside of two days she had managed to get over, under or through any barrier we had and finally we gave up. Yes, there was some spitting and hissing to begin with. We kept a close eye on them for about a week and were sure to pay lots of attention to the boys rather than the new arrival.Inside of a month they were sleeping in a ball and were totally bonded.
Have fun and good luck.