When I've had adult cats, they have been horrified of dogs. But one time a stray kitten barged right in my front door, even as I was showing him that big huskies lived with me. He was fascinated and not terribly scared by my dogs, and would climb the baby gate to get to the dogs. Unfortunately, that meant it was likely my dogs would get too excited and inadvertently shake him to death, so I had to take that kitten to the shelter for his own safety.

Upset cats may urinate in inappropriate places, so I don't mix dogs and cats anymore.

Have your dogs ever been around cats before? Do you have any friends with cats and would be willing to let your dogs meet a cat (all safely on leashes) in your house? Thats really the best test of how your dogs would be with a cat in their home. Your Sheba's wanting to chase squirells really isn't a reflection on how she will be with an inside cat.

If you do decide to adopt a cat, look for one who has lived with dogs before. If a cat has been surrendered to a shelter or rescue, the owners should give some background info.

Since you don't know how your dogs will react to a feline moving into their home territory, it would certainly be safest to adopt a dog savvy, adult cat who knows how to stay out of a potentially dangerous dog's path. Kittens are fearless and naive when it comes to dogs, and can easily get themselves killed before they learn how to deal with a canine household.

I think you are wise to be concerned about the Shiba. That breed is known for resource guarding and sometimes for animal aggression. You will need a cat who has plenty of dog experience, and then you will need to integrate the cat into your household very carefully. Before you adopt a cat, however, it's important that your Shiba is adequately trained to obey your commands without hesitation. Especially essential is the command to "Leave It!" Don't bring a cat into your home until your Shiba will "Leave It" regardless of the lure ... including squirrels. That's a tall order for a dog bred to hunt, but you need to make certain that you'll be able to call the Shiba away from a cat under any and all circumstances.

My favorite integration technique with a cat is to put him into a larger room like a bedroom with food, water, and a litterbox. I then fill the doorway with baby gates from bottom to top. Another option is to temporarily replace the solid door with a screen door. The gates or screen allows the cat to observe the household and interact safely with resident animals who approach from the other side. It's a great way to gauge the animals' reactions to each other and to help determine when the cat feels comfortable enough to come out of his room for supervised visits.

In my household where I know the dogs are non-aggressive towards cats, I put the new cat into a harness (NOT a collar) and leash for those first visits into the rest of the house. That way I can supervise the interactions and make sure that the new cat doesn't indulge in "first strike", aggressive behavior towards the other animals.

In your household, however, where the reactions of your dogs are in question, I recommend putting the dogs on leashes when you allow the cat out of his room for household visits. This will give you the control you need to enforce the "Leave It!" command and make sure your dogs behave appropriately. Reward your dogs when they completely ignore the cat. Correct them when they demonstrate more than casual interest.

Don't be in a hurry to integrate a cat into your family. Cats work on their own timetable, and any cat you bring into your home will let you know when he's comfortable in your family structure. It could take hours; it could take months. Be very careful NEVER to leave a cat loose in your house with your dogs when you are not there to directly supervise ... not until you are convinced that your dogs have fully accepted the cat as a member of their family pack.

I believe that most dogs and most cats can live together in reasonable peace, but there are exceptions - dogs who can never be trusted with cats, and cats who will never be comfortable living with dogs. Be observant, be careful, and don't hesitate to return the cat to a shelter if it turns out that your dogs can't live safely with felines.

Laurie

I tried adopting a cat with a house full of pets. I had three cats and a dog. My friend was moving and gave me her cat. The poor thing came in, ran behind a couch and stayed there a week. It wouldn't even come out for water. I called my friend and told her she had to find it another home. The darn thing left piles of pooh behind my couch. In future, If i took in another animal, I would give it its own room, let the other animals hear, see and sniff first, then gradually bring it into the main house.

Chasing squirrels does not always translate into non-cat friendly. Lady insists that every squirrel in "her" yard be in a tree, but gets along just fine with Indy. I, like you, wasn't sure when we first got Indy (she was only 5 weeks old). It has been a very gradual introduction phase - 4 months - but Indy is now fully integrated into our home. I wouldn't say that Lady and Indy are best friends, but they seem to respect each other's space. I agree with others that you need to take your time and find the right cat and be willing to let the integration be very gradual.

I am by no means a dog expert, but I believe you can have the dogs evaluated by a trainer to see if they will be cat tolerant (testing their prey instinct, among other things). I would also get a cat that is tolerant of dogs. Either an older cat that has lived with dogs or a younger cat that was raised with them.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and insights. A long and gradual introduction of everyone makes sense, and I've been thinking of how best to have this phase. My dogs aren't allowed in the upstairs bedrooms, so this could be a safe place for a cat (I like the gate idea - it seems better than a closed door). However, we're rarely upstairs at all during the day - even my teenage sons don't hang out in their rooms. I'm sure it depends on the cat, but if a cat is social, wouldn't he/she rather be around people than upstairs away from everyone? I guess a gate at the top of the stairs might be an option. The living areas downstairs are where the dogs roam, and they generally follow us from room to room, or split the difference if we're in different rooms.

Do cat adoption places usually know if an older cat has lived with dogs?

Thanks again,
Ann

I was advised by the shelter to get a kitten when I adopted my littlest girl. I already had an adult female cat, our roomates (who were moving in a month) had 2 cats and we had two dogs.

I was told animals are generally more tolerant of younger animals, as opposed to adults. And even if the owner surrender says they were good with dogs, there are no guarantees. It's easier to get a kitten with no background.

We kept her in her own room for about 2 weeks. With little jaunts around the house after the first week. We slowly introduced the dogs and the kitten. She immediated rolled around purring, no fear and my beagle (who loves to chase anything that runs, outside) just laid down and let her sniff and roll on her.

Big guy (who I was worried about, as chasing cats was SO much fun!) didn't even blink twice at her. She even jumped on his head once, and he didn't even flinch. He still disklikes my older cat, and the youngest is able to snuggle and bathe both the dogs, and she plays with both of them. And they both tolerate her really well.

If you can find an adult that guaranteed is good with dogs, I'd go that route, but if not, I'd try a younger cat, or an actual kitten. And it depends what you want. Does good with dogs for you require the cat just ignore the dogs, or be playful with the dogs??

Although it is correct that adult cats often tolerate young kittens better than they do other adult cats, there are still substantial risk to a young kitten living with dogs whose behavior towards cats is unknown. Not only are kittens completely oblivious to the dangers of living with dogs as predatory animals, but they also don't possess the size, speed, or agility to escape easily. Kittens are also extremely erratic in their behavior, racing around like little maniacs, setting themselves up as irresistible prey targets for dogs.

I once lost a kitten to our old lab. The lab didn't have a cat-aggressive bone in her body and had lived with cats and kittens throughout her entire life. Nonetheless, one morning we found the kitten with a broken neck under our bed in the same spot where the lab always slept. We heard nothing during the night, and there were no other signs of injury on the kitten's body. I believe that, being a noctural and perpetually playful beast as all kittens are, Zeke probably jumped on Pearl in the middle of the night to play, waking Pearl from a sound sleep. I suspect that Pearl was so startled in her sleepy state in the dark that she snapped at him before she even realized what was happening. Zeke was being a kitten, Pearl was being a dog, and Zeke ended up dead in an instant. It almost certainly wouldn't have happened with an adult cat.

The fact that your dogs aren't allowed in your bedrooms makes those rooms safe sanctuaries for a cat. Those bedrooms are not, however, good choices for a room in which to begin the integration process. You need to find a room on the main floor, because you need the cat and dogs to be able to check each other out from their respective sides of the gates. If the dogs don't go upstairs, the animals won't have any opportunity to become safely acquainted.

Regardless of which room you set up as the cat's room, you and your family members should be prepared to commit to spending considerable time in the room with the cat so that he won't feel secluded and abandoned. Integration is a family process, and it takes as long as it takes.

Any adequately run rescue or shelter should be able to tell you about any of their owner-surrendered animals. Strays are wild cards unless they've been at the shelter long enough for the staff to become well acquainted with them. Your best bet would be to adopt from an organization that fosters cats in private homes - preferably foster homes with dogs. Tell the adoption counselor that you are specifically interested in adult cats with a known history of living peacefully with dogs. There are so many cats in rescues, shelters, and foster homes around the country that it shouldn't be at all difficult finding a dog-savvy cat.

Laurie

If you go on Petfinder you will see that animals are often labeled as to whether they get along with cats, small children, etc. I don't think you will have trouble finding a cat that is dog tolerant. I would be more worried about whether your dogs are cat tolerant. I don't know if they can be retrained if they are not tolerant of the cat.

I would have someone (vet, trainer) evaluate your dogs. My personal opinion is that you should not get a cat (even an adult dog-savvy cat) if the Shiba Inu is going to make the kitty's life miserable. The cat will end up staying outside as much as it can (if you let it out) or will live in your closet, under your bed, etc. A home is not a war zone with areas for each "side" and neutral zones. The cat deserves a life where it doesn't have to worry about being chased (except in mutual play) in its own home. Just my 2 cents.

What about a meet and greet *before* you bring New Kitty home?

I want the pets to all tolerate each other, but don't need them to become best friends. I've had a trainer work with my Shiba in the past, so I'll ask her how she thinks Rocket will do with cats. I can ask the vet as well when I take the dogs in for their annual checkups.

As far as a room on the main floor, I work from home and so my office might be a possible safe zone for the cat. However, my dogs tend to spend their days curled up in beds next to my desk, and so I don't want to arouse their jealousy by moving the beds out to the family room. Otherwise I don't really have an area downstairs that can be fenced off to keep dogs out (or in).

I've looked on petfinder and see a lot of cats of all ages, but none of their profiles indicate whether any have been socialized with dogs. I've emailed the local foster organization and will see what they say.

I think a meet & greet ahead of time is a good idea and wondered if shelters encourage this. I'll call to ask.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts!
Ann

I have 5 cats and 2 dogs. 3 of the cats "tolerate" the dogs, my male dog ignores the cats except when he feels like chasing them, the 2 male cats are best buddies with my female dog. I've never seen anything like it.

{{gwi:2018497}}

When I bring a new cat into the house, it lives in my upstairs guest bedroom by itself for a while. I put an old screen door in the doorway, so all the other animals can see and smell, and maybe touch noses through the screen, but everyone is separated.

That usually works very well.

That's a sweet picture, pam :)

Well, we found a cat on Craig's List. The owners work for Google and are being posted overseas, so they needed to find homes for their dog (a boxer) and two cats. The dog's going to their parents' house, the female cat is going to a friend's, and we're "trying out" the male cat. The couple was very sad to have to give him up, and I know he's been well-loved. He's an 6-year-old indoor cat with claws, and got along very well with the boxer.

We just brought him home this evening and have him upstairs in my son's room. Food, litter box, water, toys, everything is there. My son is going to be staying mostly in his room on his computer, so he'll be keeping the cat company. No school tomorrow (Monday). The cat hid under the bed for a while then his natural curiosity took over and he's explored a couple of the bedrooms. The dogs are downstairs and so far are unaware of this new creature in their house. We thought we'd let the cat settle in overnight and then introduce the dogs to him, one at a time, from behind a gate.

The owners were happy to let us take their cat on a trial basis and will take him back if it seems as if the dogs will be a problem.

I'll keep you posted!

Ann

We've had our cat for a couple of weeks now and I'm taking the advice given here to go very slowly with the introductions. The cat spends most of his time upstairs in the bedrooms. My son spends a lot of time with him and lets the cat sit on his lap while he (my son) works on his computer. The cat also sleeps on my son's bed at night.

We put a child gate at the top of the stairs so the dogs don't come up, but they can see each other through the gate. The cat mainly hisses at the dogs.

My younger dog, the Shiba mix, has been very good. She stays well under my control when she sees the cat. Surprisingly (to me) my older dog, the Rhodesian mix, has shown a little bit more aggressiveness towards the cat in the rare times they've been in the same room.

On a couple of occasions I've brought the cat into my downstairs office with no dogs, and then after he got settled I let the Shiba mix in. She has her bed there and has been good about lying down in it and not bothering the cat. The cat isn't very pleased about this and stays out of reach on the desk.

I'm prepared to keep going slowly, but I admit that I'd love to eventually have the cat be comfortable being part of the downstairs family.

The cat has had some little box issues that I'll post in a new thread.

Ann

A quick update on our progress, for anyone else in the same situation.

The cat has been here for 7 months, truly a lovely cat who enjoys sitting on laps, purring and chasing strings. He spends most of his time upstairs with occasional supervised visits downstairs. We put a gate across the landing to keep the dogs from going up. The gate slides open and closed, and we keep it open just enough for the cat to get through if he wants to.

Just recently, he's been venturing downstairs on his own. He usually only does this when someone is in the living room, that he can see from the top of the stairs. The Shiba dog is most curious about the cat, but she keeps her distance and is not at all threatening. What's funny is that it's the cat who's more in-your-face than the dog. For example, last night the dog was snoozing peacefully by the couch. The cat jumped up on the sofa table and perched on the side by the dog (think Snoopy in his vulture mode). When the dog looked up, the cat hissed as if the dog had offended him somehow. The dog slunk away.

My other dog spends most of her day sleeping in my home office, so doesn't really interact with the cat at all.

So we're slowly integrating all animals. It's taken 7 months to get this far, but even so I think we're on the right track.

Chasing squirrels means if the cat bolts she will chase it. Some dogs have a higher prey drive than others. My god-dog Fynn chases only balls, and is oblivious to small mammals. He is afraid of my cats because once Sofie swiped at him. So he won't even look at them now.

Elly,

Yes, I'm very aware that if the cat takes off running, my seemingly-disinterested Shiba will immediately take chase. This is one reason that I've left the gate partially open - wide enough for the cat to get through but will stop the dog cold. The cat also has some safe places in the living room that he's explored, high enough to be out of the dogs' reach.

The cat has only hissed, he hasn't yet taken a swipe at the dogs but his claws are very sharp, so I'm thinking that the first swipe will be the last.