Dogs and cats living together...

[MineralMan]

A couple of years ago, my wife decided that our house needed a dog. We already had two cats, one of them 17 years old. I was skeptical. She persisted, and I gave in, of course.

She volunteered at a shelter, and came home one day to tell me she'd found the dog. "Has it lived with cats?" Nobody knew. I was skeptical. Again, I gave in, and we brought this beagle basset mix home, complete with a kennel, to keep him and the cats separated. The dog came in, went into the kennel, had some food and went to sleep. The 17 year old cat soon appeared, did a double take and then walked up to the kennel and had a good sniff, and then wandered off.

The Dog woke up later and was looking around the place. In comes the cat, who walks right up to the kennel. Doggie wags his tail and barks. Kitty rubs against the cage. So, we let the dog out and he gives the kitty a sloppy tongue bath on the head. Instant buddies. The other cat wasn't as eager, but soon made friends, too.

A year later, we brought a second dog into the house, a young rescue beagle. Pretty much the same reactions, and soon the old cat was sleeping, cuddled up against the dog's belly.

Apparently, it's not always difficult.

[Township75]

1. Read a lot of crap here, glad you posted some thing worth reading.

[MineralMan]

2. Once in a while, creatures, even people,

can get along peacefully, despite differences. Thanks for your reply.

[madokie]

3. As kids we always had cats and dogs

the cats lived inside and the dogs did too when it was cold and they always seemed to get along well. Most were lost souls who just happened to show up on our porch. It wasn't anything to have a half dozen cats and dogs running around. Chickens, geese, ducks, guineas, turkeys and they all seemed to tolerate one another although some were obviously friends.

[A Brand New World]

4. We've always had dogs & cats together our whole marriage-almost 40 years.

And they've always been big buddies. We've even had parakeets, gerbils, bunnies with no problems with either the dogs or cats. It's been a menagerie!

[shenmue]

5. Squee!

[onecaliberal]

6. We have 2 dogs and 2 cats they get along great.

[rurallib]

7. We had a dog - a cocker spaniel. One day a cat shows up

under the hood of my little sister-in-law's car. Poor kitty was scared to death. we took her in.

I had never had a cat, so all I knew was the stories of dog and cat fights. After two days of trying to keep them apart I gave up. Let 'em go and hope I can rescue the kitty before the dog kills her.

A couple of sniffs, a couple of wary circling maneuvers and the next thing I know - kitty is sleeping on top of the dog. And they were very close until the dog died about five years later.

Boy did I learn something that day.

[dem in texas]

8. We'Ve Always had cats and dogs together

Once we got a little kitten at a garage sale, the lady said she was taking it to the pound on Monday and that it was 8 weeks old. Well, it was only about three weeks old and when we got it home, my little brown female dog, Lucky, adopted it as her baby. She even made milk for it as confirmed by my vet. That little kitten, Princess, would make a sound and Lucky would be right there to check her out from head to toe. Both of these sweet creatures passed away several years ago. I still have a picture of them that I treasure.

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[CrawlingChaos]

11. OMG that is the cutest picture EVER

Those faces!!!!

[japple]

9. I have 4 female cats and 1 female dog. The dog gets along with all.

3 of the cats fight with all the others. 1 cat (the only good cat in the whole bunch) gets along with everyone. I have never had such a group of malcontents. In the past, most of my cats were males and they got along with each other and with new inhabitant females. IMHO, females do not easily accept newbies, esp. other females. I have tried Feliway, sequestration, yelling & screaming (never works), treats, cajoling, etc. I have at least 1 litter box per cat plus one extra. There is still no peace in our home.

[SheilaT]

16. I finally found out, only after I had three

female cats in the house, that unrelated females often won't get along. Mine eventually did, and they really were wonderful, sweet cats, two in particular had territorial issues for a couple of years.

Oh, here's another possibility. Sometimes, there are simply too many animals for the size of the house. If that seems to be the case, you might want to see if you can find another home for one of the cats. The first cat I acquired more than twenty years ago, was in that situation, and long story short, the owners took that cat, the one that had become a pariah in the household, to the animal shelter where I found her less than a week later. She was for the rest of her life rather insecure and never convinced we loved her, but she was nonetheless a sweet and gentle creature.

While I'm not sufficiently fond of dogs to ever have one, I have observed that almost always dogs and cats get along very well.

[dballance]

10. I volunteer at the local Humane Shelter.

So glad your family could accommodate the dogs and that they and the cats are good buddies.

[Vincardog]

12. I have 1 house cat and 1 house dog. I have 12 barn cats and 7 yard dogs. The House dog plays with c

cats and some of the yard dogs think they are chew toys.

It depends on the individual animals, and of course if there are three or more dogs:
In which case they are a pack and no cat is safe.

[mike dub]

13. Though we don't have Mass Hysteria here, Mineral Man....

We have a old female mini dachshund and youngin male Mississippi hound / coonhound here, and though they didn't get on right alway (2 years ago, when we brought the younger in), they're doing alright together now. Pups always find that stasis -- and glad to read from your great post that cats and dogs truly do, too!

[demigoddess]

14. we had a cat who liked to beat up dogs

but only the ones who might attack me or attacked him. And only the big ones. A little one just was not enough of a challenge. but otherwise he was very friendly to everyone.

[IkeRepublican]

15. MASS HYSTERIA!

Enough, I get the point.




But, what if you're wrong?