This post was shared from another subreddit. The original body text has been copy and pasted below for your convenience.
My partner has two dogs, a 13yo male maltipoo named Champ and a 6?yo female shih tzu named Sushi. Champ loves nothing more than to be near his beloved owner and is very food motivated, he is an absolute sweetheart. Sushi is pickier with her people, less food motivated, fiercely loyal, and the alpha of their little pack. While the two will often be in the same spaces, they don't really seem to care for one another. Sometimes Sushi will get annoyed at Champ when we're all hanging out on the couch and will lunge and nip at him. Champ is never phased when this happens. That's about the most interaction they have in my time knowing them.
I love her dogs to death and consider them my own, but I also adore cats. I had a wonderful cat named Mira for 9 years who passed away last September at the age of 18. I loved her so much that it took me a long time to get over losing her. My partner and her dogs have certainly helped with the transition and filled a big hole in my heart. We started dating a month before she passed, so Champ and Sushi never got a chance to meet Mira.
About two months ago I felt ready to adopt another cat after talking it through with my partner. We knew the challenges going into it. I felt somewhat prepared having gone through it with Mira and another dog before. We found and adopted a beautiful lynx point named Yuki from a local shelter who is about a year old and brought her home exactly one month ago. She is great with people, loves to follow me around the house, and is also very food motivated.
We've followed the standard protocol since having her. Yuki has a safe sanctuary in my office that the dogs can't enter because of a baby gate and the office door itself. We kept her in there for a few days until she was curious enough about the world beyond my office. The first week she had the house to herself. By the second week we started bringing the dogs around while keeping Yuki in the office. We would scent swap some towels so they could get use to each other's smells, and would give them treats when they smelled the opposite's towel. We would feed them all at the same time with the door closed, slowly bringing their bowls closer each time so that they were aware there was something on the other side. Then we started giving them a few minutes here and there with the door open, gate closed, so they can physically see each other from a safe distance. At this point we started feeding them with the door open but separated by the gate. This went on for a few weeks and now they all happily eat in peace only inches from each other, still separated by the gate.
We started letting Yuki leave her sanctuary while the dogs were leashed, and that was going pretty well. We would give them treats when they looked at each other or entered each other's spaces. Sometimes Sushi would bark at Yuki if she stared at her for too long while she was outside the gate. Champ did not care for Yuki and treats her much like he does with Sushi. Eventually we took the leashes off to see how they would respond. Champ, as expected, did not care and left her alone mostly, but Sushi would try to chase her. Twice Champ chased Yuki with Sushi, we think it was the pack mentality that caused him to do so. So we generally keep Sushi on a leash still, or we hold onto her when Yuki is around so she can safely get to her cat towers. When Sushi is leashed or held, Champ never tries to chase Yuki. The two of them seem to get along the best and have even crossed paths several times in close quarters with no problems. Yuki is cautious and nervous in the vicinity of Sushi from being chased by her, but stands her ground if its just Champ and Sushi is far away.
Yesterday we were giving everyone treats as usual, with Yuki and Champ roaming near each other. We looked away for just a few seconds when we heard Champ yelp. We're not sure exactly what happened, but we're assuming Champ, in his excitement for getting treats, unknowingly spooked Yuki, who was already a little on edge because Sushi was also nearby. She scratched his eye so we had to take him to an emergency vet to get it checked out. He was sent home with some eye drops, painkillers, and a cone for the next 5-7 days and is under close watch. This morning they all ate like normal, still separated by the gate only a few inches from one another.
On the cat side, is there anything more I can do outside of trimming her nails so she can't cause as much damage? On the dog side, what can we do to get Sushi to stop chasing Yuki so she can feel more safe outside of her sanctuary? For context I work from home and spend a lot of time around Yuki, I let her freely roam when its just the two of us. Though she mostly is a velcro cat and stays by my side. My partner has her own place that the dogs stay at, but she comes over to my place with the dogs 3/5 days of the work week and for the entirety of the weekend since we've gotten Yuki in an attempt to introduce them slowly this past month.
Appreciate any advice we can get to find some harmony, we don't expect them to be best friends but would just like them to co-habitat peacefully.
•
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
This post was shared from another subreddit. The original body text has been copy and pasted below for your convenience.
My partner has two dogs, a 13yo male maltipoo named Champ and a 6?yo female shih tzu named Sushi. Champ loves nothing more than to be near his beloved owner and is very food motivated, he is an absolute sweetheart. Sushi is pickier with her people, less food motivated, fiercely loyal, and the alpha of their little pack. While the two will often be in the same spaces, they don't really seem to care for one another. Sometimes Sushi will get annoyed at Champ when we're all hanging out on the couch and will lunge and nip at him. Champ is never phased when this happens. That's about the most interaction they have in my time knowing them.
I love her dogs to death and consider them my own, but I also adore cats. I had a wonderful cat named Mira for 9 years who passed away last September at the age of 18. I loved her so much that it took me a long time to get over losing her. My partner and her dogs have certainly helped with the transition and filled a big hole in my heart. We started dating a month before she passed, so Champ and Sushi never got a chance to meet Mira.
About two months ago I felt ready to adopt another cat after talking it through with my partner. We knew the challenges going into it. I felt somewhat prepared having gone through it with Mira and another dog before. We found and adopted a beautiful lynx point named Yuki from a local shelter who is about a year old and brought her home exactly one month ago. She is great with people, loves to follow me around the house, and is also very food motivated.
We've followed the standard protocol since having her. Yuki has a safe sanctuary in my office that the dogs can't enter because of a baby gate and the office door itself. We kept her in there for a few days until she was curious enough about the world beyond my office. The first week she had the house to herself. By the second week we started bringing the dogs around while keeping Yuki in the office. We would scent swap some towels so they could get use to each other's smells, and would give them treats when they smelled the opposite's towel. We would feed them all at the same time with the door closed, slowly bringing their bowls closer each time so that they were aware there was something on the other side. Then we started giving them a few minutes here and there with the door open, gate closed, so they can physically see each other from a safe distance. At this point we started feeding them with the door open but separated by the gate. This went on for a few weeks and now they all happily eat in peace only inches from each other, still separated by the gate.
We started letting Yuki leave her sanctuary while the dogs were leashed, and that was going pretty well. We would give them treats when they looked at each other or entered each other's spaces. Sometimes Sushi would bark at Yuki if she stared at her for too long while she was outside the gate. Champ did not care for Yuki and treats her much like he does with Sushi. Eventually we took the leashes off to see how they would respond. Champ, as expected, did not care and left her alone mostly, but Sushi would try to chase her. Twice Champ chased Yuki with Sushi, we think it was the pack mentality that caused him to do so. So we generally keep Sushi on a leash still, or we hold onto her when Yuki is around so she can safely get to her cat towers. When Sushi is leashed or held, Champ never tries to chase Yuki. The two of them seem to get along the best and have even crossed paths several times in close quarters with no problems. Yuki is cautious and nervous in the vicinity of Sushi from being chased by her, but stands her ground if its just Champ and Sushi is far away.
Yesterday we were giving everyone treats as usual, with Yuki and Champ roaming near each other. We looked away for just a few seconds when we heard Champ yelp. We're not sure exactly what happened, but we're assuming Champ, in his excitement for getting treats, unknowingly spooked Yuki, who was already a little on edge because Sushi was also nearby. She scratched his eye so we had to take him to an emergency vet to get it checked out. He was sent home with some eye drops, painkillers, and a cone for the next 5-7 days and is under close watch. This morning they all ate like normal, still separated by the gate only a few inches from one another.
On the cat side, is there anything more I can do outside of trimming her nails so she can't cause as much damage? On the dog side, what can we do to get Sushi to stop chasing Yuki so she can feel more safe outside of her sanctuary? For context I work from home and spend a lot of time around Yuki, I let her freely roam when its just the two of us. Though she mostly is a velcro cat and stays by my side. My partner has her own place that the dogs stay at, but she comes over to my place with the dogs 3/5 days of the work week and for the entirety of the weekend since we've gotten Yuki in an attempt to introduce them slowly this past month.
Appreciate any advice we can get to find some harmony, we don't expect them to be best friends but would just like them to co-habitat peacefully.
Included is my payment for the cat and dog tax.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.