🐕 Dogs and 🐈 Cats can live together peacefully … though it may not be love at first sight for everyone.
If you are introducing a new dog, or a new cat, into your home and your pets don’t instantly hit it off … there are things you can do!
➡️ First, keep them separated while you work on their acceptance of one another. The best thing to do is section off your home, give your cat a room (or two) where they can live happily without being too stressed out.
If you’ve ever added a new cat into your home, you know the best practice is to limit initial access as they can be easily overwhelmed with full run of a new home.
➡️ Give them each others scent to become accustomed to. For example, let each pet sleep or lay on a towel or blanket and place those towels or blankets in the space of the other pet, letting them get used to each others scent.
➡️ Swap spaces on occasion, for short periods of time. Let each pet interact with the others space and smell all the smells.
➡️ Once you’re comfortable with each pets reaction to the other’s space, you can slowly begin to let the pets interact … but on your terms.
➡️ For interaction between a cat and dog, it’s best to have at least two people available. One who can have the dog on leash, calmly sitting on the couch or other “neutral” area of the home.
The other person will let the cat come into the area of the home where the dog is lounging (but again, on leash).
PRO TIP!
✨ PRO TIP: Make sure that you have just exercised your dog before attempting any interactions. Go for a long walk / run / hike. Play and make sure you have released as much energy as possible in your dog!
➡️ This is the biggest part – make sure you act completely normal! The more anxiety you have, the more your pets will become anxious.
➡️ Practice this for a few minutes at a time, no more than a couple times a day. Make sure to let each pet calm down and re-center themselves in between the meetings.
You’ll get a feel for how well each animal is reacting to the other and can decide how often and for how long they can be in the same living space.
➡️ Over time, you can give them more time together and once you get to a point where they are completely calm when the other is in the same space, you can take your dog off leash.
🌟 For some pets, this can go very quickly. For others, it can take some time.
The most important part is that we respect our pets. Though most animals can get along in a household, that’s not going to be true for everyone.
If you give it time, go through all the steps and your pets still can’t seem to be in the same room as each other, there are other things you can try.
How many pets do you have .. and how well do they get along? 💜
