BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Dogs Cats and Cattle Dogs.... oh my!

It might not be the right thing to admit in the Dogs forum, but I absolutely love cats. I always had a cat growing up, and when I moved out into apartments I knew I couldn't have the big dog I always wanted, so it was a cat. My cat -- and my best friend for years -- passed away from cancer last summer. Even with our puppies, there was still an empty, cat-shaped spot in everyday life.

On our regular trips to PetSmart for toys, biscuits, food, rawhides.... we would always look at the cats. Back in June we saw the most pathetic-looking cat I had ever seen. She came from the house of a hoarder, and had lost all her fur to fleas, mites and disease. She was badly malnourished, even as she got sicker she cared for her litter of kittens. When we went yesterday to pick up some rawhides for the dogs, it was heartbreaking to see she was still there. The first time we had seen her, she hopped up, ran to the front of the cage and greeted people as they walked by. This time, she didn't even look up. Yea, I admit, I cried. Later that night, my fiance went to 'work' .... and came back with a cat in a carrier. She's now been re-named Myka (Warehouse 13, we're both nerds), and she's painfully shy but desperate for affection. Her fur has grown back and she's tiny but healthy -- only about 7 pounds and about 10 inches tall. She's cloistered in the spare bedroom as she gets over the overload of being in a house instead of a cage... and within the next few days we're going to be introducing her to the cattle dogs.

This ought to be interesting.

I think the girl -- Ella -- will be fine. She's pretty intuitive, and she's met cats before. The boy -- Ash -- is going to want to play. I'm hoping that coming from a hoarder home, Myka is going to be used to other animals, and it's not going to be a shock to see other things with 4 legs. It also doesn't hurt that if she wants to get away, she can fit in my shoe.

We've had a cat and a dog before -- there was absolutely no adjustment period. They came face to face with each other, sniffed, did the canine/feline equivalent of a shrug and were best buds after that. I know that's not going to happen with these guys -- both our other animals were much older and much calmer -- but one can hope. So this thread might end up being a learning experience in introducing cats and dogs!

Has anyone else ever had experiences with this? I admit to being nervous -- the cattle dogs are SO high-energy, and Myka is such a low-key cat even though she's only 2. (Her first time in my office she hopped up on the desk and pushed everything off to make room for herself so she could hang out and be close.) But there was just something about her that clicked when we saw her for the first time... I'm a big believer in that moment when you see the animal you were meant to take home with you. So we're crossing our fingers and hoping it's a sign that this was meant to be!

Myka sounds adorable. I have a soft heart for cats, as well. I would have taken her in a heartbeat!

I have learned that you never know how different animals will react to each other, so I wish you luck! It could go really great, or they could need a period of time to adjust to each other.

Thank you Now that her fur has grown in, she's turned into the most adorable little brown-on-brown tabby with eyes that make her look like an anime character! I've always had a soft spot for the animals that aren't quite 'right' -- the runts, the ones with the off markings that make them look lopsided, the slightly mis-proportioned ones. She totally fit the bill =)

I figure all animals are so different, there's guidelines for introductions but no guarantees. Hmmm... that might be an article idea!

I had cats for years before getting a dog. I had two elderly house cats when my Australian shepherd / Sheltie mix was born. I even named the dog Kitty, thinking it would be easier for the cats to get used to her. Kitty's mom lived next door so I brought her over to my house to meet the cats when she was just a couple of weeks old and much smaller than the cats - no threat there. They never got chummy but there weren't any problems, either.

Those cats are gone now and I've got another one that I got when she was a kitten, rescued by a friend from the woods around her home. I also still had Kitty and had gotten a little dog, a mini Peekapoo, by then. They all get along famously and the cat's 8 years old now. They're all playful and lovey dovey. We're just one big, furry, happy family!

I know I've been fortunate in mixing cats and dogs, even cats and a cattle dog, but I agree with Lisa that you never know what to expect. I'd keep the cat isolated till she became comfortable with me then I'd slowly introduce her into the rest of the population, keeping her in my arms and on my lap till she feels comfortable to venture forth on her own.

I'm sure you'll do fine. And what a lucky cat that was to have found YOU!

This does my heart good to know you had success with an Australian shepherd mix! With the same herding instincts and crazy, that's awesome that Kitty adopted the kitties! I don't mind if they never get to the point where they're curled up together for pictures, just not chasing, barking and hissing would be awesome!

For now, Myka is still cloistered. She's to the point where she howls at me when I go in to see her, demanding attention and indignant that she's being left alone for any time whatsoever. I think it might be the day to introduce her to Ella -- she generally plays better with others, and she ranks after me in the pack. If she accepts kitty, her brother will have no choice in the matter.

She's spoiled rotten already, lol.

I think God made pets so we'd have something to spoil rotten.

Funny story: The biggest problem I've ever had introducing a new pet to the herd was when Kitty was 4 and I brought the peekapoo home. She (Peaches) was a tiny bundle of long, white fur that weighed less than a pound. Kitty seems to have an affection for baby animals of all kinds (you should see her babysit baby jackrabbits!) so I thought a little doggie would be her forever puppy since she was neutered before I discovered her maternal instinct. Instead of falling instantly in love with the puppy, Kitty jumped into my lap and stayed there for the whole first week the puppy was home. Kitty weighs 70 pounds!!

Introducing the cat the next year produced no drama at all.

Nine years later, they're happy with each other. And Kitty seems to have forgiven me, too. A happy ending for everybody, I think.

ROFL -- that is hysterical! I can just picture 70 pounds perched on top of every surface that's out of reach of the little, terrifying ball of puppy fur, lol. No maternal instinct in the face of fear! You'll have to upload pictures of her with baby rabbits, that is so damn cute!

Ash is a lot like that, too -- any dog bigger than him and he goes directly into play mode. There's a brown lab across that street that he thinks is just the best play buddy, even though the dog weighs twice what he does. Anything smaller than him and he tries to climb up me to get away, lol.

I get the feeling Myka is going to rule here... all 7 pounds of Tinycat. She's definitely got that mouthy streak, which is hysterical coming from the smallest adult cat I've ever seen. I think she'll put them in their place quickly if they get out of line!

Here's to no drama and many years of happy endings! I totally agree - I have no problem spoiling my animals, because they appreciate every single thing we do for them Unlike human kids, LOL.

My 70-pound Kitty didn't climb up to ANY surface, she climbed into my lap every time I sat down. I think she was trying to tell me that, if there's going to be a lap dog in the family, she was here first!

And since the little dog grew up around big dogs (Kitty's mama dog lived next door with my best friend), she's terribly afraid of little dogs now. Thinks she's 10 feet tall and fearless around big dogs but she sits on my shoulder, trembling and growling, when little dogs are around.

I didn't think to get a photo of the baby rabbits - darn! One miserable summer day, the thermometer read 118 and I couldn't persuade her to come inside. I noticed she stayed sitting in a patch of creeping junipers, just her ears sticking up above the shrubs, in the sunniest part of the yard.

I finally went to see what was going on and she was babysitting two tiny, tiny jackrabbit babies that couldn't have been more than a day or two old. She stayed with them all day, licking them clean and corralling them if they crawled too far

That evening, mama rabbit came back and stayed in the shadows. I'm sure she was horrified. I even saw Kitty chase her away at one point. I finally got Kitty inside for the night and mama rabbit made her move. She moved them from the front yard to the back and the day after that, they were gone for good. Until the next summer, when the next litter of baby rabbits was born in the juniper patch.

Human kids? I'm totally with you on that one! All my kiddos have four legs

ROFL - staking out her claim to territory! I think smaller animals have something to prove -- I'll deal with a horse over a pony any day, that's for sure!

That is ridiculously cute! Puppy concern is always adorable, even if the real mom didn't entirely appreciate it! It's funny how often you see animals of completely different species getting along, while we haven't seemed to manage to do that ourselves yet. We could learn so much from them! (And 118 degrees is so not funny! I'm too British for that! Above 65 and I'm hurting!)

The puppy-cat introductions have been done, and went way smoother than I thought. Ella went in by herself first, and Myka just flattened her ears like, "Great. Dogs. Sigh." Nose to nose with no hissing or swatting and only a vague sort of cat-like disinterest from Myka and minor whining from Ella. Ash was a little more pushy, but soon realized that the cat has no intentions of playing with him. They're not going to be left alone for quite some time, but it went better than I dared hope for. Talk about a relief!

LoL -- I keep getting asked if kids are in the future, and I say I already have three! They don't require diapers, don't complain about baths and they pick up their toys and put them away when they're done. I'm set!