Do dogs and cats hate each other’s guts? Yes, they do. Does this mean a cat and dog can’t co-exist under the same roof? No! Various pet owners have proven through videos on social media that a cat and dogs can tolerate each other.
If you’re considering getting a dog and are worried that your feline friend may get irritated, then let go of that tension and bring that new pet. Here is a detailed guide that can help you to maintain a caring and friendly environment between your 2 pets.
1. Compare Personality Traits and Energy Levels
Before trying to make your canine friends interact, you must make sure that the personality traits of both your cat and dog are compatible with each other. Knowing these traits can give you an idea of how well a bond can be established between your dog and cat.
An old dog wouldn’t like that their territory is being continuously invaded by a playful kitten. Are you an owner of pets with unmatching personalities? Consider reserving separate spaces for them in your house.
If you’re an owner of a calm cat and deciding to bring a dog into your home, Check out WeLoveDoodles.com, they give the best recommendations for friendly dog breeds.
2. Plan their First Meeting
As you know how humans like to leave a good impression on someone as they meet for the first time, similarly, a cat and a dog should also have a good impression of each other on their first meeting. An example of when the first meeting of a cat and dog should be held is during feeding time.
As you’re giving food to your cat and dog make sure that they’re separated by a door between them. They might not be able to see each other but they’ll still be able to smell one another. By doing this, your cat and dog will relate each others’ scents with feeding time.
Continue to do this for a good number of days, and then slowly start to let them see each other as well during feeding time with the help of a small dog gate. This method requires a lot of patience, but the result will be fruitful.
3. Raise them Together
Animals that have been raised together from a young age tend to get along with each other better than animals that are introduced to each other for the first time in their adult ages.
With this thought in mind, if you adopt a puppy and a kitten at the same time and then raise them together, chances are that they become close friends and consider each other as part of their family. This is because they will be familiar with each other’s faces and scents.
4. Separate their Food and Toys
We all know how territorial cats and dogs can get over their things. If you put your cat and dog’s food bowls together chances are that one of them will get done with their food early and try to go to the other one’s food bowl resulting in them fighting with each other.
That’s why you should never make the mistake of mixing up their toys or putting their food bowls together. when it’s feeding time, you should keep your cat and dog’s food bowls in separate rooms and even keep their toys in separate rooms to prevent from getting in fights.
5. Make Sure Your Cat is Calm
If you want to introduce your pets to each other for the first time and want them to get along you must make sure that your cat is calm and in a good mood.
You should also make sure that your dog is on a leash during their meeting so as to prevent any mishaps. Slowly bring them a little closer to each other and let them familiarize each other with their scents. Remember that you need to be very patient and let them interact with each other at their own pace.
6. Keep a Safe Space for Your Cat and Dog
When your cat or dog gets too tired of the other or needs some space away from the other, then it’s important that you create a place for them in the house that they can call their own safe space. This safe space can be anything, for example, a scratch tree or platforms on the wall for your cat. For your dog, it could be a laundry room or a crate.
It’s also important that you separate the places where they do their business in too, as there are cases where a dog will try to eat a cat’s feces if it finds its litter box. This could result in your dog getting sick and getting intestinal parasites.
7. Positivity
Keeping a positive atmosphere and attitude in the house and around your pets will help your cat and dog in having positive interactions. Reward them with love and treats when they behave well around each other. By doing this your cat and dog will want to keep behaving well as they know that they will be rewarded.
If they do end up misbehaving with each other, try to avoid scolding them or punishing them. You can instead try to distract them or direct their attention to something else.
8. Get Professional Help
If you’re unable to make your cat and dog get along even after following all of these tricks, then the best thing that you can do is ask for help from a professional animal trainer. Other than that, you can also ask for help from the vet who might recommend some medications to improve your pets’ behavior towards each other.
Conclusion for Helping Your Cat and Dog Get Along
The process of helping your cat and dog get along with each other may be difficult, long, and require a lot of patience on your part. However, with the help of these 8 tricks, you’ll be able to achieve more than satisfactory results.