Before getting a new cat or dog to the household, it's important to consider a
variety of factors including the animals' personalities, their age, whether they have
any particular medical problems and their previous experiences and reaction
to the other species. Many people may be tempted to let their animals sort it out
for themselves, but this is not conducive to building
positive relationships with one other. It's much better to manage
a controlled introduction process rather than trying to repair a damaged
relationship and this is why first impressions really count. When
introducing a new animal into the household, it's important to give them
space to settle in. So for a new cat this may be a sanctuary room like a spare bedroom,
where you can give them all of their resources, or for a new dog you may want to
section off part of the house. We also need to be thinking in advance with our
dog that they have a good level of training in place
and particularly are very familiar with "Down" and "Stay" commands as well as being calm.
So the most important part throughout the whole introduction process is scent
swapping. To do this, we need to have one clean cloth for the cat and a
separate clean cloth for the dog and we want to rub them on the scent glands.
So for a cat, you want to be rubbing them around the cheeks and on the forehead,
for example, and on a dog we want to be rubbing them on the armpits and along
their flanks. Then take the cloths, swap them so the cat now has the scent
of the dog on a cloth and the dog has a cloth with the scent of the cat on it. Place
these cloths in the environment so that both animals have the choice to approach
the cloth or to avoid them if necessary. And by observing their behaviours very
carefully, we can decide how well it's going.
Now, with any type of scent swapping it's very important to top the scent up,
so this needs to be done once a day and then we can progress through to a glass
barrier. To do this, you may have a glass patio door for
example, or French doors within the house that have glass. And again, it's important
that both animals have the choice as to whether they approach or not, but particularly
for the cat. It's very useful to have other members of the household, so
ideally one person for the cat and another person for the dog, just to make sure
that both animals stay calm and we can facilitate the process. Over
successive repetitions where they've maybe seen each other through a glass barrier
for five minutes at a time, little and often, ideally we can progress through to
another barrier, so a baby gate or a mesh barrier for example, just so
that they can see each other and start to smell one another but not get to each
other. Again, lots of little repetitions over time, facilitating with treats
so that we can really slowly build up to the point when we get to a face-to-face
interaction. When we get to the face-to-face, it's really important that
the cat has the most control over the situation. They'll feel much safer if
they are in control and they can run away if they want to or they can hide.
Over a period of successive interactions with each other, the dog can progress
with having a short lead, then going on to a long lead and allowing the dog a
little bit more access to the cat, to maybe sniff them, but then call your dog back. Give
them a treat and praise them for coming back. Owners can progress when using a long lead on their dog
to actually letting the dog off the lead if the dog looks like they're going to
be calm and they're going to stay relaxed and not chase the cat, but equally that the cat
also feels relaxed in the presence of the dog and is unlikely to run in the
event that the dog is let off its lead. Monitor both the animals' reactions to
see how they're getting along during all of these parts of the process. So
whether it's the glass barrier or the mesh barrier or even the face-to-face.
For the cat, we want to be looking out for signs that they're relaxed, such as
normal-sized pupils, their ears facing forward and a relaxed body posture. For
the dog, we want to make sure that they are relaxed, that they're not anxious and
also they're not too excited by the cat, that they want to chase them or really
pulling at the leash to try and get at them. Equally if the dog stares at the cat too
much, this could be a problem too. When introducing cats and dogs together, some
people may be tempted to put the cat in a cat basket to reduce signs of
fighting, for example. However, most cats have got negative associations with cat
baskets and this is only going to make them feel more stressed. In addition it
removes their control and their ability to run away or to hide
or to get up high, so it's very important to allow cats to express their
natural behaviours and not place them in cat baskets. If owners have any problems introducing
cats and dogs together, it's best to seek help sooner rather than later. We'd
recommend that they approach their vet first of all to make sure there's no
medical problems involved and then get a referral to a qualified behaviourist such
as a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors.