Cats terrified of new dog

[StormChaser]

My husband and I just adopted a 4 y/o shepherd/greyhound mix (Kaya) - we brought her home Thursday night. The foster home told me she was very good with cats, and coupled with her laid back, calm personality, I thought she would be the best choice for our family consisting of us and our two feline babes.

And she is awesome with the cats - she's a very laid back dog, doesn't bark, doesn't chase, just kind of hangs out. We did an introduction yesterday with her in her room (I turned my office into her den) and the door gated off. The cats got big when they first saw her, but they did not run and remained very curious. We spoke calmly the whole time and fed everyone their favorite "special" treats (tuna, ham and chicken). We were so impressed with the cats; they really did a good job.

However, the problem with Kaya is we have found she has separation anxiety - bad. She bonded to me because I was home alone with her all day today, and now she follows me everywhere. Which normally I would not mind, but it bothers me because my cat Zoe does this. Zoe is always next to me or in the same room that I am. She is very attached to me. Since we've brought Kaya home, with Kaya always being next to me Zoe won't come near. She's a nervous kitty as it is (friendly, but the slightest weird noise gets her on edge) and she's very nervous around Kaya, and will not tolerate being in the same room with her (though she will stare at her from a safe distance). Tonight my husband took Kaya outside and Zoe immediately starting howling her upset, confused cry. It seriously almost broke my heart.

I don't know what to do. We are having issues with Kaya's separation anxiety (tried gating her in the office and she almost shredded the gate apart - which is very loud too and adds to the cats anxiety), and today I tried just closing the door and she just whined, scratched at the door and dug the carpet, and jumped on my office desk to look out the window and tore wholes in some of my paperwork with her claws. In the days before we brought her home I had asked the foster home if she was crate trained because I wanted to use a crate in our bedroom at night so she could sleep with us but the cats would still be able to well feel secure, but she firmly told me "do not crate this dog if you want her to bond with you". I should have taken that as a sign?

So, with Kaya's anxiety I can't keep her confined while we are away, at night or at work (and today I had gone outside without her for a few moments and she was jumping all over the door - she couldn't see me, just knew I was out there - so she may be trouble just being loose without us, though we were told she wasn't). If I can't confine her and she has the run of the house, my cats are terrified to go anywhere. Their food is downstairs, as are their litter boxes. I do not have a problem bringing food upstairs, but we don't have any room for a litter box, otherwise I would have had one up there when we moved in.

Bottom line is I know it's only been two nights and a day. However, with Kaya's anxiety and Zoe's nervousness, is this really the right thing to do? I do not want to damage my Zoe, but at the same time Kaya's anxiety can be worked on with obedience training and the reason she has it because of the traumatic events she's just gone through (original owners, shelter, foster, foster, me - and that's all I know). I am an animal lover, and I want to give Kaya a good forever home where she can feel safe and secure. But again, I don't want to damage the cats that have been our close companions for the last 7 years....

The whole situation is making me anxious and sad.

[marie73]

Maybe something in this article may help:

Little Big Cat

[StormChaser]

Thanks I did see that article - I did a lot of research before I picked up Kaya and have probably read every article on the internet regarding cat-dog introductions. I actually signed up for this forum so I could read up on and hear others real-time, real-life experiences with kitties and their behaviors. The articles I've read have a lot of good stuff, but the problem really is with Kaya's anxiety issues. If she didn't have to be right next to me 24/7 then it would give Zoe a chance to be with me and would probably bring her stress levels down. My other cat Asia is way more dominant and confident and can actually sit within 5 feet of Kaya, though the second Kaya gets up Asia darts away.

I don't know what I'm going to. My friend told me that her vet friend told her to crate her, and when she's in the crate put a radio next to it, a blanket and a shirt that smells like me and she'll be fine in it for the 9 hours that we are away when we're at work. So maybe I will... and then that will give the cats their house back while we are at work and at night, at least until everyone gets used to each other and the cats know that Kaya is not going anywhere. Crating would also help us ease introductions rather than forcing them to "work it out" with leaving Kaya unconfined. I mean, I do have my master bedroom gated off for the cats, and we have not allowed Kaya in there since we picked her up, but these cats are used to this being their house, and aren't used to being confined or cornered to a room.

[marie73]

We do have lots of members here with dogs, so hopefully you'll get some good info this weekend. Sorry, I have no experience with dogs. Besides dating....

[~Siameseifuplz~]

The cats will come around, they seem to be reacting normally (watching from a distance). With Max having him lie down and occupying his head with treats allowed the cat to sniff his "safe" end. Make sure the cats have a safe room where the dog is not allowed, a baby gate will keep her out and let the cats in. However I would really try to spend special time with both cats and that means doing something about Kaya's anxiety (which you should do anyways since she's so miserable when you leave...and you have to leave).

SA is one of the hardest problems to deal with IMO. I would have no problem crating her so long as she does not hurt herself on the crate. First just crate train her without leaving, crate her next to the table while you eat dinner or during the commercials of a show you are watching. LOTS of SHORT sessions while you are there. If she's having trouble right off the bat drop treats in when she's being good or give her some sort of toy she only gets in the crate (bully stick or stuffed kong) Only let her out while she is quiet. Even when she is not crated leave the door open so she can use it as a bed. Feed her in there too. Until she's comfortable in there while you are home don't leave her in there while you're gone or it'll likely intensify her issues. Once she seems good and settles quickly when you are home and she crated try leaving the room for short periods, walk around the house and return, drop a treat in if she's being good then leave again. If she stays good during those start walking outside and coming back in. Just get her used to short periods of leaving and returning.

When you start on short trips (grocery store or something) exercise her first then put her in with her special chew or toy and leave. When you come back be very neutral, you don't even have to let her out right away, don't pay attention to her or get her hyped up, your coming and going must be no big deal. Let her out of the crate and you can just say hi and leave her be.

SA takes time and practice. Leaving a radio or the TV on helps some dogs so they are not in a completely silent empty sounding place. For some dogs crates are no problem and they feel safe in them right away but for most dogs it takes time.

[LolaCat]

It takes time bringing a new pet in. When I brought my cat Lola in, my other cat, Tuli would make these weird winy noises. He also tried to hiss. Lola wasn't afraid, just wanted to play. It took three weeks to get him to be nice. He now knows that he cant hurt the cat so when Lola goes up to him, all he does is hiss and run away.

When Lola was a kitten and I brought her in, my German Shepherd was all excited. She was terrified and whenever we introduced the two, she hissed with all her hair up and cat tail huge and attacked his face. She didn't hurt him luckily. This was the first encounter with a dog. Now she owns all dogs she comes in contact with.

It might take a while. Just give both lots of love when your home and it should work out fine. Since your cat isn't just the feeling of scared, more feeling that anxiety, it will take some time.

I hope it works out for you!
Other posters here also have good advice too. =)

[StormChaser]

I was amazed by the cats - by Saturday night Asia was in one of her moods and was spazzing out chasing microscopic things on the living floor. All the while Kaya just laid where she was, completely uninterested. And Zoe came down and sat on top of the couch next to me staring at Kaya laid out on the floor in front of me. It was a step.

Unfortunately, we decided to take Kaya back to her foster home. We are having an extremely difficult time with this decision. However, Saturday we had to leave her alone for a few hours while we went to a family reunion and when we came home she had destroyed our blinds, gotten through the gate we had blocking off stairs, and busted through the gate we had up blocking off the master bedroom that was the cats "safe room". She did nothing to them, but it did scare them pretty bad and they ended up peeing on some things. I honestly think she was lonely and looking for companionship, though they weren't quite ready for that relationship yet.

Because we are gone for about 9 hours a day, we decided that we just didn't have experience or the proper time to help her with her separation anxiety. She absolutely cannot be crated until she's trained, and she cannot be confined to a room or she will seriously hurt herself trying to get out. You can't gate off areas because she doesn't respect what they mean. The cat's "safe room" was our bedroom, so we had to take turns sleeping with Kaya downstairs otherwise she would go crazy trying to get into our room and further stress out the cats and herself. It just was not good. However, this was her only downfall. She is an amazing dog otherwise - her only negative is that she needs to be around people, and really that's not such a bad negative.

I don't know if we will get another dog now. We are very happy to know that Asia will be fine with one, because we were scared of her reaction. We thought Zoe would be the easy one, but it turns out she was the hardest to convince. I do think that after a while she would have come around and realized that Kaya wasn't going to hurt her, or even cared about her for that matter. But Kaya was an exception... most dogs are a little crazy and will run around or at least want to play with the cats.

[marie73]

I think you made the best decision for all involved.

[StormChaser]

Thanks Marie, and thanks to Siameseifuplz and LolaCat for your advice.

I think my husband is looking at other dogs again so we will most likely be trying again. This time we are armed with experience into the dog adoption process and will make sure we ask all the right questions. We will also try to work with a rescue that takes a little more time in making sure the fit is perfect on both sides. I was surprised with the process for Kaya... I had been looking at her adoption page for a month when I finally decided to ask for more info, then we went to meet her and the foster home asked if we wanted to take her right then and there - no adoption application, 24-hour waiting, or vet reference - just struck me as odd.

[~Siameseifuplz~]

I too think you made the right decision, SA is not an easy thing to tackle and if you don't have the time it's best for everyone involved if the dog goes to someone who does.


I'm glad you are still going to adopt a dog, continue looking at dogs who have been fostered and make sure to ask directly about SA issues so you don't run into the same problem. Keep us updated!