[Gatsby_Cooper]

HI Everyone,

my name is Michelle and I am from San Diego. I have a Siberian husky, a pomeranian and recently adopted a 1 year old cat named Gatsby Cooper. We have had him for two weeks and he is just the sweetest cat ever; however, one of our dogs is not to keen on him and we have been keeping them completely separate while we are working with a trainer to help us help our dog to not be a threat to our cat.

we live in a 2 bedroom condo.. Gatsby is currently living in the master bedroom. we've provided him with a 7ft cat tree and two other smaller cat trees and plenty of toys (including a fling a ma string) in hopes that he won't be so bored stuck in the room until we get our dog to be safe around him. my boyfriend and i feel terrible that we have to keep him in the bedroom.... we play with him a lot when we are home to help drain some energy.... but being a new cat owner...i don't know how much is enough?

also, is it cruel to keep him in the master bedroom the majority of the time while we are working with our dog? he gets to go out and explore the rest of the condo when our dog is at day care (maybe once or twice a week)... and our bedroom is pretty large... and has a large window where he can perch...

he is also very picky about toys... of all the toys i bought him he likes the stick part of the wand toy the best. any suggestions on a toy that picky cats like that will help me keep his interest long enough to exhaust him? i was thinking 'da bird' wand toy?

well anyway.. i hope everything works out in our household! and nice to meet everyone

 

[LadyK]

I kept my cat separated from my dogs in a spare bedroom for a couple of months. Like you, I had a cat tree, toys, etc. to keep her busy, and I made sure to spend a lot of time with her. She had a nice window where she loved to sit and look outside. Gradually, we were able to introduce everyone and they get along fine now. I still have a gate to the cat's room, with a little cat door to keep the dogs out, but to allow Josie to come and go easily. This gives her a safe place to go where the dogs can't follow.

I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions. Whenever you do let them in the house together, make sure there are lots of vertical surfaces Gatsby can go to get up away from the dogs. More cat trees, shelves, tables, etc. in each room so she can get away if she feels threatened.

I think it's better to be on the safe side.

Also, one of Josie's favorite toys is the Bergan Turbo Scratcher. She doesn't use the scratch part, but loves rolling the ball around. I play it with her, but she can also play with it by herself when I'm not home.