So I've had my cat for a little over 10 years. During those 10 years she's interacted with tons of new people and is great around them, but never any other animals. She's docile, never bites, and is more interested in getting head rubs and sleeping then anything.
Enter into the picture a new puppy, which has been a dream of my wife's for years. After I finally gave in to getting a puppy, she picked a breed that is small, around the cat's size, and well known for interacting with other animals. She also picked a puppy that, while somewhat assertive, is more passive and also just wanted to hang around humans and sleep.
The puppy has a few more weeks with the breeder until the mom is ready to let the puppies go, which gives us a final few weeks to prepare to introduce a young puppy to an older cat. I'll list off the things we are doing to prepare, but also wanted some tips and insight into introducing the two together.
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We gave the breeder something of our cat's (A blanket that was in her bed for months) and received a small toy that has been with the puppy litter so she can get used to the puppy's smell before it comes home.
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We have a pen setup for the puppy, which should give access for the cat to see and observe, but not force her to interact with the puppy when the puppy isn't out of the pen and at my wife's hip.
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We moved her food bowl to an elevated space the puppy can't access to avoid food aggression (She has never presented this, but her wet food is important to her).
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We have one of my cat's old collars the puppy will wear for a bit so the puppy smells a bit familiar to her when she comes home.
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We aren't planning on forcing them to interact at all. The puppy comes home in a crate, we move the crate downstairs to the pen and if she wants to come down and see / sniff / observe then she can do so at her discretion and a comfortable distance. When the puppy is out of the pen she can interact as much or as little as she is comfortable with.
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The puppy is going to be carefully watched (Although I doubt the puppy will be out of my wife's sight for weeks from her excitement) to mediate how the two interact until we can reach a level of confidence the two are reasonably comfortable with each other. My wife is in school right now so she has ample time to watch the two and their interactions. On top of that she is belt training the puppy so during the time the puppy is out of the pen the puppy will be right at her hip.
We both love my cat and are incredibly excited for the puppy, so we want the interaction to go well; the dog breed temperament is similar to my cat's so we're hoping they can become buddies. We don't expect it to be immediate by any means, but I just don't want to overlook something since the first impression will be very strong for a cat that isn't used to other animals.
Any help would be appreciated!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/aqvmou/10_year_old_cat_being_introduced_to_new_puppy_in/
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