So, some backstory: cats have always been my family's go-to pet; we've adopted several in our time. Four had to be rehomed for various reasons, one passed away, one had to be put down... We've run the gamut. Currently, we have two cats: a ten year old cat we adopted as a kitten named Simon, and our new kitten named Sasha. Both are purebred Siamese cats, because my father is currently of the opinion that the reason our cats haven't gone that unique kind of Cat Crazy that our four aforementioned rehomed cats devolved into is because they're Siamese.
About four years ago, we got two dogs: one was a "Congratulations on joining the Air Force" gift for me named Bucky, the other was basically an unofficial rescue that we saved from my grandmother's neglectful 'care', named Sonic. Bucky is an 80 lbs American Bulldog/Boxer mix, Sonic is a compact little herder mix and the alpha of the two. Bucky's very energetic and also a bit anxious in general, but more loud than aggressive. Sonic is a bit too smart for his own good but very well-behaved with us, if a bit excessive in enforcing what he considers our rules and hogging all the affection. We usually have to hang out with them inside one at a time, or with Sonic in either upstairs with my sister or in his kennel, because he tries to herd Bucky away from us or nose in on cuddle times. They have a whole yard to themselves while we're at school and work, as well as an enclosed back porch because our house is unfortunately pretty cramped and we misunderstood what type of bulldog mix Bucky was. But they're happy, healthy, and loved.
When they were adopted, they were puppies and Simon was already an adult cat and established in our home. My mother made sure that both dogs were made very aware that Simon is the head honcho of the house, and Simon never needed to be made aware, he just already knew. Simon's complete lack of fear in the face of these two dogs is what convinced my dad that Siamese cats were the only cats for him. Currently, Bucky will absolutely refuse to invade Simon's personal space and Sonic will pass by but with the same respect given to my mother, the only other mammal in the house that he will always, without exception, obey.
So at this point, you have a bit of an idea of the personalities and pack dynamics, so to speak. Simon is top 'dog', Sonic reinforces the rules, and Bucky galumphs and grins and gets hassled a lot like Lenny from Of Mice and Men.
Enter Sasha.
Sasha was the runt of her kitten litter. She is wee, so wee that she makes Simon (already old and fat) look massive. I cannot imagine how minuscule she'd look compared to Bucky. Now, she's a feisty little thing and still has her claws (and always will; Simon was declawed by my parents before they really understood the ramifications of it and will not be declawing any other cats we adopt). After having a senior cat that's probably the chillest cat we've ever had, Sasha seems like a manic ball of energy. She sprints, she parkours, she climbs up the blankets we have over our terrible windows, she crashes and naps in our laps for a few hours, and then she does it all again. Basically she's adorable and awesome.
The problem at this point is that we've had her for about a month and a half now and the amount of time we've had the dogs in since has decreased drastically. Luckily it's spring, so it'sbeautiful outside and we still bring them in at night so they can sleep in their kennels, and we go outside to play with them, but we used to be able to cuddle inside and fall asleep on the couch together and stuff too.
The fear is that Sasha is so small and Bucky in particular is so big and excitable that he might accidentally hurt her during the initial meeting. We don't think he'd intentionally attack her or anything; he's seen her when he's in the kennel and she's wandering around and hasn't barked or snarled or anything. But she's a tiny little kitten and he's Bucky, 80 lbs of muscle that shows affection by sitting on you.
Sonic has been out of his kennel with Sasha; she ran and he didn't chase her, which was the fear with him, since he's part-Border Collie and/or Blue Heeler. But Bucky hasn't gotten to meet her quite yet.
Most of the family is of the opinion that we need to wait until she's older, but my fear is that that means the dogs won't get to come inside and spend time with us for months. They're not miserable outside but they're used to coming in too and like I said, I miss being able to sit with them.
Does anyone here have any suggestions or tips on how to safely introduce the kitten to the dogs? I'd like everyone to be at least simpatico in terms of everyone being able to be in the house together at the same time; they don't need to necessarily be a submission to Dodo.
Thank you!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/baj4q6/need_advice_for_introducing_kitten_to_our_dogs/
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