So, I just got a new kitten (4 mo, F) about 2 months ago. I introduced her at weekends to my housemates dog (10 y, F), and let her stay at my parents for 3-4 days during the week. My parents have the same breed of dog (a malamute 9 y, F) and whilst my parents dog tries to provoke the cat, the cat generally seems to tolerate her more than my housemates dog. I know my parents dog a lot more than I know my housemates, and knew that my parents who are retired would be able to take care of both of them, where as I work during the week, so didn't want to leave the cat locked in my room whilst I'm at work.
The time has come now to get them used to living together. So I've started introducing her to the great out doors with the hope that during the day when I'm at work now I can start letting her out soon in a couple of months.
I underestimated my house mates dog. She is a lot more friendly and patient towards the cat than I initially gave her credit for. She follows the cat around and sits patiently waiting for the cat to get used to her. She doesn't try to provoke the cat, and generally acts nicer towards her than my parents dog who is a bit grumpy. If the cat does muster up the courage to approach the dog, the dog just sits there and let's her do it with her tail wagging. She has been absolutely golden with the cat. They both have free run of the house when I'm home, though I never quite leave them on their own, and separate them when I'm not at home.
The cat is slowly getting used to the dog, though she still hisses and growls at the dog whenever she approaches her.
Is there any way to speed things along? I know eventually they will get to the point where they can co-exist unsupervised, but I'm still walking on egg shells whenever I have them together. I trust the dog with the cat, but I'm scared that if the cat swipes at the dog then 1. The dog might be seriously injured, and 2. This might provoke her in to attacking the cat.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/j0qq20/getting_a_dog_and_cat_to_like_each_other/
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