Getting a Dog with a Cat Already in the House

We have three of each. ONe cat is more independent than the others but she will be the one to go into the basement with the dogs and sleep with them.
Give them time. Train the dog that the cat is her Alpha, cats drink first, cats can eat out of the puppy's bowl, cats get first love from you. This way the dog sees that the cat is higher on the food chain.
The cat won't care, she is not a pack animal but the dog doesn't know that.

If you go to petfinder.com there is a search engine on the left. Put in your zip code, desired dog size, breed, you can even specify that you want one that is cat friendly and the available options will come up. Lots of foster's have cats so they already know if the dog will accept cats or not. No, it won't be difficult. Just find a dog that likes cats. It's easy with Petfinder.

Yes, it can be done. In some ways, it's like introducing your child to a new brother or sister.

The dog's and the cat's personalities make a difference. We have introduced cats and dogs to one another for years. One of the first things they do is to determine who is going to be boss. They do it in different ways. Since the dog is usually larger, it may want to chase the cat just for play purposes. The cat will respond either by running more and hiding or else by going into its "make my day" mode or both. It takes a few days for everything to be settled between them. Expect some fussin' and some rude language.

Since your cat is independent (and two years is not very old), Kitty may well declare herself the boss of the house, as you already know she is. After that is established, she will gradually begin letting the dog be her loyal subject, and all will be well. They could very well end up playing together.

Keep an eye on developments. You could start by putting them in separate rooms and letting them sniff under the door or through the baby gate at each other. Your job is to make sure each has a fair chance and there's no accidental injury.

When they begin to play together, watch what they do. When we got our current pup, we had a 17-year-old cat (who has since passed away of natural causes). He was fragile but still interested in the puppy, so he would tease her from the safety of beneath a stool, and when she responded he would yowl as if that awful dog were eating him up. That was his game. The puppy liked it, and so did I after I found out the noise wasn't serious.

If you haven't picked out a dog yet, ask the shelter or the breeder about one with a sweet personality - one who already likes cats or is quite likely to make friends with anybody.

The worst trouble we ever had was not between a cat and a dog, but between a cat and another cat! One of them couldn't adjust to having the other in her territory. But they were both older cats, and even that sort of situation doesn't *always* happen between cats.

Our cats have always welcomed our "home" dogs within a couple or three weeks. When there are visiting dogs, however, they don't bother. Usually they disappear in the recesses of the house, coming out only at night, until the "intruders" have left. (Since they always hide in the same place, I know where to put extra food and water.) Then they reappear for good, and give me a few baleful looks to tell me what they think of the vile company I keep.

I live in a house with 5 dogs and 4 cats, and other than the occasional tiff, like the dog trying to over power the cat for his wet food or one of the pets getting annoyed at the other, its fine.
What I did was I kept them separate, my cat Jimmy in my room, and the rest of the pets out. Occasionally I would bring in one of the other pets (Except our oldest male weenie dog, hes easily excited and has spine problems and poor thing pees and has spasms and worse case a seizure) and just set them in the room, with my cat a place to get away if he wanted. Let them sniff and see how it went. My cat loves the weenie that adores me, Xander :) They'll sniff, rub faces, and cuddle to me at times.
Oh and maybe offer a place for the cat to escape that the dog can't get to. My bedroom and bathroom are in the basement and none of the dogs are allowed in the basement, but the cats have a kitty door and they come and go as they please now. Any time the dogs get excited or just annoy one of the cats they come down here with me. Their food and litter box are also here to minimize disagreements about the cat food with the dogs.
Generally if they don't like one another they just ignore each other. We have a 17 year old grumpy kitty and she dislikes all the pets and she just ignores them all. She still gets love, she'll cuddle up to one of us when the dogs are out or sleeping.
Hope I helped :)

We did this, and it has worked out good for us. Of course the cat was hacked off at first, and stayed upstairs for a long time. Eventually she came downstairs, and now they are buddies. We have had our dog for 2.5 years now. In the mornings, they lay beside each other on the floor, and take turns licking each others ears and feet. Guess they are getting each other cleaned up for the day. It is hilarious. BUT our cat does not have claws on any of her feet either. We figure it would be a different story if she did, since I'm sure she would be swatting at the dog quite often.

The cat we adopted had never been around dogs (we have 2 mini schnauzers) he did fine with the dogs but our dogs not mind cats. Your cat is still young he might be scared for a few days or might be very curious. Get a dog that has been around cats.

We have often had cats and dogs and just yesterday my mom brought her dog and our cats didn't care. Like many animal introductions, some take a very long time and some depend on the players. Our cats are mellow and so is Mom's dog so after the "oh, it's YOU" we barely noticed they were together. When I was a kid, we had a dog that "treed" our new kitten on my bunk, but after a few days everyone worked it out.

One of the things you should do is go to a good rescue or shelter and be very clear what you are looking for re: temperament. We described our cat to the humane society and they sent us to a foster mom who had 2 possible kittens who had submissive personalities and could also put up with a young child. Our torti has her quirks, but she didn't bat an eye with 10 kids in the house yesterday. Don't just think about the size and breed (though those are good to consider...a sight hound, for example, might take great delight in chasing a cat where my mom's poodle didn't care).

Another thing is you should let the cat have her space, since she seems to like things on her own terms. If she has a retreat the dog cannot go, it may be easier on her. Maybe a cat door in a spare room or to where her litterbox is. Something too big for the dog.

Also consider an older dog with a known personality (who may also have lived with cats prior and be used to them) vs a young dog or puppy who might be more exiteable and more apt to harass the cat.

Meh, it depends on the cat.

They have very distinct personalities, much like humans. I have cats and dogs - the cats came first. When I got our first dog one of the cats hated it, the other decided it would be her "Mommy". The one not happy with the dog was the Alpha male cat, very attached to us humans, and I think he saw the dog as a competitor for our attention. Over the years, we adopted more dogs, and he relaxed about them - tho' he made it very clear to all dogs that he was the "King" of the house and they must defer to him. LOL

After the dogs came more cats - they integrated better - poor things had way more new animals to adjust to, and they basically just ignore the dogs.

Whenever I introduced a new pet to my household the key was ensuring that the new one had its own space to feel safe in, and that the old one's routines where not changed very much. The new one had time to explore on its own - the old ones had their "safe" places to go if they felt overwhelmed.

Give both old and new lots of individual attention. Most pets "find their own level" with each other and it is never been problem for us. We are up to 3 cats and 4 little dogs and everyone gets along pretty well.

God Bless

They will more than likely coexist fine but I will share my stories as I do believe different animals have different personalities. With Cat#1 who was less than 2 yrs old, we brought in a small young terrier mix (under 10 lbs). They were truly best friends who played together all the time. Cat #2 was brought into a house with 2 dogs - the terrier and a large mixed breed dog (65 lbs). No problem at all. We got a third dog, a 20 lb mixed breed and the same cat that had lived with dogs all her life went to live upstairs. When the terrier and the small mixed breed passed, same cat became best friends with the large mixed breed. Then Cat #3 and #4 were 5 years old when we tried to bring in a large dog. The dog would not leave them alone. I had to separate them at night and to go to work. I literally feared for the cats' lives. We found the dog a new home (and I am the ultimate dog lover but I couldn't handle it). Next dog (a puppy), same 2 cats. It wasn't love at first sight, but both tolerated the newcomer in spite of their previous bad experience with a dog. Ultimately one would actually cuddle up and sleep with the dog. The other isn't that warm and fuzzy about the whole thing but will from time to time play with the dog and hasn't checked out whatsoever at all.

Your cat is young, that should help with her adjustment. As cats are very much about their environment, I think it's harder for an older cat to welcome a new dog into her environment. I do agree that you have to let the new dog know that the cat is higher in the pack by feeding the cat first, petting the cat first, etc. Also, I don't think size of the dog matters so much as what the dog's prey instinct is. Some dogs really just ignore cats. Some dogs will play chase a cat that is running from them - this can be controlled. Keep a leash on the dog to start with and stop him with a "No chase" command each time. Some dogs will go after a cat - if you adopt from a rescue, the foster family will frequently know how a dog reacts to cats and petfinder.com does identify dogs that shouldn't be around cats (if there's a known problem). If you are looking at puppies, I would steer clear of breeds that have higher prey instincts. I don't think breed labels are always right because every animal had their own personality but with puppies it's harder to tell personality. Give it some time, too, (as long as the dog is controllable) as things do settle a bit after the first couple months.

It can be done and most animals adjust great. We have a lab and she and two of our three cats play together. The third cat gets along fine she just isn't going to snuggle, climb on, or roll over the dog's muzzle like the other two.

Just go slow with introductions and let them set the pace. Leash the dog so the cat can leave and come back to sniff on it's own. Feeding on opposite sides of a closed door is great, then you can feed in the same room. Let them smell things that belong to the other pet, sniffing and/or see each other from opposite sides of a closed door or a baby gated door. We have done cat in a crate too so everyone can sniff. It may take them two minutes to decide to be friends and it may take a week or so. Give your kitty a safe place to get away if needed.

When they were younger our dog would carefully pen down one of the cats and flea bite him. He loved it and would just lay there and if she stopped he would grab her muzzle for more. He was very careful about claws and teeth and still is at seven. Our youngest isn't as careful so the doesn't do that to either of them now. This past winter when our dog was really sick and pretty much stayed on her bed in the house the one cat curled up and stayed on the bed with her for two days which was when the dog finally started to turn the corner and get up a little more.

If you get the dog from a rescue they should be able to help pick one that will be good with cats. A breeder will probably know too and a young one should be trainable that cats are our friends.
Enjoy the new pet and have fun with introductions.

No, did it twice. My cat is now 8 years old. We brought in a dog last year - mid-sized (25 pounds) and they get along great......they don't interact. The dog tries to play with the cat, but he really isn't interested and then at times you see the cat trying to entice the dog to play with him. It's really actually funny. The cat will be moody for a while, but he will get over it. Good louck...love my dog/cat combination.

I have one cat that moved upstairs permanently when we picked up our last puppy. That was 3 years ago and he only comes down for a couple of minutes to say high maybe once or twice per month. He sleeps with people at night and if someone watches tv upstairs he is friendly. But he will not be on the same floor with the dog even though the dog is kenneled much of his life. He only comes out to walk outside, walk on the treadmill, and at night he'll lay besides me while I relax.

We do have cats downstairs that have no problem with the dog and we did not do anything special to make it happen.

well I brought an adult cat into a home with an adult 80lb dog who never like cats :) everything turned out well. at 1st i kept the cat secluded in a bedroom. the dog and cat would sniff each other under the door. this lasted at least a few days. then, i gradually let the cat out when i was home. the cat got chased a few times, but fortunately the dog was obedient and got reprimanded when he chased her. it took time but after a couple of months everything was just peachy. i wouldn't say they were ever best friends but they co-habited just fine :) .... until we got a new puppy then the cat made herself scarce for a few days. but, our new puppy is a little over a year now and everything is back to normal. oh, i did put a cat door on the door that goes out to my garage, and i keep her food and litter box out there. i dont know any other way i could keep the dogs out of it. plus, it gives her her own "space" where the dogs can't mess with her. now, all the animals are out together every day even when i'm gone.

funny thing is my dogs will still chase cats outside. but, it's like they know the inside cat is off limits

You won't know until you do it. My cat didn't bat an eye when we brought the puppy home. When Di got older and calmer Tigger found her to be a great source of warmth. She just wasn't a cat that was too fussed about change. My current cat would make our lives living hell if we brought any animal into the house except for fish, he likes fish.

Much depends on the individual personalities of the animals. We have multiple cats and multiple dogs in the house, and we just always brought the new arrival home and watched them.
If the dog chased the cat, he was disciplined by grabbing his scruff and stopping him short, then telling him ,"NO!" And a few of our cats have their own methods of disciplining dogs. Once had their noses clawed a few times, our dogs learned not to harass the cats. And one of our cats absolutely loves dogs - she tries to groom a 70-lb pit mix.