Old cat REALLY hates the new puppy. Any help?

[ThirteenEra]

Hi guys!

Im new to this forum, but im hoping that perhaps I could get some advice here, because I sure am in need of one right now.

So, we have a male (neutered) cat, british blue shorthair, who is about 8 years old at this point. He has known dogs for most of his life, he lived peacefully with a Bernese Zennehund, a corgy, a russian black terrier and a tibetan mastiff (not all at once, but usually 2 at once). He lives in a countryhouse with access to a large house (4+ floors) and walled outside area (quite large, so plenty of space to hunt, roam etc).

Due to various sad events, the dogs have passed away. After a period of sadness, my family got ourselves a new puppy (Malinois). Unfortunately the cat is absolutely REFUSING to even tolerate the new puppy.

He hisses, growls, expands his body to twice the normal size, and aggressively attacks the puppy (not just defensive, he's not in a "leave me alone i dont want to play" mode, he's actually aggressively attacking). This is the first time we ever saw this behavior from him. Previously whenever a "dog swap" occured, the cat would be unsurprisingly cautious and defensive, but never outright aggressive - and after a short perioud, he would always enter the "You're beneath me, i dont care about you" mode. To repeat, we NEVER had ANY issues with him regarding the dogs. More than that, the puppy is not aggressive or anything, simply cautious and curious. We're not afraid that the puppy would attack the cat, we're afraid the cat would claw the puppies' eyes out.

Thankfully we have a small house outside where we currently keep the cat due to this. The cat can see the dog through the window, but still acts the same whenever dog passes nearby - puffs up like a pufferfish and growls like a puma.

We cannot (and will not) give away the cat or the puppy, i know this is a dumb thing to say but i just wanted to clarify that right away. But we're absolutely at a loss as to how to make them live with each other. We don't need "best buddies" friendship, we will settle with a cold war tolerance. As long as it doesnt involve clawing out each other's eyes the moment they are near each other.

Does anyone have any advice at all about this? We're currently thinking about maybe putting a towel (with puppy's smell) somewhere in the corner of the cat's cabin, just to make him gradually accustomed to the smell, but that's kind of it. We have no idea what to do, and thats very sad, as we love both the cat and the puppy very much.

Thanks in advance!

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome.

Wow, you have an exotic taste in dogs I'd never heard of Malinoisl They're gorgeous.

I can't claim to be an expert but I've settled in an Alsatian and 2 Jack Russell puppies with cats, and made it clear that the cats were the boss and if someone got their nose bopped, tough. The cats were given plenty of places, in the house and garden (which I closed off temporarily with a fence that the cats could jump but the pups not) to avoid the puppies. This went well.

Less success was with a young Labrador x rescue - now one of my boys, a huge Siamese crossbred, would have killed him, so the dog went to a no-kill shelter.

So I can understand your problem, but the thing is, your cat must feel his territory has been invaded and taken from him, if he is being shut out of it in a separate house and I feel this may add to his distress and hostility. This is only my personal opinion but I'd be inclined to make a huge fuss of him - could he not go upstairs and puppy be kept downstairs until the situation simmers down? The separate house is a practical arrangement, but he won't understand that. He'll feel as if he's been pushed out.

There are plenty of people on here who have dogs as well as cats who can advise, but hope this helps for now and I do hope you find a solution to this, but I'd advise bringing your cat back into the house and, well, treating him like a king, buttering him up. At this stage I feel putting the dog's scent into his quarters may only add insult to injury, but, one day, and when he's been assured that he is boss, this could well be a good idea.

I do hope there is more advice soon and that you find a solution to this, all the best and please keep us posted.

[Ruth B]

Welcome to the forum and hopefully you can find some answers here.

I will start by saying that I have no experience with dogs, i've only ever had cats, however an introduction is still an introduction regardless of the species involved.

Firstly I would ask about the time frame, how long have you had the new puppy, how quickly did you try and introduce them. You don't mention the puppy's reaction to the cat, is there any chance that something might have happened that has made the cat decide that the best defence is the offencive.

I have to agree with Lilith the cat has to be given his pride of place back, the dog is the newcomer and the cat has to know he is still top animal. If you could find a way of containing the puppy in one part of the house and reintroduce the cat and make a big fuss of him, make him feel important again. Then slowly start the introductions again. Is there anywhere you could put the puppy for short lengths of time so the cat can see it but can't get to it, then distract the cat with toys, treats and attention, anything to stop it focusing aggressively on the puppy. Let the cat associate the puppy's presence with nice things like treats. The puppy will also learn that the cat isn't being aggressive which I would have thought would help its attitude towards the cat, if it feels it is under attack it might be giving off signals that the cat sees as a fight building.

Finally I would also say a quick trip to the vets for a general check up might be worthwhile, just to make sure that the cat hasn't any physical reason that is making him feel more vulnerable and therefore defensively aggressive.

[ThirteenEra]

The time frame: we've had the new puppy since march 14th. We had to lock the cat in the other house about the same day. We've done pet introductions before (as i said, the cat has lived through at least 4 different dogs), so we did the very cautious "on your terms, cat, with plenty of room to run away and high perches to observe". Thing is, instead of being "wtf is this, dont touch me" he was "wtf is this, i will skin you alive right now". It seemed that he wasn't trying to defend himself / hold position, he was charging in to attack :/

Puppy is pretty standard - "what is this, wanna play, i wanna play, you scary". Nothing special.


Distracting cat with toys/food will be difficult. He is of the "lord" type, he does not involve himself with actions of us peasants, His Royal Majesty does not play with "toys" or treats. He spends most of days either hunting or sleeping around the house very "nobly".

[Sniper1]

I am afraid your doing things quite wrong in my opinion you should be doing everything you can to keep the cats daily life and routine stable not banishing him to a cabin outside let him back in and always keep a physical barrier between puppy and cat such as a dog crate or use a child safety gate across a doorway so they can see and smell each other , its no use saying the cat was fine with other dogs its a bit like saying if you like one person why don't you like everyone its just not reality your cat needs to feel, safe, stable and loved and needs to accept the puppy gradually at his own pace which means limited contact and restricting the puppy's access to the cats territory and am sure all will be OK eventually remember the cat was their first to him the dog is an intruder / threat he is only reacting in a normal way

[ThirteenEra]

Thanks for the input!

The reason we "banished" the cat was not to let it "cool down", but mostly because we didnt know what else to do. We were quite literally scared that it would blind the puppy with its claws. It was for puppy's protection, and nothing else.

I see that a lot of you think that is a bad idea though. Thank you! We will see what we can do about bringing His Highness back to his lodgings!

Any additional ideas will be more than welcome please! Any help is great!

[Sniper1]

I understand you want to protect your puppy and especially his eyesight which is why I suggested a dog crate or baby gates so they can both be indoors getting used to each others presence without physical confrontation