Advice Needed - Introducing a 12-year old cat to a 6-year old dog

[Katzpur]

As many of you know, I had to put down my beautiful 7-year old Collie, Jasmine, on July 3. On July 28, we got a new dog, Charlie. He's a 7-year old Golden Retriever mix (looks pretty much like a Golden, but I can tell he's not a purebred). We also have an 8-year old Collie, Ginger, and a 12-year old cat, Annie. Here's my problem...

We got Annie as a 6-week old kitten. She's been abandoned with her siblings and found on the bank of a river by a friend of my vet. She is an extremely sweet and affectionate cat. Annie was never 100% comfortable with Jasmine (whom we got when she was 5 years old), but she wasn't really afraid of her, either. She was wary but not afraid. They seemed to get along fine and I never worried for Annie's safety when I was not around.

We have had Ginger since Annie was 8 years old. Annie is not the slightest bit afraid of Ginger, and I can't remember a time when she was. Ginger is the sweetest, most mellow dog imaginable and pretty much just ignores Annie, which is to me the idea situation.

Well, now there is Charlie. I made good and sure that I knew Charlie's history before we got him. I was told (and I believe I was told the truth) that he was previously in a home with cats and was simply wonderful with them. (We had one little dog for just under a year, just before we got Ginger, who was determined to kill Annie. Even though she was great with people and other dogs, we had to find her another home.) Anyway, Annie is scared to death of Charlie, and I'm at my wits end. I really need some advice on how to help her overcome her fear. I'm sure Charlie wouldn't hurt her, but she has no way of knowing that.

Here's our situation. The dogs have a dog door. They can go out into the back yard and back into the house whenever they want. Once they are in the house, they have access to the entire main floor of the house with the exception of the living room. We have the living room gated off. The gate is only about three feet high, but neither of the dogs are jumpers and they both seem to realize that the area on the other side of the gate is off-limits to them. Annie, however, can jump the gate with no problem whatsoever. Once she has jumped the gate, she has access to the living room and to the stairs to the basement, where she has decided to spend the remainder of her life alone in the dark. It's just breaking my heart.

There's more I could tell you, but I have already written too long an OP. Once I hear your comments and suggestions, I'll explain what we've been doing so far to try to help Annie learn to realize that she is as safe upstairs now as she ever was with Jasmine and Ginger. We're leaving town for a week four weeks from now and have arranged for someone to come in and take care of the animals. By then, I want the trauma of a new dog to be over for Annie. Any suggestions would be more than welcome.

[mostly harmless]

Well, Annie is an old lady, and probably does not feel as confident around a strange dog as she may have been in the past.
It can take a long time for cats to get used to new additions, however, there are some things you can do to help ease the transition...

One of the things I always kept on hand was a tube of flavored calorie gel...you can get it at the pet store..
First, you have to get your cat to want to eat it..she will probably turn up her nose at first..but, you just dab a bit on her upper lip and let her lick it off (or on her paw, the lip works better though) do this a few times and you will see that she is wanting to lick the tube herself to get at it...
Next, have your new dog restrained in some way, on the other side of the room. Bring in Annie and hold her (on the far side of the room) and give her a small amount of the yummy stuff (be careful about giving too much, or she'll get fat)...do this a couple of times a day until she seems more relaxed with the dog there at that distance..

Gradually get closer to the dog...this can take a couple of weeks...but don't push her past her comfort zone...as you see that she has gotten used to a certain distance you can get closer..

The whole point is to get her to associate the new dog with good things...eventually you can graduate her to whatever kind of attention she likes best...

If you have any questions please feel free to ask here or PM me!

[Katzpur]

That's an entirely new concept, MH! I hadn't even considered doing something like that! Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to try it. Annie does love to be petted. Every night for a couple of hours before we go to bed, we've been bringing all three animals into our bedroom at once, and closing the door. The dogs don't get on the bed, but hang out close to the bed so that we can occasionally pet them or scratch their backs, etc. Annie seems to be relatively comfortable on the bed between my husband and me. She's aware that Charlie is in the room, since his big head appears at the edge of the bed now and then, but even though she won't venture near the edge of the bed, she appears to be relaxed as long as she's not pushed to leave her safe zone in the center of the bed. Maybe this time would be a good time to try the gel. I've never even heard of it before, but we have both a Petsmart and a Petco nearby, so I'll stop in and see if they have any. What's it actually called anyway?

[painted wolf]

A baby gate can also work wonders. It can allow the animals to sniff and get to know one another while still having a safe barrier to prevent any unplesant encounters. Also the cat is usually able to jump the gate to meet the dog, and the dog is ususally unable to jump the gate if the cat needs a quick escape.

wa:do

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

A baby gate can also work wonders. It can allow the animals to sniff and get to know one another while still having a safe barrier to prevent any unplesant encounters. Also the cat is usually able to jump the gate to meet the dog, and the dog is ususally unable to jump the gate if the cat needs a quick escape.

wa:do

That's basically what I described that we have, although it's nicer looking than the average baby gate. The only problem is that the cat hasn't figured out that the dogs can't jump over it.

[painted wolf]

woopsi... that'll teach me to skim the post rather than actually read it...

The treat idea is a good one.. don't forget to simply give her lots of love in the ajoining room. Let her know you are there and will protect her.
Also bring in an item with the new dogs smell on it, so she can get used to it in a non-threatening situation. Same with the dog, this way they can be somewhat familiar with one another before they go nose to nose.

wa:do

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

Also bring in an item with the new dogs smell on it, so she can get used to it in a non-threatening situation. Same with the dog, this way they can be somewhat familiar with one another before they go nose to nose.

Thanks! That sounds like a good idea, and a very simple one, too.