I found the cage was the perfect way to introduce a kitten to the dogs. As Borderdawn said the kitten felt safe. After a few minutes my kittens realised that the dogs could not get them. After a few days the kitten could be found asleep amongst the coat of one of my Affies. My eldest would just look with disdain if they went near her and off they went to find somewhere else to sleep.

In fact Dessie is now so fearless of dogs that he can often be found walking down the kennel corridors inspecting the boarders

Now I'm confused

I suppose I will just have to wait and decide what will work best for us

We always have dogs and cats together ,and i must say it usually works well ,but even my gentle gemma who gets on great with polly(our cat)wont tolarate any other cat in the garden , she gos loopy ,but i think if you introduce a kitten slowy and very carefully you should be ok ,we usually find the cat is well able to put the dog firmly in its place

Mmmmm. My latest kitten was 17wks when I had him and never set eyes on a dog, he was a big British shorthair who knew nothing apart from his breeders. I put him in a large cage with a box for a bed, a litter tray etc.. and bought the dogs in one at a time. Yes the Cat hissed and spit, but he couldnt PANIC, he just hid in his box, the dogs lost interest when encouraged away and given treats. The chase reaction was not triggered, if it was, it would of been a much bigger task. I feel the "isolate" the Cat scenario is just making the dog more determined to get what it cant get to, and the Cat will be on its own if it is shut in an upstairs room, so it wont benefit much either. Inside a few days the kitten knew those dogs wouldnt hurt him.

Its entirely up to you, I can only tell you of my own experiences, and mine are working Terriers that would kill a Cat that was not ours, yet within a very short space of time they accepted a strange kitten that was frightened at first.

The one time I had a problem, was some years ago, when I rescued an adult Jack Russell. She was a super dog, but we had lost our Cat a couple months before, so we only had dogs when she arrived. This Cat was an adult too, and used to seeing dogs, when the Cat spit at her the dog jumped back, but then it ran, she launched an almighty attack on that Cat when she got to it, snapping a lead in the process. Fortunately the Cat was not harmed, the dog was bitten and scratched on her muzzle. No Cats again I thought, but 6mths later my sister had cause to rehome her Persian that had lived with dogs, I took "Katie" round her house to see what would happen, Smokey charged right upto the dog and fussed all round her face!!! No running off etc.. I took Smokey home and well, the rest is history as they say!

Good luck if you do choose to get one, Cats are wonderful creatures.
Dawn.
Dawn.

I think most dogs would get used to a cat in the family even if they don't like other cats outside I hope so anyway. It's just a bit scary getting one incase I'm wrong.

But one problem is that Bailey barks at cats even if they're not moving. One was sat on my neighbours fence and he kept barking at it So it's not just a chase thing for him. Will that make things even harder?

My dogs go NUTS at anyone elses Cats, they would chase, catch and kill another, your own is very different. It probably isnt only Cats that Bailey would bark at, if a Squirrel were there, or a Fox in your garden, he would most probably do the same, mine would.

I cant offer you any guarantees, I can only comment on my experiences, I have 4 Cats and 3 working Terriers, I have introduced Cats to Labs, Dobermanns (one being a chained guard dog for 3yrs) Jack Russells, Border Terriers and a Papillon! Apart from the JRT I told you of, within a few days, I have had no problem, I did it the way I have described to you. i am fairly sure many years ago, my parents had no problems either, as from before I was born, my parents said they always had a dog and a Cat.
Dawn.

Thanks borderdawn it's good to know that it has worked out for you so often. Fingers crossed I'll have a cat eventually

im glad someone has put this question on! but mines the other way round i have 2 cats that are not dog confident and was wondering how it would work out if i got another dog, because our pomeranian is the first dog we have ever had and he is very calm, and hes not bothered about them at all and leaves them alone, but what if i got a large dog thats more fiesty i wonder how the cats would be?