oh gawd...is she going to hate me forever?

[imagirliegirl]

Here's my situation:

In about 2 months I will be moving in with a friend who has a dog. The dog is about 7 and he's just a little thing (Lhasa/Shitzu mix). My cat grew up around little dogs but she HATES any other animals.

I've been taking her over to his apartment trying to get her used to the dog. Things haven't been going so well. She hisses, growls and slaps at him really hard. He's unaffected, he loves cats and he just wants to play with her. She's ripped out a clump or two of his hair but he charges on. He wants to play so much! Poor guy.

Obviously I can't make the cat understand that the dog just wants to be friends and I can't make the dog understand that chasing after her really isn't helping his cause.

I guess I would like advice on how to get the dog & cat used to each other. Would it be better for me to take her with me everytime I go to my friend's apartment? Or should I just wait until we move in together and do the adjusting then? Also, she looks so pissed at me whenever I take her around him. I'm afraid she's going to hate me forever!

My friend laughs at me and says that in time they will be fine. But I love my kitty and I hate stressing her out. I feel like such a mean mama!

FYI - I always keep baby gates up when they are together. I want to give the cat somewhere safe to go to get away from him but I also don't want her to spend all of her time cooped up in a room when she'd normally be out with me. :(

[jesvet]

I wouldn't take the cat over until you move. It's just going to keep stressing her out over and over. Until the dog becomes part of her daily life she won't adjust.

For at least the first couple days I would keep her separated in her own quiet room where she can stay safe, away from the dog and get adjusted to the new environment.

Certainly the dog can be trained not to chase the cat, too. When I adopted my goofy cat chasing dog he spent a few days tied to the coffee table until he learned "NO KITTY!!!" He also spent some time in dog jail (aka the laundry room) when he slipped and took off after the cat. Worked like a charm.

[maxandmolly]

Huh. Our goofy cat chasing dog only quit chasing the cat when we got another dog for him to play with instead. But then, he's extraextra goofy.
Seriously, I think she'll be fine, but don't make her keep going through it. Wait til you move over there, then take it very slow.

[SingleWhiteFemale]

They may never like each other. Hope for them becoming good friends, but accept that they may just tolerate each other.

My St. Bernard and cats tolerate one another, and that's as good as it is going to get. He doesn't chase them, but when he gets hyper, he will run, and if a cat is in his way, they run too and it does become a game of chase the kitty. For the most part, the cats just make sure that they're not going to get stepped on, and the dog will just lay and watch them do their thing.

Just make sure that your kitty can go places where the dog can't, so that she can get away from the other beast when she feels the need ;)