Introducing cat to a small dog.

Question
Hi there,

I am wondering if you can help me please. I have a cat who I hand reared, her name is Sonic, she is now 5 years old and she is part Burmese part feral so she is quite a combination. Sonic is very close to me, she follows me everywhere and cries if a door is closed and she cant gain access to where I am. She is very cheeky, often chasing monkeys out of our garden and absolutely hates other cats, she goes mad if one crosses her path. I do think she is a bit lonely because my partner and I work all day and she is waiting at the door crying when she hears us arriving home. I have now come across a sweet little Yorkie dog who  was abused by her previous owners and is now being fostered. I would love to adopt her and give her a great life but I am worried about how Sonic will react to this. Do you think it would be a bad idea to adopt this dog? If I do adopt her, how do I get Sonic to accept her? I understand that this would be a hard one for you to answer but just a little bit of your input would be appreciated.

Answer
Hi
well yes it does sound like your cat may be suffering from separation anxiety which could be a big issue if another pet comes onto the scene.

All I can suggest is that you could if possible ask if you could have a trial period with the dog and to do a slow introduction between the two over a week or so. This may help but it may also show you whether or not your cat would be happy to have a dog around.

In my experience if a cat is not used to digs then they may never except them and this could cause upsets for all concerned.

If you go to my website I have a page about separation anxiety and also a page about introducing cats to each other (it also applies to dogs).

www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-separation-anxiety.html

www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

best wishes Kate