The new pet

Question
I have a one year old cat. He acts like he rules the world and some times I just want to rip out all my hair. He knows I'll snap at him if he does something wrong but he usaully just waits and stares at me until I do. My family and I despritely want a bermese mountian dog puppy but we're nurvous how he'll react. We're NOT getting rid of Bryar (our cat) but we would kill for a dog! What should we do and how should we handle it?

Answer
Madison,

In general, cats and dogs can get along.

You will need to isolate the dog from the cat for about a week until the cat gets used to the scent.  When they meet each other, the cat will probably have a few choice words to say to the dog.  Both cats and dogs have very tough skin, so they really should not hurt each other.  Most adult cats are fairly tolerant of kittens and puppies, so all should be OK.  Also, cats do not like unpredictability and puppies can be just that.

One thing to remember, to dogs, cat poo is like candy, so the dog may take to bothering your cat when he does his business. You may have to make the litter pan inaccessible to the dog.

You will just have to play it by ear and see how it goes.  Do not separate them unless the cat really does damage to the dog.  The odds are the puppy will not be able to hurt the cat. Although this kind of thing can work, sometimes it does not. There is no guarantee.

Best regards... Norm.