aggressive cat with puppies

Question
Hi Kate-
I have 2 indoor cats, a 6 yr old female cat & 5 yr old male cat, both fixed. They get along very, very well.
About 5 wks ago 2 - 9 wk old Pug puppies joined the family. The male cat accepted the puppies right away, he is always playing with them & letting them climb all over him. He has been so good! The female is not so nice. She is very aggressive with the puppies & will swat at them & chase them. We have tried to get the female used to the puppies but she will either get hissy and/or will run away upstairs.
We have been giving her positive reinforcement whenever possible, including treats, but the situation doesn't seem to be improving. We are worried she might injure one or both of the puppies.
I would be grateful if you could offer some advice on the matter.

Thanks,
Janet

Answer
Hi
well what can i say, some cats are far more social than others. It all depends on their first seven weeks of life which is called the socialization period. During this time if they do not come into contact with lots of different animals and people they are more likely to grow up being cats that are far less accepting. It sounds like your female cat may be one of these.

Unfortunately there are no magic words of wisdom i can give you, apart from trying the introduction process i out line on my webpages here /introducing-cats.html the process is the same with dogs. It has to be taken slowly and calmly and can take several weeks and even then there are no guarantees that your cat will ever truly accept them, at best she will just tolerate them.

the swipes she is giving them are just warnings, it is not in her interest to get into a big fight, she is simply saying to the pups stay away. Hopefully they will get the message and stay away.

I hope things work out well for you all in the end
Best wishes
Kate