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new dog/3 cats - can they live together?

20 16:44:25

Question
dear erin,

i have a boyfriend with a cute jack russel type  dog who has her own yard and has not had much contact with dogs, let alone cats.  she is about 2-3 years old and is very sweet and playful.

i own 3 male neutered cats, one of whom is 3yrs old and the other two are 11 and  13 years old but still fairly active.  they spat with each other and have the regular playful, sometimes rough fight for dominance.  

my boyfriend and i plan to move in together and he is VERY reluctant to allow his dog to come in contact with the cats.  he is afraid the cats will scratch her eyes, or that bloodshed of some sort will result. (his boyhood dog lost and eye to a catfight).   foolishly, i tried a couple of months ago to bring his dog to my house and my boyfriend and i  stayed present in the garden and supervised the interaction.  the animals were allowed to roam freely, and everything was going fine until the move inside the house - the cats surrounded the dog and she felt trapped.  though no one was hurt, there was a spat that involved barking, hissing and swatting.  

as a result of this event, my boyfriend feels that his dog and my cats will not learn to live peacefully together in the same home.  i know of many instances where cats and dogs can be trained to "tolerate" one another, but have no personal experience with this and want to look at the options.  

my boyfriend is willing to consider living together but keeping them separate forever, whereas, i think we may be able to very slowly introduce them over time.  any and ALL suggestions and warnings would be welcome.  thank you so much for your time.

viddy  

Answer
If your cats have never before seen a dog or interacted with one there will most likely be problems with fights and scratching, but over time which could talk months or even longer but sooner or later they should be able to tolerate each other but it will take watchful meetings with them and surprising events, so be prepared for anything!