How to Bring a Cat Into a Home With Dogs

Cats take solace in routine and become stressed when introduced to a new environment with other animals. Having your cat co-exist peacefully with dogs involves exposing them to each other incrementally in supervised, controlled introductions. Grown dogs not used to living with cats will need at least a month of gradual introduction before relations visibly improve. Your dogs will need to learn to reliably sit in one place on command, so that they don't instinctively attack your cat if it runs away. Move from one step to the next only when your pets have succeeded with the previous step.

Things You'll Need

  • Baby gate
  • Dog treats (bone, chewy toy)
  • Synthetic cat pheromone spray or plug-in device
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place your cat in a closed room during its first day at your home. Confine your dog to a separate room midway through the day, and let the cat out to explore its new home. Put the cat back into its room and shut the door, letting your dog out so that it can trace where the cat was in order to become acclimated to the cat's scent.

    • 2

      Set up a baby gate in front of the door to your cat's room on the second day, and open the door a few inches so that your dog can see and smell your cat for a period of less than a minute. Do this a few times at intervals throughout the second day, and reward the dog each time only if it doesn't bark or try to attack. Confine the dog at some point during the second day and let your cat out of its room to explore the house again.

    • 3

      Increase the number of times you crack open the door gradually, as well as the length of time you leave the door open. Reinforce positive dog behavior with rewards each time. Aim to have your dog watch your cat through the open door quietly and without aggression for at least a few minutes.

    • 4

      Open the door to the cat's room completely on the fourth day (with the baby gate securely in place) for intervals lasting a few minutes. Shut the door after each interval if your dog ends these intervals with barking and aggressive behavior, but leave the room if your dog simply watches the cat quietly. Occasionally break the dog's concentration on the cat during this procedure by engaging in brief play.

    • 5

      Open the door to the cat's room and leave it open all day after the fifth or sixth day, with the baby gate still in place (keep this door closed, however, when you're not at home). Within a couple of months at this step of the procedure, you will know whether you can take the baby gate down, or whether you'll have to continue keeping your cat and dog separated.

    • 6

      Move your cat's food bowl and litter box away from your dog's feeding area, even if you've taken the baby gate down and your pets are getting along. Their feeding areas should be on opposite sides of the room, if not in different rooms entirely.