BY FRAN JEWELL
This summer, I adopted my first cat in almost 20 years. What a journey that has been, considering my house full of German shepherds. I thought I might share some of my experiences with you in the event you are trying to bring an “opposite” species into your home, too.
Fiona came here the first of August, at what we think was about 12 weeks old. Obviously, we don’t know for sure, since she is a rescue. I have been searching for a long time—in fact, for YEARS—to find a kitty I thought could handle the mischief at my home with my prey-driven German shepherds. After wonderful experiences with Maine Coon cats that belonged to several of my clients, I have been convinced this would be a breed I could maybe “train” (if you can ever train a cat!), was loving and affectionate, and would be big enough to stand up to the shepherds. For years, I visited websites and chatted with breeders of Coons all over the country.
Then the day came that I found this kitty, now named Fiona. She had huge white tufts of hair in her ears, and a long coat. But, since she was a rescue, no one knew if she was a Maine Coon or not. I talked to the rescue that had her, and the executive director, whom I know very well, assured me Fiona was affectionate and would not run from my dogs, inciting their prey drive. Trusting her word, I adopted Fiona.
Boy, howdy, is she affectionate! I can’t sit still without this kitty climbing up to snuggle around my neck.
I had a plan for bringing her into my home. I wanted her safe and comfortable until she was ready to make her moves on the dogs. I made my office her homeroom. I put a gate across the office door that was off the floor so she could scoot under if she wanted to be inside, or could go venture out at her leisure. Her box and her food were there. I also put a HUGE dog crate with the essentials in the office so I could put her in the crate at night so there would be no “oops” encounters between dogs and cat. Fiona quickly decided she liked her crate filled with toys, food, a small cat box and a snuggly bed.
Little by little she would venture out of my office while all the dogs were outside, exploring the house, all the high places, including a cat tree, and all the hiding places. Within about a week, she had the whole house mapped with her escape routes.
I started by introducing her to my older dogs, Brinx and Baewulf. Day by day, Fiona would venture closer to Brinx until, finally, she came into my bedroom where Brinx and Wulf sleep and walked by Brinx, gently tapping him on the nose to let him know she was the boss! Next, she bravely conquered Baewulf. Then, off to Kalidor.
As she gained confidence over the next month, she began to come into the living room while I would watch TV. There, she would sleep next to me, daring any dog to come close. Once in a while I would hear a hiss, or a spit and a threat of a paw lashing, but she never moved from my side.
She now has Cloud respecting her, but Mariah is still trying to get Fiona to run so she can chase.
It is now October, and the process has taken time. I have been careful with management to be sure Fiona has had an escape route and a safe place the dogs couldn’t get to. She has been every bit the confident kitten I needed that would not run from the dogs.
Dogs and cats CAN live together, if you do some planning, stick to the plan and don’t push Mother Nature. Fiona now sleeps with Kalidor and rolls on her back to invite Cloud to play or bat him. Once in a while she eats out of Cloud’s bowl while he is eating! The process has been so rewarding to watch and given me so many more reasons to enjoy each of my dogs and discover more about who they are.
Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit positivepuppy.com or call (208) 578-1565.