As a pet lover, one can’t imagine his life without pets lying around his home, so as a result, many pet lovers end up buying or adopting more than one pet at their home.
According to a survey conducted by APPA national pet owner, almost 106.1 million families own pets, out of which 63.4 million families have dogs in their homes and 42.7 million households have cats as their pet.
According to another survey conducted by American veterinary medical, the 44 percent of US pet owners have more than one pet at their home.
So if you are someone who has a puppy and looking for a kitten as a second pet to welcome it in your house, then this article is for you as this article will let you know what steps you should take when raising a kitten and a puppy together.
Train your Pet
If you have a puppy and considering bringing a kitten to your home, then the first step would be to train your puppy. Usually, if there is a clash happening between your puppy and your kitten, it is generally initiated by the puppy.
Because of their natural prey instinct, they start to chase other small pets. So the best way to avoid a clash happening between your puppy and kitten is to train your puppy the basic commands like ‘Stay’ and ‘Sit.’
These small training commands will make your life easier by handling your puppy during a furious interaction between your puppy and your new kitten.
Understanding the Difference Between the Nature of a Kitten and a Puppy
One of the most important things to know before properly introducing your puppy and kitten is to get familiar with your puppy’s nature and the kitten you want to welcome in your home.
Getting familiar with your pet’s nature is important as every breed has a different nature, so getting familiar with your pet’s breed and nature can make it easier for you to make a decision.
Cats and dogs have a completely different nature, which is why sometimes cats and dogs don’t get along well.
So before making an important decision as bringing a new pet into your home, you must consider your puppy’s breed and nature and your kitten as you don’t want your pets to fight and get hurt.
Raising a kitten and a puppy together – Photo by Явор Тонев from Pixabay
Considering the Nature of your Puppy and Kitten
As every pet has a different nature, some pet breeds are known to be quite friendly, and some are known to be short-tempered.
But this is not the case with cats as usual; all of the cat breeds can share a neutral ground with a puppy comfortably unless they are not attacked first.
So here are some of the dog breeds which are known to show aggressiveness toward cats because of their natural prey instinct:
- Miniature schnauzer
- Siberian husky
- Jack Russell terrier
- Australian cattle dog
Properly Introduce your Puppy to your Kitten
The key to making sure a puppy and a kitten will be comfortable with each other is to make sure they are at each other’s eye level; this step will help them feel more secure and comfortable.
While introducing them for the first time, you can use some kind of screen or try using a leash for your puppy and a harness for your kitten.
But first, make sure both the pets are entirely calm and relaxed. So they both don’t feel any type of fear from each other.
According to vets, it will take some time before one can actually know if they are comfortable with each other or not. But you being the owner, you should keep an eye, especially on your puppy, in case your puppy is showing any kind of aggression during their playtime.
Avoid Leaving your Kitten Alone
Avoid leaving your kitten alone with your puppy alone for the first few weeks until you are completely sure both pets are completely comfortable with each other.
If you have to go out of the house and leave them unattended, then it is best to leave them in different rooms.
Some professional trainers recommend even feed them separately for the first few months, so things don’t get escalated between them.
After a few weeks, when you are sure both pets are comfortable with each other, try leaving them alone for some time as training to make sure they both get comfortable even when you are not there to keep a check.
Encourage Interactions
Dogs mainly depend upon their smell senses, and so your cat and your dog must be familiar with each other when it comes to scents.
Some dogs like to mark their territory, and when some pets enters their territory, they feel uneasy and threatened, which can be bad for small pets like cats.
As the dogs by instinct are aggressive and assertive, they will try to cause some small pet to invade their territory.
Once the cat and dog are familiar with each other in smelling the scents, the next step is to introduce your cat to your dog in a manner that it does not feel threatened because no matter how much you try, there will be a time when your dog and cat will be alone.
In these situations, let your cat and dog be in the same room and give them time to roam around.
Once one pet is roaming, restrict the other pet to let him know that the other pet do not mean any harm. In this way, they will get more familiar with each other.
Once they are familiar with each other, you can also try to leaving them and observing them to see if one is causing trouble for the other or not.
When you first let a kitten and a puppy meet together, there is bound to be some hesitation between the two.
The kitten is mostly in a box and does not want to come out to face the puppy. In these situations, you can give your cat some treats to encourage it to come out.
Once your cat is out of his box, you can let the kitten explore while keeping the puppy on a leash beside you.
You will also need to repeat this training several times a day to make them familiar with each other.
A Safe Haven for your Kitten
Being the owner, it is your responsibility to make sure your pets are safe, but if you are not there to keep an eye on your pets, then you should build a safe haven for your kitten; as puppies have a strong prey drive, they can show aggressiveness towards your kitten.
Because of your puppy’s aggressiveness, things can quickly escalate and get messy. In these situations, your precious kitten must have a safe spot to run to and hide from your puppy.
These places should be on a higher level where it is not easy for your puppy to reach.
Progress Slowly and Keep Calm
Introducing a kitten and a puppy can be challenging as they are both of different species, and everything they are going through is new for them.
This is a lengthy process and can take longer than the anticipated time, but you need to be calm and patient in this process.
If you force them to interact and play with each other or make friends with each other, the situation can take a turn for the worse. And once that happens, there is little you can do to make them friends again.
What If They Are Not Getting Along?
Yes, there are also some instances where the dog and cat do not get along no matter how much you try.
By nature, the dog has a strong prey drive, meaning that he will most likely look down on smaller pets.
If the dog is also aggressive, it can be challenging for your cat and dog to get along. In these situations where you are afraid that maybe you would not be able to handle the quarrel between the two, you can call for professional help and train your dog and cat to get along.
Conclusion
Most people prefer to have a puppy than a kitten while others like it the other way round.
However, some people like to have the best of both worlds; the intelligence and playfulness of a dog and the energy and cuteness of a cat.
The problem also lies in here as it is difficult for the kitten and puppy to interact.
And so if you are one of those people who like to have both, we have here some tips on raising a kitten and a puppy together to help you make them friends and let you enjoy the best of both worlds.
What do you think about this article?
What puppy are you adopting to your family, and how will you make your kitten and your dog befriend each other?
Tell me your stories of raising a puppy and a kitten together by using the comment box below!
Kitten and Puppy Photo by JackieLou DL from Pixabay