How To Introduce New Kitten To A Dog Without Accidents!

October 14, 2008 by Richard Cross

Getting a new pet is a wonderful and exciting time, but it can be difficult to know whether a new kitten will be taken to straight away by your dogs! Because of cartoons we have an instinctive knowledge that cats and dogs just don’t get along, and while this isn’t the whole truth you’ll certainly have to be careful when introducing your new kitten to a dog.

When you first get the kitten it is probably a good idea to keep it separate from your dog to start with. Let the kitten explore the house with the dog shut away to get used to the layout and distinguishing smells. This will help the cat get more comfortable in its surroundings as well as get it used to your dogs smell.

Now do the same with your dog so it smells the new kitten and gets used to it as much as possible before actually coming face to face.

It’s probably a good idea that when the pets first meet it is in a completely controlled environment. A good way to do this is to have a fence between them when they first see meet, which will allow them to smell and get used to each other without any danger of the dog being too rough with the kitten.

Take your time with all these stages so that your new kitten becomes part of the house in your dogs eyes before they meet with no “safety net”. You should slowly build up to them actually being in the same room so you can be assured it is safe to do so.

While your kitten is small it is a good idea to keep an eye on it at al times when it is with the dog. All animals are essentially unpredictable and while your kitten is young it is more vulnerable. It will take some time for the two animals to completely accept each other, and even then keeping a close eye on them when together is important.

All dogs are different, and some will never be able to fully accept a kitten or cat into the household. You can only try your best, make sure the cat is never in any danger and have patience.