Cats compatible with Service Dogs?

[maribeth]

I've had a beloved cat for more than 10 years. I've been accepted for a Service Dog (an 18 month old black Lab) to assist me as a wheelchair user with daily activities. A requirement of the agency is that if the animals are not compatible, I must be willing to "give up" my cat. This would break my heart.
Any tips to help the cat and dog to get along?
I'm new to this forum
Thank you

[Kirsten]

Hi Maribeth, welcome!

I gave you some tips privately related to your question on Yahoo Answers.  Let's see if anyone else has suggestions to add.

[cowlypso]

I brought Bear into my house with 3 cats, and it worked out okay.  It definitely depends on both the dog and the cat.  Before they placed Bear with me, the trainer made a visit to a home with cats and dogs, to see how Bear would react to cats (with cats that wouldn't be afraid of the dog).  He walked up to the cat, sniffed it, wagged his tail, and left it alone.  So I felt pretty comfortable bringing him into my house with the cats.  Two of my cats did live with a dog for a few months when they were in foster care before I adopted them, and they got along fine there, but that was a few years previous. 

I saw Bear twice before I brought him home.  Each time, I took a shirt that I had worn and rubbed it all over Bear (especially the groin and the face, where the good smells are!) and then took that shirt home for the cats to smell.  I'm not sure if that helped or not, but that's what they trainer suggested.

When I brought Bear home, I kept him on the leash at first to make sure that he wasn't going to do anything to the cats.  We hung around a little, just to let the cats get used to the idea that there was a stranger in the house.  They had all taken off to the basement, so after 20 minutes or so we took Bear down there and just sat there.  He laid down, and eventually the cats started to come out and peak at him (lots of hissing and puffing up from the cats).  After we did that for a while, and felt confident that the cats at least had some idea that this big stranger might not be so scary, we went back upstairs and left the cats alone (Bear came upstairs). 

Eventually, the cats started sneaking around in the same room as him.  Finally, they even started coming up to sniff him.  That's as far as it went.  No cute interspecies cuddling.  But no interspecies warfare either. 

I would definitely see if they can arrange a visit with the dog to a home with some dog-friendly cats to see how he reacts.  If he takes off chasing all the cats, then you may have a problem.  Perhaps, if it's early enough in the training, they could find a different dog for you (or acclimate the dog to cats). 

Other than that, my advice is to just take it really slow and let the cats check the dog out on their own terms.  Definitely don't pick up the cat and hold it nose to nose with the dog.  Just let the cat check out the dog when it's ready. 

[Roxie]

I've always had a mix of cats and pet dogs and Service Dogs in my home and family going back to the early 90's. We never had a problem.

The dogs were all taught the commands no, leave it, down, kennel. Our cats were always snobs who know they are better than any mere dog. They learned to live without problems. Even when we had skittery and quick little kittens.

I like the towel idea! That might be a cool way to introduce both to the smells!

If your SD has been adequately trained for the job... there should be no problem with him.

If you have an attack cat... just keep them separated with occassional interaction. They will work out a peaceful co-existance.

Roxie and Tay

[bj2circeleb]

The program that my dog came from has a cat living at the training grounds so all the dogs are used to cats and know not to chase them. As the dogs are bred on site, they are introduced to the cat at a very young age and they do not become strange creatures. One of the most important things to do is to ensure that the cats are able to get away from the dog if they want to. They should be able to get up to a high level and to leave any room the dog is in if they please. It may initially be good to install baby gates, etc so the dog cannot get through a door way, but a cat would be able to if they wanted to. If you have any friends or family with relatively well behaved dogs it would be good for them to bring the dogs over on leash, one at a time, so the cat has some concpet of what these other four legged creatures are. Start to feed the cat at a higher level so the dog will be unable to access the cats food and water bowls and so the cat still believes it has its own property. Make sure you still give the cat some individual attention every day. Get into a routine now of having a specific cat time each day where you pet, play with, cuddle the cat, etc. Make sure it is at the same time each day and keep it up when the dog moves in. Keep any rountines as consitent as possible in the begging so the cat does not experience so many changes. I agree with the smell things and I would place these in the cats bed/basket. I would ask them to do a similar thing with the dog. Even if it will be a while before you can get them of the dog, I would do it now with the smells of dogs of family and friends, so the cat is constantly surrounded by dog smells. Cats do smell as good as if not better than dogs, and it is primary sense to them.

If the cat is allowed outside, make sure it has a good collar on, with an ID tag on it, and is microchipped incase it decides to leave home once the new addition moves in!!

[Kirsten]

Belinda, it's spooky:  you and I both said about the same thing.  Privately (on Y!A) I also suggested introducing the cat to friendly dogs and setting up an elevated private space for eating and napping.

I'd like to add on baby-gates that my elder cats can no longer get over them.  So I just use the pressure kind that squeeze against the door jambs and raise them about 8 inches off the ground so they can go under.  Actually, with my dogs, I just lean the gates against the door open about cat wide.  The dogs know they can knock the gate over, but they don't.  They just need a clearly delineated boundary.

[cowlypso]

Yup... forgot about separate feeding areas...  I spent a whole day shopping for the right table to feed my cats on before I got the dog.  I got one that's as tall as my kitchen counters, and can seat all three cats at once.  At first, I put the food bowls and a small water bowl on it, but my one cat played with the water bowl too much (small glass bowl on a glass table = fun).  So the cats just had their food separate, and then they shared water with the dog.  Nobody seemed to care much.  Actually, Bear would wait very patiently "in line" for the water bowl when a cat was drinking. 

[bj2circeleb]

Try to introduce as many changes as possible now so that when the cat does come they are not strange to them. Ie. if the cats are going to be fed at a different height, do so as soon as possible, so they don't associate it with the dog moving in. The same with other things, the more normal things can be when the dog moves in the better for the cat. Hence whatever changes can be made now, make them now so that the cat does not have any changes when the dog comes, expect for the dog.

[cowlypso]

Yup...  so many good things I forgot. 

I actually kicked my cats out of the bedroom about a month before I got my dog, totally unrelated to the dog.  The cats sleeping on me were disturbing my sleep, so I decided to finally kick them out.  It was good that I did it then, because when I got the dog, he slept in my room with me with the door closed, no cats.  I'm sure the cats would have taken offense if they thought they were kicked out because of the dog. 

I think I moved their food about 2 weeks before, which seemed to be enough time for them. 

But I agree.  The fewer disruptions that they associate with the dog, the better.  The dog is enough of a disruption in itself.

[swanifer25]

My SD finds every stray cat around my apartment complex and would happily chase them away if I would only give her the command.  However, I have several friends who have indoor cats and she buddies up with them as if they are her best friends.  Definitely know there is a difference between a stray cat and a companion cat.  Also, while Anna will give me a giant alert when she sees a stray, she does not move forward.  It is going to be important that your dog doesn't drag you after any wild, small animals so it seems like with all the other suggestions it shouldn't be a problem.

Charlotte and Anna SD

[swanifer25]

This is a very cute video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j0rvGwds9U&eurl=http://apps.new.facebook.com/watchthis/share.do/42349/1206538094?ref=invite&_fb_fromhash=a0f84f4d6d9b8695ff023f7b043db .  Obviously an ideal and rare.

Charlotte and Anna SD

[bj2circeleb]

I thought that video was of Brooke. She is very much that way. A few months ago a new tennant moved into one of the units downstairs, and she and I have become good friends. She has a cat who is very much like that one, and Brooke simply lays there are takes it.

Brooke came from the local guide dog program here. They breed all their own dogs in campus, and they also have a cat living permanently on campus. The cat is introduced to the pups at 3 weeks of age, and have regular contact with it throughout their first year of life. When they are returned from puppy raisers at 12 months of age they are tested off lead around the cat, to ensure that even when they are under no command that they will not be tempted to chase the cat. From what I have heard at least 85% of dogs pass this test very easily, as they have learnt at a very very young age not to chase cats!! The cat was specifically chosen at about the age of 2 years from a local cat shelter to ensure that it was not scared in any way of dogs, and that it would not take any from them!! It has been one of the most successful things the program has ever done in the socilaisation of future guide dogs!!!!

It is definately possible to get dogs to this level, but it takes a great deal of socialisation at a very young age, and that it continue ongoing throughout the pups early days. Brooke has never made me aware of a cat anywhere on the streets and many of the people in the houses that have cats have questioned me on what is wrong with my dog, as their cats are petrifried of dogs, but have never lifted an eyelid when Brooke is around. Clearly she has a way of communicating with cats as well as dogs. I can only hope that my next dog will be this good, as I will not be able to obtain one from the same program.

[cowlypso]

Bear is quite convinced that the cats in the house are to be ignored, but cats outside are equivalent to squirrels.  We're not living with my cats at the moment, but when we were, Bear would lay there between the couch and the coffee table, and my trouble-maker cat would sit there on the coffee table, batting at Bear's ears. 

[Cera]

omg.  the kitten is doing that spastic crab-side walk.  my grandparents cat used to do that and everything else to hope when he was a kitten.  hope responded the same way, even when the cat decided to try to chew on the new bone she was chewing!  another cat--a former neighbors--would do weave polls around hope's legs while hope was in a stand stay.  honestly, a lot of dogs are ok with cats.  the key is for them to come to the understanding that cats do rule the house.

[cowlypso]

the key is for them to come to the understanding that cats do rule the house.

Yup....  Just like people.  Once we understand that the cats are in charge, everything works out okay.