Introducing Kittens To Dogs
It is important to socialize kittens with dogs at an early age. Here are my recommendations for the process:
1) Establish a safe room for the kitten(s). Give them plenty of time to acclimate to their new environment before introducing them to a dog. During the adjustment phase, spend extra time with the dog working on their obedience skills of sit, stay, down, come, relax and leave it. Use a head collar to provide extra control.
2) Allow the dog and kitten to experience each other's scent through towels and rugs. After one days use, place the kitten's towel in the dog's bed and vice versa. In my experience, the dog will spend much more time sniffing the towel and rolling on it than the kitten.
3) Feed the kitten on one side of the door while the dog has treats on the other side. The idea is to teach the dog to associate the kitten with good things.
4) Allow the kitten to explore the house without the dog around and vice versa. When both animals are comfortable with all of the above, it is time for a face to face introduction.
5) Before the initial meeting, tire the dog and the kitten out with vigorous exercise. For the first meeting, I let both animals view each other from a distance. Place a head collar on the dog and place them on a down stay with a handler. On the other side of the room, have another person hold the kitten in their lap. Allow the animals to look at each other. If both are calm and curious, move them closer together. Stop immediately if either displays signs of stress.
6) When both are comfortable with visual contact, allow them to interact. I usually place the dog on a down stay and let the kitten approach. Keep firm control of the dog via the head collar and leash. Reward the dog for calm behavior. When the dog is bored with the whole process, it is time for the last step.
7) Give the dog and kitten supervised access to each other. Start out with short periods of time and stay close to prevent injuries. Keep a blanket close at hand just in case you need to break-up a fight. Do not allow the kitten to play rough with the dog. Reward each for good behavior. Gradually increase the time they are together. Always make sure the kitten has an escape route if something goes wrong.
8) Some kittens will unmercifully pester their canine companions. Be sure to give the dog breaks by returning the kitten to their safe room. It is unfair to the dog to expect it to put up with a youngster who is constantly chewing on its ears or biting its legs.
Although I have had great success using the above steps, their are some dogs and cats who will never live peacefully with each other. So be careful when adding a new member to the family. Remember, a dog that is great with cats might not tolerate a kitten because of their immature behavior. Below I have included a video of my dog Buddy and the foster kittens. As you will see, he finds four of them curious but a bit overwhelming. Enjoy!
1) Establish a safe room for the kitten(s). Give them plenty of time to acclimate to their new environment before introducing them to a dog. During the adjustment phase, spend extra time with the dog working on their obedience skills of sit, stay, down, come, relax and leave it. Use a head collar to provide extra control.
2) Allow the dog and kitten to experience each other's scent through towels and rugs. After one days use, place the kitten's towel in the dog's bed and vice versa. In my experience, the dog will spend much more time sniffing the towel and rolling on it than the kitten.
3) Feed the kitten on one side of the door while the dog has treats on the other side. The idea is to teach the dog to associate the kitten with good things.
4) Allow the kitten to explore the house without the dog around and vice versa. When both animals are comfortable with all of the above, it is time for a face to face introduction.
5) Before the initial meeting, tire the dog and the kitten out with vigorous exercise. For the first meeting, I let both animals view each other from a distance. Place a head collar on the dog and place them on a down stay with a handler. On the other side of the room, have another person hold the kitten in their lap. Allow the animals to look at each other. If both are calm and curious, move them closer together. Stop immediately if either displays signs of stress.
6) When both are comfortable with visual contact, allow them to interact. I usually place the dog on a down stay and let the kitten approach. Keep firm control of the dog via the head collar and leash. Reward the dog for calm behavior. When the dog is bored with the whole process, it is time for the last step.
7) Give the dog and kitten supervised access to each other. Start out with short periods of time and stay close to prevent injuries. Keep a blanket close at hand just in case you need to break-up a fight. Do not allow the kitten to play rough with the dog. Reward each for good behavior. Gradually increase the time they are together. Always make sure the kitten has an escape route if something goes wrong.
8) Some kittens will unmercifully pester their canine companions. Be sure to give the dog breaks by returning the kitten to their safe room. It is unfair to the dog to expect it to put up with a youngster who is constantly chewing on its ears or biting its legs.
Although I have had great success using the above steps, their are some dogs and cats who will never live peacefully with each other. So be careful when adding a new member to the family. Remember, a dog that is great with cats might not tolerate a kitten because of their immature behavior. Below I have included a video of my dog Buddy and the foster kittens. As you will see, he finds four of them curious but a bit overwhelming. Enjoy!
HAHA...I love how they all decide to follow him down the hallway! "hey guys, it's mom! let's go!" So cute.
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Oh how sweet! More like Buddy is practically herding them, LOL.
You didn't waste any time, did you! I love the article, very well-thought out and appropriate, I wish more owners would spend as much time and commitment toward slow and gentle intros, as opposed to simply forcing them and ending up with a disaster.
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Myself and my son are fostering two kittens and we have a 10.5 female golden retriever...she is not used to kittens so this article was very helpful. Thank you.
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sophie wants more videos of buddy and a kitten but daddy and broo say no to the kitten
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This is exactly the kind of article I was looking for! I found a kitten by the trash can just before thanksgiving so I brought him in the house with my papillon and mini dashchund - it did not go well. He terrorized them, the bites becoming more and more vicious, everyone chalking it up to 'kitten play' until they saw it in person. I feel like it was my fault because I didn't take the steps you've listed here to introduce them, I gave them a few days to sniff each other thru the door because that was the only advice I'd found. Maybe I did it all wrong, maybe he wasn't a 'dog' cat - I am not sure but I had to make the best decision for my family and let him go. He has since been rehomed to a fantastic family with an adult cat and 3 kids where he is thriving. I really loved having a kitten around and wanted to know the appropriate way to introduce them if I ever decide to bring another kitten in our home. I really appreciate this information and I am sure it will come in handy someday. thank you! i love the video of buddy and the kittens too.
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Thanks for the kind words. You sound like a caring person and I hope you try another cat when you are ready. -Dr. Nelson
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Very nice tips and thoughts on introducing cats and dogs. The number 5 tip I think is all new but effective step, especially for super active and young dogs and cats.
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I found your website while hoping to learn the best age to socialize the kitten to dogs. I am trying to decide between 2 kittens. Both are from loving homes and are well-cared for and are being handled by adults. The difference is this: #1 is already being exposed to dogs and children before the age of 11 weeks while #2 has not been exposed to dogs or children at all, so it would be up to me to expose the kitten to these factors. I will receive either kitten I choose around 12 wks old. I would love to know if it will make a substantial difference in the kittens' nature and ability to socialize with dogs and children to be confronted with them at the earlier age. Do you have any thoughts on this or do you know where I could locate further guidance about this question? Thank you so much Dr Nelson.
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Yes, early positive exposure to kids and dogs will make a big difference in how these kittens view the world. There are some critical socialization windows that occur before 12 weeks of age that have a lasting impact on the kitten. This does not mean that the kitten without exposure cannot be acclimated to dogs and kids. But it will take more work on your part.
If you love each kitten, I would recommend adopting both! It may not be possible to get both, but often kittens do so much better having a buddy. The less socialized kitten will adapt to dogs and kids more quickly with the sibling setting an example. I recommend that you set them up in a safe room for a few days to get comfortable with the smells and sounds of the new environment. The notion of a safe room is vital to cats and for more information on that concept, see my posts on Feral Cats. Once they are comfortable, slowly start letting them out for supervised exploration.
Congratulations on the new edition(s)!
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Thank you! I really appreciate your advice.
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I own a 10 years old Amstaff, now he is really more calm than in past. As I moved in a house with a big garden in country I would like a cat too. An 11 weeks old kitten is too old to introduce him to the dog? Thank you very much Silva
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Cats of any age can be successfully introduced to dogs as long as you introduce them slowly. Kittens less than 20 weeks in age are ideal. Until you know how the dog will react, always supervise the visits to make sure the kitten stays safe. Thanks for the question and good luck with the introduction!
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Loved your article! We are getting 2 new kittens....siblings both 7 weeks old next week. We have a 3 & 14 year old cat, 2 older labs and a 5 year old brittany. My concern is the brit. The brit has a very strong prey drive and has chased one of our cats but leaves the other one alone. He has gotten into a scuffle with a raccoon also. I plan on keeping all the cats in our "cat room" which is dog safe. How do I introduce the kittens to the brit without incident? I am thinking of using high rewards for him with real chicken as well as the leave it command. He gets a ton of exercise and is usually tired for the night but is not always the best listener if something has his attention. Honestly, I am a bit nervous about his reaction. What about his Gentle Leader collar? Would that help? Any suggestions are more than welcome. The shelter has offered many suggestions but the more I hear the more confident I am feeling.
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Congratulations on the new kittens. You are correct that Brittany spaniels usually have a high prey drive. If it moves, they want to catch it! I would strongly recommend a head collar, either a Gentle Leader or a Halti, to give you better control. You might also want to get a basket muzzle that allows the Brittany to drink and open its mouth but not bite or eat. Establishing a safe cat room is very important. I would never leave the cats and kittens out with the Brittany without supervision.
Since your dog is tired at night after a long day of exercise, I would start the introductions then. Follow the phases outlined in the post and slowly progress from one to another. You must be extremely careful with kittens as they do not possess the knowledge, experience and physical abilities of adult cats. Sometimes, they do not have sufficient fear either and proceed with reckless abandon into any situation. My kitten Mauka fits this profile. He simply does not understand proper cat protocol. This led to more than a few hisses from my adult cats.
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Thank you for your response. I am still very anxious about this whole introduction. Gunnar,the brit, does not bother Toby, our 14 year old at all! So I know that he can leave cats alone. Should we have both kittens at one time during the introduction or just one? Also, one dog at a time? I would think that all three would be overwhelming and since they have that pack mentality this may be a bit crazy on my part! The labs are pretty laid back but one will whine and nudge our 3 year old cat. Ugh! Wondering if I am doing the right thing! Rescue is a good thing....introductions are not!
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I would recommend keeping the kittens together and introducing them to the dogs one at a time. Keep the kittens in a carrier so they can see the dog but are still safe. Once they are comfortable with that, put the dog in a crate and let the kittens approach the dog when they are ready. When they ignore each other they are ready to meet the dog on a leash. Give the dog the "settle" command so it is lying down and calm when the kittens approach.
Again, remember to introduce them slowing. If the kittens seem fearful or the dog becomes restless, stop right away and go back to the last phase in the introduction plan. And never leave the kittens or cats alone with the dog without supervision.
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