Cat Health & Behaviour > Health & Behaviour General

Getting used to doggo

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Sassybot:
I'm after a bit of advice. Has anyone had any experience introducing dogs and cats?

We have two cats, Frankenstein (5) and Trixie (4). On Wednesday we brought home a dog. Eddie is a five year old jack russell corgi cross and she is very sweet with my partner and I. She hasn't had the best upbringing and is very anxious. She is super sweet but she is very excitable and struggles to keep her cool when experiencing something new. She has also lived with cats before without issue.

Before Eddie came home I put a baby gate on the stairs so if the cats needed space, they had all of upstairs. At first, they were quite curious and would sit at the top of the stairs and watch the dog. Unfortunately, when Eddie noticed them she got excited and tried to get to them which scared the cats. Both cats are now ensconced upstairs and aren't even coming down to use the litter tray (ewwww). I'm worried if I move the litter tray upstairs I'm telling the cats that they essentially live up there now and they wont try and come downstairs and get used to the dog.

I know it's early days but I want to make sure I'm doing this right so not to stress the cats out.

My mother, who is my normal source for animal help, seems to think I should just let Eddie go upstairs and get beat up by the cats but I'm worried that this would be quite traumatic for both the cats and dog.

I could always move the baby gate to the kitchen and put Eddie in there when we are out or at night. That way the cats could access their litter tray without her fussing at them. Maybe then it would encourage them to come down more and get used to her scent and silly face.

Any advise would be really welcome.

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