When Two Pets You Love Become Rivals or Deadly Enemies, What Should You Do?

About 17 percent of people living in the United States have both a dog and a cat as a pet. 1 If you are part of this statistic, your pets have probably become great friends quickly, sharing their favourite places, playing together or at least tolerating each other without fighting. If this is your case, then consider yourself lucky.

On the other hand, if you have a territorial dog and cat as a pet, then you are living in a closed community separating them in order to keep the peace.
I have this problem at home with my two female pit bulls, who whenever they have the opportunity start fighting. As a result, they always have to be separated, which requires a lot of coordination and planning. Although they are of the same species, not a dog and a cat, the problem is basically the same, as is the general solution.
To be clear, not all cats and dogs can get along, many can, but some, depending on their temperament, socialization, level of trust, past experiences, instinct, age, and more, will never be friends.


There is a reason for the term "fight like cats and dogs." On a fundamental level, both dogs and cats have strong instincts and are territorial. Since dogs tend to be much larger than cats, if they find it interesting to chase cats, they have the potential to seriously harm or even kill them.

Despite this, some dogs and cats form deep bonds despite the fact that they are supposedly predetermined to be enemies. Ideally, if you want your dog to get along with your cat, and vice versa, try to socialize with your cat during the so-called sensitive period that is between three and 12 weeks of age (in the case of dogs).

In the case of cats, their sensitive period for socialization is between two and seven weeks of age, so this is the best time to expose it to dogs (safely, of course). Pets that achieve this valuable exposure with other species during the sensitive period will generally have no problem living with a new cat or dog in the future, as giving them early experiences with the other species was a good thing.


The Arrival of a New Dog or Cat in a (Now) Home with Multiple Pets
Regardless of your pet's age, the next crucial period is the initial introductory phase, which must be done very carefully. Please note that this introduction should be done gradually, over the course of hours, but more appropriately over the course of days and even weeks, depending on the personalities of your pets.

Since it's rare for a cat to threaten a dog (unless it's a small puppy), it's usually your dog that will need to be on a leash during those first crucial encounters. Although, if it's a new cat coming home, you should prepare a special room that is safe to help it adapt safely. Here are the basic steps for introducing cats and dogs:


Introduce a New Dog to Your Cat
Bring the dog on a leash. Keep the cat attached and out of reach.
Let the cat make the first move, either towards or away from the dog.
Observe your dog's reaction, if it is stiff, staring at the cat, barking or making noises, or pulling it to try to catch up with the cat, then it is a sign that its prey instinct is strong (if this happens, do not go into the Next step, keep reading the next section on pet fighting below.)
Make sure your cat has multiple exhaust outlets (outside the room, to a high place or under the sofa, a place that your dog cannot access). If necessary, use baby gates to keep the cat in a safe place.

If your dog seems calm, take him away from the cat and remove the leash, watch his next reaction.
If necessary, distract your dog with a toy, treat, or training session by giving him simple commands like "sit" and "down" (with rewards, of course) or a short walk outside to take his attention away from the cat.
Do not allow your dog to corner or intimidate your cat.
Reward your dog when he stops paying attention to the cat.


As I mentioned, first prepare a safe room for your cat. Include everything you need (sandpit, clothes, toys, scraper, food and water, along with a place to hide, preferably two or three options in different places). This will be your home until you feel safe and can safely go out to the rest of the home. Keep the door closed.

Take your kitten home in a carrier, when it arrives, take it directly to its room and close the door, so the dog doesn't have time to go investigate. Open your wearer's door and let him explore the surroundings of his new space. Once your cat is comfortable and relaxed in her safe room, then you can introduce her to the dog.

When you see your cat is ready to leave his safe room, put a baby gate in the door so that he feels safe but not isolated and can get in and out whenever he wants. If your dog can jump the door, use two, one six-inch as the base and the other above the first, so that your dog cannot cross the barrier but the cat can get in and out whenever he wants. If you have a small dog that cannot jump the door but can get into a hole, lower the baby door by covering all the spaces it could enter, but leaving enough room for the cat, but not the dog, to enter.

Allow your cat to become familiar with your dog on your own terms, this can take days, weeks, or even months. When you see or hear the dog you will probably run to its safe place for many weeks and this is fine. Be sure not to force the interaction between the two.


Your Dog and Cat Don't Get Along: Now What?
In a perfect world, your dog and cat will get along very well. But what if it doesn't? You can try to gradually encourage interaction in a safe environment (that the cat has access to its safe room), with your dog on a leash. When each animal is calm, give it a reward or positive attention.


Repeat this frequently, gradually decreasing the distance between them and increasing the time they spend together. The goal is that they can finally coexist peacefully.
Eventually, as your dog becomes more familiar with your cat, he loses interest entirely. The next step is to allow unsupervised supervised interactions with the dog and then unsupervised interactions will follow. Obviously, the latter should be done after a long period of supervised interaction without incidents of emotion or aggressive behavior.

If your dog shows signs of aggression toward the cat - growling, jumping at it, barking - or your cat shows signs of stress when the dog is around (such as growling, making noises, or pawing,) then you need to separate them for a while before try this again. As I mentioned, there are some cases where cats and dogs will never be friends and that should be respected.
That said... A relationship between the right dog and the right cat can be amazing. Take a look at the video below to see what can happen when a cat and dog become friends.