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Whether you waited six months for a pedigreed kitten, or whether your heart went soft at the adopt-a-pet roadshow, it is never easy bringing a new cat home - not if you have a dog there. Prepare yourself for some problems. Imagine how you would feel if your partner brought someone home to come and share your house. Right, now you’re in the picture.

The dog will see the new cat as an enemy that must be eliminated. Grown cats can react in the same way towards puppies. For your dog, you are not simply bringing a new pet, but an enemy in its territory.

Dogs constantly seek attention form their owners and a new cat will make the dog very jealous, as it will assume that you will be giving all your attention to the new kitten. Jealousy can be expressed in a number of ways: either through aggression, or constant yapping, or an effort to block every move the new pet makes.

A dog will also see a cat brought into its territory as a huge threat. This could turn into something very nasty. But take heart – most pets eventually get to tolerate each other, even if they don’t become best friends. But in extreme cases you might have to consider finding another home for your new pet. The last thing you want is bloodshed in your backyard.

So what on earth can you do to get your dog and cat not to fight, like well, cat and dog? Here are some tips from our Cybervet forum users.

• You should make sure that before you bring the cat into the house, your dog should already be familiar with all the commands and orders you give.
• Introduce the animals, but you have to be very cautious regarding this one. Preferably don’t do this when you are alone, as you might need an extra pair of hands to prise them apart!
• If you do a face-to-face introduction, you will have to put your dog in a seated position, and ask someone else in the house to come a bit closer with the cat on his or her lap. They should be at a considerable distance from each other, and if they tolerate each other, you should give them a treat for that.
• If the dog gets up from its seated position, you should force it to sit down and give it a treat. Quickly increase the distance between the cat and the dog.
• Be careful never to reprimand your dog whenever the cat is around, because if the dog gets rebuked every time the cat is there, it might assume that the cat’s presence is unpleasant and the reason for the unpleasantness.
• Food is an emotional issue for lots of pets. Dogs also like to eat cats’ food, because it is rich in protein; therefore you should try to get the cats’ food bowl far away from the dog’s reach. If the cat finds out that the dog gets easy access to its food, then it will feel threatened and will not easily eat out of that bowl again. Remember that cats can be fed on top of kitchen counters, where most dogs can't reach.

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