Curiosity is Going to Kill My Cat - Life in a Multi-Species Household

I'm writing this post today in honour of my little girl, the light of my life, the kitten who has turned our house upside down and filled our hearts. Today is Brookie's 6 month birthday, and boy what a few months it has been. I've been a little hesitant to write about the cats, as we lost our 4 year old Grayling in October and it wasn't an easy experience. I had a blog post written back then about how complete our family was now with two dogs and two cats who were instantly best friends, but within a few days of writing it we lost him suddenly to acute necrotizing pancreatitis.. Our lives, and our home changed enormously.

Handsome Grayling, love you always buddy <3

Rewind four months, to when Brookie first came home. We had decided it was time for another animal in the house, and we so desperately wanted a little buddy for Grayling. Grayling was 90% catdog, 10% chill master, so we knew whoever he met he was going to love. For the dogs' sake, we decided on a kitten to make introductions a little easier. Little Brookie (formerly Paisley from Humane Services) was a sick little lady in her first few weeks with us. She came home with a cataract, an allergic reaction on her back to the topical flea treatment, and one hell of a cat flu. Also, have you ever seen a tapeworm? For me, even the goriest alien movies don't compare to seeing THAT come out of THERE.. ALIVE.. before you've even had your morning coffee. She was quarantined for 2 weeks in the spare room to keep Grayling from catching the flu, which is likely why as soon as her two weeks were up and we deemed her non-infectious, we let Grayling in the room and they instantly started playing. He would teach her to play hide and seek under the coffee table, she tried to teach him 'fetch'.. They were a match made in heaven! The first dog introductions didn't go anywhere near as well - when I brought Kupo in on a leash she instantly started growling and hissing, so the boys had to delay their meeting for a few more days (more on that later).

Unfortunately, things started to take a turn for Grayling pretty soon after. He stopped eating, which we (and our vet) thought could be due to the stress of the kitten. On our second visit, Grayling was hospitalized and within 24 hours I received a call from the vet during a one on one saying "We need to talk.. Can you come in?". As soon as we saw him, we knew we had to lay him to rest as the sickness had taken over his body. We returned home to a ghost house, expecting to see him around every corner, expecting him to run to the door with the dogs to greet us as he has every day for 4 years.

Instead of our sweet, loveable adult cat we now had this unknown 3 month old psychopath in his place. Some cute though.

You expect that when you get a kitten, it's all sunshine and rainbows, cute fuzzy cuddles and peaceful, adorable company. I'm telling you now - IT'S ALL LIES. Sure, she can be an adorable little snuggle bug... When she's exhausted from tearing around constantly for 6 hours destroying everything in her path. Christmas tree? FORGET ABOUT IT. Macrame wall hanging? FORGET ABOUT IT. House plants? NOPE. You want to eat your food in peace? NOT A CHANCE.

As you can imagine, for someone with nicely trained adult animals, it got a little frustrating! The biggest surprise about Brookie for me is how relentless she is in wanting to be "one of us". Nothing phases her - the dogs can give her a warning growl, she'll back off but it doesn't deter her from coming back 5 seconds later. If we're on the sofa, she will maneuver her way up to us slowly avoiding the sleeping dogs. She doesn't react to loud noises, to me yelling out when she digs her claws into my hair while I'm sleeping.. I'm starting to wonder if she's deaf and/or behaviourally challenged. One thing is for sure though.. She LOVES the dogs. All day every day, it's her goal in life to get them to play with her, or chance at a snuggle with them. Thankfully, my dogs have saint-like patience (which is surprising to some given Denzel's history of reactivity). Peace (relative peace.. nothing is peaceful about a 5 month old cat getting her first heat) came between the animals in the household through proper introductions, training, and a whole lot of classical conditioning. I've compiled a list for you folks at home with a few tips for how to prepare yourself for a multi-species household, and how to make it successful!

Denzel learning to be a good doggo, and that kitten = treeeeeeats

First of all, regardless of species - Be prepared! Ask yourself these questions:

Are you ready to commit yourself emotionally and financially to an animal for 10-15+ years? 

Are you prepared to spay/neuter your animal? 

Do you have the additional income to either purchase pet insurance, or savings to tackle any unexpected costs? 

Is your credit good enough to apply for financing in case of emergency vet visits?

Now for the cats..

When introducing a cat into a dog household, it's always worthwhile testing the water to see how your dog reacts to a cat. Some dogs won't even bat an eyelid at cats, which is great! For those who do, just because your dog reacts to a cat while out on a walk it doesn't mean that your dog is instantly 'bad with cats', or that your dog couldn't potentially live with cats. The cat could be running, hissing, your dog could be leash reactive, your dog may just not have ever met a cat.. There could be a lot of compounding factors affecting your dog at that given point.

My most important piece of advice here is that if you know your dog reacts to cats, and you want to bring a cat into the house, enlist the help of a trainer to reduce your dog's reactivity and work through some behaviour modification to desensitize your dog BEFORE the cat comes home. Ideally, dogs should be exposed to cats from puppyhood to help them develop positive associations with cats through lots of classical conditioning exercises! A trainer can also help you introduce the cat into the house, and to the animals already living there.

Once the cat is in the home, remember: slow and steady wins the race.

Don't.

Under ANY circumstances.

I repeat DON'T.

Don't just let them "figure it out".

I cannot stress this enough. Cat claws hurt - ask Denzel's third eyelid (RIP 2014)

When first bringing the cat home, ensure you keep all the animals separated. Ideally, set up a spare room with a closed door for your cat. Allow everyone to get used to the new smells and sounds. Progress will differ from house to house, but you want to give at least 3-4 days (ideally 1-2 weeks if you can wait it out!) before opening the door to the rest of the house. During this time, switch blankets back and forth to allow everyone to get a good ol' whiff of their new family.

When Brookie was unleashed on the house, we locked everyone else away and allowed her to roam the house on her own to explore and get used to her surroundings. It was only after a few days of doing this that we slowly introduced the other animals.

Once the introductions begin, keep all interactions supervised. Keep your dog on a leash, and if at any point one of the animals appears stressed - stop! The last thing you want is for any of the animals to develop negative associations with another. Stress signals include backing up, hissing, growling, and hiding for cats.. For dogs, a stiffened posture, fixation on the cat that can't be broken, fur raised, lunging, growling.

Ensure your cat has a space to retreat to when needed. A baby gate or cat doors are effective barriers to allow your cat to seek refuge away from the dogs.

Dogs are much easier to control and supervise, so the major focus of your efforts should be in training your dog to accept the cat's presence. Lots of positive reinforcement and classical conditioning exercises!! In addition, some basic obedience for your dog goes a long way in these situations. A consistent recall, sit and stay will really help in maneuvering your dog around the cat. As always, a tired dog is a calmer dog, so a nice long walk before introductions will work wonders in keeping your pup under wraps.

A multi-species household isn't hard to accomplish, but it does take some work! Plus, the benefits from a little diversity are endless! Our house would not be complete without a feline companion, and while we miss Grayling, Brookie is a pretty cool cat as far as we're concerned <3 it has taken some time, but the boys have whole heartedly welcomed her into the family now. She only ever eats when the dogs are in the room, she plays fetch, she gets a treat after supper time along with her brothers, is getting used to her harness to come for walkiiiiiieeees, and is probably the most sociable cat I've ever met! Her quirks aside, she's my best girl for life.