We have cat!
Jan. 12th, 2012 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeEight days after the introduction of the dog, Smudge has made an appearance. I got home this morning from a work thing I can't talk about in public apart from making these teasing oblique references (I can't help it, sorry!), and after a quick in-and-out so the dog could pee, I brought him back in to feed the ravening horde.
As I was doling out kibble, I heard a very plaintive yowl coming from the basement that sounded exactly like Smudge. Yes, I have lived long enough with my cats that I can tell their voices apart (S. found this astounding, but to me their voices are as distinct as any of my friends' voices). I left George, Pan-Pan and Sergent upstairs to nosh on their kibble and went downstairs to check. Sure enough there was Smudge in the middle of the floor, yowling miserably at me as though he hadn't a friend in the world.
He seems none the worse for wear. I checked him over for signs of dehydration and starvation and found none: his skin is still elastic to the touch, no tenting, and he still has a healthy amount of flesh over his ribs. So he's either been sneaking upstairs for food and water when I'm not here/asleep, or he's found some other source of food and water.
We attempted a foray upstairs, but the dog showed a little too much interest in him, and so Smudge took to his heels. Unfortunately, he panicked so hard that he triggered the dog's chase reflex and it all went to hell pretty quickly. The cat is now gone once more. Oops.
Upside? He's healthy and not dead. There is hope.
As I was doling out kibble, I heard a very plaintive yowl coming from the basement that sounded exactly like Smudge. Yes, I have lived long enough with my cats that I can tell their voices apart (S. found this astounding, but to me their voices are as distinct as any of my friends' voices). I left George, Pan-Pan and Sergent upstairs to nosh on their kibble and went downstairs to check. Sure enough there was Smudge in the middle of the floor, yowling miserably at me as though he hadn't a friend in the world.
He seems none the worse for wear. I checked him over for signs of dehydration and starvation and found none: his skin is still elastic to the touch, no tenting, and he still has a healthy amount of flesh over his ribs. So he's either been sneaking upstairs for food and water when I'm not here/asleep, or he's found some other source of food and water.
We attempted a foray upstairs, but the dog showed a little too much interest in him, and so Smudge took to his heels. Unfortunately, he panicked so hard that he triggered the dog's chase reflex and it all went to hell pretty quickly. The cat is now gone once more. Oops.
Upside? He's healthy and not dead. There is hope.
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Date: 2012-01-13 03:46 pm (UTC)There are ways of introducing a new pet and old pet to one another. You can begin trying this the next time you are able to find Smudge.
Put them on a level playing field ... as follows:
Put on the same floor in adjacent rooms, with the door(s) shut ... so that they can smell each other through the wall or door. Put fabric that smells like the other in the room with them. You can go back and forth between the two rooms, petting them and allowing them to smell the other pet's scent on you. Do these sessions for a set amount of time every day -- 20 minutes, an hour. Or a few hours -- depending on needs for the pets to go potty.
You can also have a designated time when Sergent is shut in a room, whilst allowing Smudge to enjoy kitchen and living room time with you.
Another thing is to put Smudge in a closed room by himself and give him a cozy corner with a bed, perhaps in the bottom of a closet. And then put Sergent on a leash. Open the door to the room quickly and pull Sergent in quickly and shut the door before Smudge gets out. Keep Sergent on leash close to you, and don't let him chase the cat. Have a chair ready for you to sit on and have Sergent sit near you and get petted, while you hold him close on the leash. Smudge may cower in the corner -- but Smudge will at least see that both animals can theoretically have the possibility of being in same room without dog chasing cat.
To reverse the procedure ... have Sergent securely tied to something in a room with a shut door. Then find Smudge and quickly carry him into the room and quickly shut the door. Now Smudge is loose in the room with you but Sergent cannot chase him. This should help some, even if Smudge spends the entire time hiding.
All of these ideas are from rescue dog websites ... for scenarios when both pets are dogs ... it's for how to introduce the new dog to your existing dog. But I think it would work somewhat for a dog and a cat.
What I did for my cat, when we got a puppy, was to get a tall sturdy cat's climbing structure. You could purchase or build it. It had to be *sturdy* so that the dog couldn't knock it over and create chaos. It had to be TALL so that the cat could climb high and be out of reach of the dog -- even if the dog stood on hind legs. It had to be narrow enough so that I could fit it through a doorway if I ever had to rearrange furniture -- but I made it as wide and sturdy as possible. I made many shelves for mine, so that the cat could climb to various levels. We bought lumber, carpet remnants, and a staple gun and went to work. You could purchase one if it's well-made. So at first, the cat spent a great deal of time on the top level, but at least this felt nicer than the cat cowering in a corner somewhere. Eventually (much later on), the cat and dog became friends.
Just some ideas.
Please give Smudge a gentle cuddle from me when you find him.