Ive been asked to foster a doberman pup from my local rspca center, but I already have 3 cats who are a year old, is it possible to have them living together? Because the dobie pup is a cruelty case I don't know when he will be available for adoption/foster will it be harder to introduce him as he gets older, also how would I go about introducing him to my cats?

Any suggestions would be a great help
Thanks.

Cats and dogs are actually very compatible in a stable friendlyhappy environment. Introduce him to just one at a time in the house. People are very surprised when I tell them that all my dogs loved their cat friends. My Tickle (former barn cat now 4) still sleeps on my Walker Hound Taffy and they always wash each others faces. You will still have to tread gently but I am sure you will know the right time. I hope he is able to come to your house.

Well my first thought was to be sure not to introduce them as a meal.

But tickle is right, cats and dogs can be the best of friends, my cats used to use my dog as a bed and no one had better bother his "kittens" OK they were 3 and 4 year old cats, but he thought he was there protector.

My aunt had a dobie and a cat who snuggled up to sleep together on a regular basis! It's not impossible for cats and dogs to be friendly, you just need to watch them together and don't leave them alone until you feel everyone is safe. Introduce them slowly and see how it works. Hopefully the dog is still young enough that he hasn't been taught any bad behaviors toward small furry things and they'll all get along.

Don't be surprised if the cats run away of simply don't care. When I got my dog, my cat didn't want anything to do with her. Now the cat rubs on her and they "play" together sometimes. It's possible!

A picture is worth a thousand words;

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I say go for it. And I agree with all the above posts. :)

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

And most doberman are babies, if they were not too abused or can get over it, you may have to protect him from the kittens of doom.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

you may have to protect him from the kittens of doom.

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Excellent point... I know in my house if one of my animals injures the other, it's ALWAYS the cat who harms the dog!

Poor dog just wants to be loved... kitty wants a scratching post! :)

Yes, I places cats close to the span of satan. I had a large dog that came into my yard, it even scared me, my protector dog, ran for the shed, my nija cat, jumped from a tree right on the dogs back, and chased that dog for a long way.

Fr_Chuck, I'm getting a very funny mental picture of that. :)

Right off the tree onto the back of that dog, all claws dug in. even after it fell off it still chased the dog for a bit,

Lmao;

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I'm sure it wasn't quite as playful as this looks. :)

My mother has a doberman and three cats. He gets along with all of them. He was introduced to them while he was a puppy. If this puppy is anything like him, all you need to make sure that you do is introduce them early on! Good luck, because dobermans are great!

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Originally Posted by misch

Ive been asked to foster a doberman pup from my local rspca center, but i already have 3 cats who are a year old, is it possible to have them living together? because the dobie pup is a cruelty case i dont know when he will be available for adoption/foster will it be harder to introduce him as he gets older, also how would i go about introducing him to my cats?

Any suggestions would be a great help
Thanks.

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You could try by going to different places and seening cats up here.

I just adopted a 3 yr old male neutered Doberman who apparently never lived with cats. He liked to chase my cats when he first came, but has decided they are not worth the swat on the nose he gets when he catches up to him. ( I had help from my friends 20-lb cat who doesn't believe in running from dogs! )
Now when he chases the cats he just bumps them with his nose if he catches them. (I still don't completely trust him, and don't leave them in the house together unattended, but he is definitely improving.)
My last Doberman loved cats, but was terrified of kittens, LOL. He stood and shook uncontrollably while they tried to climb his legs. We used to joke that anyone could break in on us if the burglar carried a litter of kittens with him.