[blparent] cats and dogs

[jan wright]

When i had my guide dog, a cat did come to visit us over the Christmas holiday.
I was working at a shelter and decided to take a cat home.
Here are some tips:
1. you can declaw the front and keep the back claws. This might help
so that no one gets hurt, yet still give the cat some defenses. Cats
(even declawed ones) will bite and try to scratch if they must. We
declawed all of ours (for as long as they lasted because they always
got out and were killed by cars) and they still killed birds and mice.
2. make sure that you keep your dog away from cat food and cat litter.
Most people put cat food down for the cat and for the most parts,
usually, cats don't gorge. But, many dogs do. i had to keep the cat
food in a secure area that only the cat could get to. Cats usually
won't eat the dog food. But, dogs will eat all sorts of cat treats and
food. And, there is a protein in cat waste that dogs smell and want to
eat. You don't need your dog eating cat waste.
3. Since the cat had been around dogs and my dog is a big baby, the
cat and dog got along: even slept close together, sometimes. But, Most
often, i find that cats are more picky than dogs about this. A kitten
would be your best bet, so it doesn't hiss at the dog and learns to
grow up with the dog. Your guide probably  won't chase the cat, but it
could want to sniff it lots. Your cat will curb that on its own.
4. I would just be honest and tell her that the cat is there on a
'trial' basis. That will lead to some discussion about evaluation and
analysis. "What do you think? The cat likes this, the dog gets along
with the cat, Hey, the cat is not doing well in this area, is he?"

Maybe before getting a cat, you could either:
try one from the  local shelter. Usually, they let you keep it for
about a week and if you then decide that it will not work at your
house, you can get a refund. But, these kittens are usually already
fixed and once in a while they are declawed -- although you really
can't declaw until a cat gets a bit older. when you buy the cat from a
shelter, though, it already has its first round of vaccinations.
  or
cat sit for a while so that you might have an idea of what is in
store. Just make sure that the cat in question likes dogs.