Introducing a cat into a dog household.
How well did it work out for those that did this?

I think it really depends on the animals. I had a small shelte that killed cats (for fun). I've also had a large black lab that would walk up to a kitten and lick it. She never hurt one, but got her nose scratched several times. Lol. Most of my animals get along well. But, I think it has a lot to do with personality. I won't keep an overly aggressive animal. I'm the mistress, and they know that.

The absolute truth is: (wait for it) it depends. If you're talking about a full grown cat that may already have a dislike/distrust of dogs, you may have a problem.
We introduced a kitten into our house with my wife's pitbull. The bull had a very definite dislike of cats but I sat "Sugar" down (yes, I know. She also had one named "Precious") and holding the kitten in my hands so that she couldn't bite it without biting me, I let her smell it. When she didn't eat my arm off, I petted her and told her what a good dog she was, etc, etc. After a few minutes of letting the dog know the kitten was now part of our family, I put the kitten down to walk around while the dog watched (holding her collar tightly). Long story short, they became pretty good buds even though Sugar still would not tolerate a strange cat.
What kinda dog are we talking about?

The two dogs are 7 years old. One a Sheppard mix and one a golden retriever mix. The cat is 6 years old and very friendly to humans. It was evicted from the plant I work at.
Word got to me the boss had the idea to put it in the pound = death.
New management frowned on the idea of the cat being there.

I hope it works out. I wouldn't want it put to death, either.

I think if it's a semi-feral cat, you may have a problem. Perhaps not with the golden, maybe with the mixed dog, and probably for sure from the cat.

I was hoping it was a kitten. I had a chow once who killed adult cats at every opportunity. One day, he came up to me looking rather perplexed -- and full mouthed -- he had a kitten entirely in his mouth. I retrieved the very wet, very terrified kitten, but the dog truly meant him no harm. Not sure that will work with adult animals.

All my dogs liked cats. They thought they were fun to chase and kill.

My bookkeeper has a Rottweiler and a cat who take turns cleaning each others' ears.

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
My bookkeeper has a Rottweiler and a cat who take turns cleaning each others' ears.

You sure they not whispering sweet nuthins?

At my house cat would be a quick appetizer. Saying that my neighbor has 2 cool cats. Gator the male and kitty kat the female. Gator likes to come over and sit in front of my porch and piss off my dogs. They both come when u call their names.

As mentioned it depends, largely on the dogs. I have cats and dogs and wouldn't tolerate a dog who was predatory towards a cat but your dogs were there first. Do either of your dogs have a real high prey instinct? There is a difference between a dog chasing to kill and one just for the chase, you should be able to tell but don't expect bliss right off the bat. I took in a stray golden about seven years ago and whether he stayed depended on how did with the cats. He made one short chase before my large, cat loving Rotty Bo pinned him to the floor He worked out just fine, he was just a chaser. Bo passed on and we got a female Rotty as a pup, she too is great with all animals, even yappy small dogs. Take it slow and after a week or two you should know. Kudos for giving the cat a chance.

Have a friend with a cat that stays in her daughter's bedroom when I'm there - I'm allergic to the cats. My dogs are there a lot, and they have learned to play with the cat - the cat reaches under the door to whack them. After a while, they all learned to like cats. My senior male caught a cat behind the office today, stuck his nose on hers to sniff, the cat hisses and runs off, Wyatt watches as if shrugging his shoulders.

The point being, perhaps keeping the cat segregated for a month or 3 will let them get used to each other. With litter boxes, cats can be restricted spatially.

After their indoctrination, all of my dogs like cats even when the encounter unfamiliar cats and they don't live with cats.

Dude, I introduced my daughter into a house with two cats and the male has taken to pissing on her stuff all the time. He used to be the coolest cat but pissing on her teddy bears, bed, clothes, bathroom mat, pillows, shows, blanket has gotten very old and soon he;ll be living elsewhere.

He is defining "his" territory against the intruders. Have him nutted.