[charvie]

Well, my mother has been talking about getting a cat (key word there... "a") since before Christmas ... today we heard of a lady down the street who rescued a cat that had kittens and the fate waiting those kittens wasn't a plesant one. So mom and I thought we'd go have a look and see if we could at least help one.

Well ...

We ended up coming home with all five kittens! That's right ..... 5.

Mom gave 3 to me to bring upstairs (probably cause I have the three kids so one each) and gave one to dad (cause it wouldn't let go of his shirt) *hehe* And kept one for herself.

We found out the SPCA will spay/neuter them for us for a small fee.

The hounds have decided they'll tolerate the new additions (but we're still keeping an eye on things) and mom's dog isn't sure at all about the new fuzzballs downstairs *heh*.

Anyhow I don't have pictures yet ... but will post as soon as we do.

In the mean time ... any suggestions, comments, etc on introducing kittens into a dog household?

So far we have the hallway baby-gated off with the cat food and litter box on the other side... the kittens can get back and forth under the gate but the dogs can't.

Any other helpful advice would be appreciated!

 

[charvie]

Took a pic with my webcam this morning of one of the little ones trying to investigate my keyboard.

Their first night here went fairly eventless ... the hounds didn't seem to mind them crawling around and investigating ... Mocha got a bit growly when they got close to the dogfood dishes but she didn't make any move toward them or anything.

Still keeping an eye on things and definately not leaving any of them in a room alone together for a while just in case.

My mom and dad have named theirs "Piwaquet" (Pie-wack-it) and "Snoopy". We're still not sure about the others though.

 

[Nugget's_mama]

Well, after my earlier complaints about Nugget barking at our cat so much (cat was here first though!). I will have to admit that the barking is much better...it seems to occur mostly when Nugget is trying to convince him to play...which is usually the time he's trying to sleep. He's sort of a "middle-aged" kitty and doesn't want to play alot. They have actually starting lying down next to each other to nap, which is a good sign to me.

With playful kittens, it will probably be a different story. I'd certainly keep close tabs as bassets are so much bigger and may hurt them inadvertantly. Of course, those sharp little kitty claws will help keep that in check.

Take lots of pictures...bound to be some cute shots to be had!

With three of them you can at least be thankful that they pretty much figure out about the litter box real fast...no pains of housebreaking :lol:

 

[Aruuuu]

I've never had problems with my dogs and cats -- except, of course, the dogs want to play and the cats think they're just a big waste of precious time. I swear, Libby looks at them and she's thinking, "They drool, they smell, they eat poop -- how did I wind up here :blink: !"

Gating off a room for the kittens is a good idea. Another thing I know people have done is place a piece of PVC pipe behind a couch or a chair, giving the cats a safe place to go in a hurry. And, of course, no unsupervised play time until the kittens are a good deal bigger.

I think having cats in the house somehow 'finishes' the home, ya know? Love to see them perched on a windowsill or curled up in a soft, sunny spot.........

 

[Aruuuu]

AAAccckkkkk - what a cutie!!!!! The little orange one is a boy, no? My daughter has wanted an orange cat for years. Right now, we have a grey tabby and a little stubby-tailed tortie.

 

[charvie]

AAAccckkkkk - what a cutie!!!!! The little orange one is a boy, no? My daughter has wanted an orange cat for years. Right now, we have a grey tabby and a little stubby-tailed tortie.[/b]

Actually the little one in the picture I first posted is the little girl. There were 5 kittens and the two littlest were girls, and the three big fluffy ones were boys. Mom took a girl and a boy and gave me two boys and a girl. And all 5 are orange (marmalade) tabby.

The mom is mostly orange tabby (shorthair) but she has a LOT of white on her ... her legs, under her belly and chest and face etc... we were told that judging by her colour it's rare to have a whole little of orange tabby kittens and even rarer that the girls were orange tabby. Only one of the kittens has white "socks" and it's one of the boys.

I took some more pics of the little ones with my web cam ... still no pics of the kittens with the hounds though - they don't sit still for even a second together! *lol* Hopefully soon though.

My mom's two "Piwaquet", a girl (on top) and "Snoopy" a boy (the dark one underneath):

And my three (still un-named as of yet) the two boys are facing the camera and the little girl is kinda being sat on by her bigger brothers:

My Little Boy #1:

My Little Boy #2:

And My Little Girl (she's the runt):

The living beings in this house now consist of 2 basset hounds, 1 chow/lab x shepherd, 5 kittens, 3 kids, 3 adults and various fish. Definately the beginnings of a menagerie certainly! LOL :lol: (Not to mention the rats and owls and neighbourhood cats in the backyard!)

 

[charvie]

Another thing I know people have done is place a piece of PVC pipe behind a couch or a chair, giving the cats a safe place to go in a hurry.[/b]

Ohh! I like that idea too! Thanks!

 

[Aruuuu]

Wow -- I assumed the orange kitten was a boy because usually orange cats are male. How cool that you have two orange girls!

 

[BrunosParents28]

We had to introduce Bruno to Herc when we got our houndie. And then Dawkins/Little Man...And now Cali and Trotter (2 of our cats are named after Eagles players..LOL...) Bruno does fine until he tries to play kitty soccer with them...Last night he had two kittens attached to the side of his face. We keep the smaller two kittens upstairs in the bedroom with a litter box and their own food. Hercules and Dawkins still wont play with the new babies that we got, they just run away from them. But we just keep Bruno on a leash while the babies are downstairs because if something gets too rough Bruno can run faster than me so its hard to catch him if something happens. The leash helps to be able to make sure you have more control over the situation. The kittens wont be afraid to use their claws to let the dogs know that they arent happy. We give the kittens a bath with baby shampoo like Johnsons and JOhnsons, so that way they will be picking up the smell of your house and it wont freak out the dogs because sometimes they will get rough if they smell something foreign to them. In our case its a barn smell so Bruno was kinda going crazy over the horse, cow and duck smells on them...Once they were washed it was easier to keep him calmed down. I would make sure also that your furniture isnt up against the walls. Try and pull it out enough that the cats can get behind it but the dogs cant. I wouldnt block off the ends because some cats need a hiding spot so under chairs and stuff is where they will hide and still be able to see whats going on around them. Our cats use the recliner we have. OTher than that it is going to come down to them just getting bigger and being able to boss around the dogs. Our older cat is the boss of everyone in the house (including the humans) Bruno runs when he sees Herc sittin on the entertainment stand because he knows that thats when Hercules will dive bomb him to play kitty soccer....*I still dont know how a cat can like to the kicked around on the floor by a dog..It baffles me* Good luck and just take it day by day and relax...Cats and dogs get along better than you think!!! Well atleast coexist together on the cats terms..LOL

 

[charvie]

The new additions have names now ...

... the fluffy boy with white paws is "Ford" (cause he can get over anything just like my old Bronco)
... the big fluffy boy (all orange) is "Rocky" (as in Rocky Balboa, cause he's a little "fighter")
... and the little runt girl is "Dixie" as in Dixie Cup (she's small enough to fit in one) and Dixie Chicks (cause she's a little "chick" with a big voice and she "sings")