Intruducing puppy to VERY dominent cat...

[dhoop0981]

I have and love my 4 year old cat, Milo. He has always been the center of attention in me and my boyfriend's house. We very recently got a pitbull puppy. They pretty much ignore eachother during the day, but when we go to our bedroom at night, the puppy (who trys to sleep on the floor near the bed) can't relax because the cat is growling and hissing at him from under the bed. Milo always used to sleep with us and id hate to lock him out. Its gotten to the point where my boyfriend will sleep in the living room with the puppy so the cat can have the room! HELP!

[LM1313]

Have you looked into crate training? It will help with housetraining, plus the puppy will be safe from the cat at night and perhaps the cat will feel more comfortable.

[chico2]

Cratetraining is a great idea,the pup needs a safe place and the cat needs to feel he is not beeing robbed of his domain.
The introduction of cat and puppy has to be a slow process.
Right now the cat is just hoping this,to him,little monster will go away...

[PetFriendly]

It may also be that your cat is terridied of dogs because it doesn't know what they are and that they won't hurt him. My room-mates cat was like this, he took on my parents golden retriever the first time they met.

If you can confine the pup so that the cat can smell it and get near it without actually being in contact with it that will help.

Our cat is also crate trained so we also put the cat in his carrier to show him that the dog didn't really care for him and really wasn't going to be a bohter. This will only work though if your cat isn't afraid of carriers.

[aylith417]

You said your kitty was a boy, but is he fixed? If not, having him fixed might make him a little less aggressive towards the puppy. If he is fixed, make sure you spend lots of time petting both him and the puppy at the same time--that will help him to realize that you still love him even though there's a new baby in the house. I also agree with the crating idea--letting the puppy have his own space (with a blanket and toy etc) will help him feel safe from the kitty--just make sure kitty doesn't taunt him while he's in the crate.

Good luck!

[MyBirdIsEvil]

I don't think it's because the cat is dominant or territorial.
Cats usually behave that way when they're scared - it's my feeling that he's not sure of the puppy and a bit fearful - hence the hissing and growling.
Cats are usually unsure of dogs, especially puppies because they tend to be wiggly and wag their tails a lot. To a cat, a wagging tail is an aggressive or annoyed gesture, not a happy or playful one like in dogs.
If a cat is twitching or wagging its tail at another cat it usually means they're ready to pounce, so the cat is thinking "This weird creature is going to jump at me I have to defend myself!"
The puppy needs to be trained to completely ignore the cat, he should never approach the cat, and the cat should only approach him on his own terms because your dog is making him nervous.
I would crate the puppy at night so that he can't bother or try to interact with the cat at night unsupervised.