# I desperately need your advice.



## gabriel (Jun 16, 2011)

Hello. I have an adorable 5 year old indoor cat Luna. She often follows me around everywhere, sleeps on my bed every night and generally, I guess she's very attached to me (and the other way round too!). But she's a bit of a jealous type - once my sibling bought a kitten and brought it home to me (just to show the kitty to me). Luna, as soon as she saw him immediately started growling at him, hissing etc. and it was just 8 weeks old.
For a few months now, I'm considering buying a puppy. There are lots of reasons, it's not some impulsive action. I've always wanted to have a cat and dog, though my parents never allowed me to own both of them because I had an allergy as a child. I take long walks everyday, so it would be nice to have some dog companion... Also, although it may seem to be a selfish reason, but since I've experienced.. well, lets just say a traumatic event caused by a man living next door, my neighbor, I never feel safe anymore, not even in my own house. I'm so nervous and often have trouble with falling asleep because every little noise makes me jump, I imagine hearing footsteps and think that there is someone in near me.. I know, it's stupid.
My family used to have a german shepherd, it and was always very protective. She even saved me from death.. because of the some neighbor again..(this lady had a mental disorder so probably didn't even now what she was doing but still....). Besides, another reason is that I really miss the companion of dog, all my memories about our dog are really good.
So... I would love to buy a german shepherd puppy but I am afraid of my Luna not getting along with him. She's a nervous cat, lots of things scare her. I think that something bad happened to her in the past. I found her on the street when she was little. She was very thin, fearful, sick and had millions of fleas and part of her tail broken. Therefore, I don't want her to feel bad about the puppy, I love her too much. I am worried that she will be scared of him, or that she will hate me. I really don't want to her hurt feelings and feel threatened. I don't know if she likes dogs (and can't check it - I don't know anyone with a dog who could help). I only know that she likes fishes. I used to have a goldfish, and she never tried to harm it, she was just drinking it's water sometimes, and touching the fish with her nose whenever she could. It looked so adorable. Luna also knew a rabbit but she used to try to "play" with him. So I can't really say that she liked him.
Please, give me some advice. What do you think would be the best thing to do? Do you think it's possible for her to get used to a dog, without her hating me/puppy? If so, how should the introduction look? 

I'm so sorry, there is a lot to read but I just wanted to explain my situation. I'd be really grateful for your opinions. I've already asked this on another forum, but well, most people just found it funny and stuff.


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## D'Lynn (Jun 18, 2011)

my daughter's has a pb german shepherd who gets along with cats just fine. And her cat gets along with dogs just fine. there's lots of information here about how to get them used to each other. 

gabriel, i sympathize with your situation. ptsd is no fun. there are a few things to consider with a dog. one is that a german shepherd puppy will need time to grow. and lots and lots of training and exercise. its difficult to keep them happy in apt life. not impossible, just difficult. if you have the time and patience that's wonderful. gsd pups are wonderful, very energetic, very intelligent, and can easily clear a coffee table with their tails. 

i'm not trying to discourage you from getting a dog, but i hope you're also looking into some counseling as well. 

your cat is likely to hiss and growl some. this is no big deal unless she's trying to really hurt the pup. she might whap him on the nose and even draw blood. that's nothing to worry about. she won't hate you, although she might try to convince you otherwise.


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## BotanyBlack (Apr 6, 2011)

First of all .. welcome to the forums!! 

There are several good threads on here for introducing a new pet to your existing one. it just may take a bit of time. there will be some hissing and such, but if done right you can still come out on top. 

I wish you luck. We will help with what we have done to introduce new pets in. I myself have cats in their mid and late teens and have had to take in my families pets including shephards several times. I have recently adopted a new cat and am still in the acclimation phase with him.

You mention that Luna is a nervous cat, it could be she is reading your nervousness and once you feel safe and calm she will hopefully follow you there. PTSD is tough to deal with. I cannot even begin to say I know what you are going through. but I do have my own anxiety attacks and have my dog and cats to help with that too.


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

I understand completely where you're coming from with your worry for Luna. I felt like that when we first adopted a dog, having had an 'only cat' for a couple of years. She had never lived with a dog before, and was very much 'top cat'. Through introductions (I wish I could say these were careful, thought out introductions... But the truth is my parents just 'plonked' them down together, and they got on with it). They're both absolutely fine. Tammy cat tolerates Jive, but Jive loves Tammy. I know lots of people who have adopted a dog after a cat, and it's been fine. So try not to worry about that aspect too much.

My Grandparents had a German Shepherd when I was growing up. She was a lovely dog, but very boisterous and she did have a big swooshy tail.


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## Frostpaw (May 30, 2009)

your cat sound SO my like my suki it is uncanny.... honestly in my opinion i would say stick with your cat. 

I tried to have 2 cats at one point but suki just wouldnt leave it alone, they both became miserable...My cat is so attached to me i will never have another cat/dog with her because she simply gets too stressed and it isnt fair all round. In the 2 years suki and ****** (the other cat) lived together they hated each other and it never let up. 

In my opinions cats like this never get used to another animal, they never get used to your divided attention. Some cats where not ment to live in a multi pet household. 

(this is my personal opinion based on my own experiences with 'this sort of cat')


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Mary_NH said:


> If you did buy a shepherd from a breeder try to find one who was raised with cats...and do tons of research about introducing


I can't emphasize this enough. Having had several friends who have lost cats to their dogs, I personally would never get a high prey drive dog like a GSD. I'm sure many people have wonderful experiences with GSD's and cats, but I just wouldn't take the risk.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

gabriel said:


> Hello. I have an adorable 5 year old indoor cat Luna. She often follows me around everywhere, sleeps on my bed every night and generally, I guess she's very attached to me (and the other way round too!). But she's a bit of a jealous type - once my sibling bought a kitten and brought it home to me (just to show the kitty to me). Luna, as soon as she saw him immediately started growling at him, hissing etc. and it was just 8 weeks old.


Just because she hissed at the kitten doesn't mean Luna is a jealous cat or won't get along with other animals. The majority of all cats would hiss and growl at a new kitten (or cat or dog) that they'd never seen before. That's perfectly normal behavior. There's no way to know in advance whether Luna would or would not accept a dog, but you'll increase your chances if you adopt a dog who's been raised with cats and then take the introduction very slowly. You'd also be best to adopt a dog who's a little older than a brand new puppy and has already been trained to stay, sit, etc. on command, since that training will help with the introduction.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

Susan!!  WELCOME BACK. 

Susan is right. It is normal to react like that, you will just have to do a formal introduction.


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## gabriel (Jun 16, 2011)

Thank you for opinions everyone, I really appreciate them.
To be honest, I didn't know that my cat could read my nervoussness. But now I think about it, sometime after my behaviour changed to more anxious, Luna actually got a bit more skittish than usual. So it really could be a case, I believe it could be my fault.
doodlebug, you've mentioned that some of your friends lost their cats to dogs - that's a truly horrifying thought... Were the dogs raised with this cats since they were puppies, and then the pray drive just 'kicked in'?
As you've all mentioned, I did lots of research on puppy/cat introduction but found some different opinions. Some people suggest it's better to keep both pets in separate rooms first, others say it's better to have a puppy on the leash when they have their first introduction, and, of course, supervise them. Which way is better in your opinion? 
About Luna's hissing and jealousy - I didn't know it could be for a different reason. It just scared me, I thought she was going to attack the kitty so I asked my sibling to take it home. She also disliked my sibling a bit after that incident... Luna is my first cat so it seems that I still misread her behavior sometimes.
After all the different opinions you've posted, I am still unsure. It is a very serious decision... Last night I even had a nightmare - I came back home to find my cat killed by a dog and my first though after waking up was "No way, I will never allow a dog-monster here, not in my house!". I was so relived when I saw her sleeping on my bed, all safe and unharmed. But after I've calmed down I'm still thinking about it. Especially since many of you here claim that my cat won't hate me because of the new family member, and that dogs can be okay with cats.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

gabriel said:


> doodlebug, you've mentioned that some of your friends lost their cats to dogs - that's a truly horrifying thought... Were the dogs raised with this cats since they were puppies, and then the pray drive just 'kicked in'?


One had 2 dogs (both bull terriers) that had been raised with another cat who passed on. They got a new kitten, he was 4 months old. The dogs were crated at night and the cat loose. Her husband got up on a Sunday morning, let the dogs out to potty, didn't re-crate them then ran down to the convenient store. Came home to disaster in the kitchen. (my friend had still been asleep in the upstairs bedroom, with the door closed and A/C on...so she didn't hear a thing.)

The other friend had two mixed breed rescue dogs, had them for several years before disaster struck. I don't really know the details, but they sort reconstructed what happened and thought that it was a set of circumstances that wouldn't likely be repeated so they kept the dogs and put some precautions in place. It happened again. 

Obviously in the first situation, the kitten was still new to the home and dogs and very small. They should have never been left together alone. In the second situation...this is one of the most responsible and diligent people I know, she would have never put the cats at risk. 

As I said, I'm sure many high prey drive dogs and cats do fine, but it's something to be very, very aware of. And for me, it's not a risk I'd take.


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## gabriel (Jun 16, 2011)

I saw this today I think Ivan killed my cat - German Shepherd Forum and Dogs: My dog killed my cat-do I need to worry about her with my grandbabies, food dish, nasty habit
I made up my mind, I won't risk it... I would be horrified to make the smallest mistake in training which could result in tragedy. My cat getting killed would be a final nail to my coffin.
But I thought of something different - I will save up and then get a personal protection dog, trained by skilled, experienced people. I've done some research and found that these dogs will not harm a things living in the house with you, they are even good with kids. Anyway, just for my own peace of mind - I will never leave them unsupervised. I will take the dog with me if I can, if not - I will separate him from Luna.

Thank you everyone for replying. Your advice was really valuable to me.


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