The key to stopping your pets like cats and dogs from fighting may lie in how you first introduce them to each other, research suggests.
People planning to bring a new puppy home to their cat should consider allowing them to get used to each other slowly, according to findings from Dogs Rely.
“The advice is to do it really gradually,” Dr Rachel Casey, a veterinarian and animal behavior specialist, told the PA Media news agency.
“In an ideal world, what you want to do is have the cat in a situation where it can escape, it can get out of the way, so maybe somewhere high where the cat can go so it doesn’t feel threatened by the puppy.”
Casey, who is also the director of strategy and transformation at Dogs Trust, added: “And what you really need to teach the puppy is to be calm in the presence of the cat.”
As part of its Generation Pup research, the Dogs Trust is looking at the interaction between dogs and cats. The study found that factors such as the speed of introduction and a puppy’s age can influence their behavior towards household cats.
The research found that around one-fifth (20.1%) of pet owners introduce their new puppy to their existing cats immediately, and 18.9% do so in less than two hours. However, gradual introductions between puppies and cats greatly increased the likelihood that they would get along.
According to the findings, puppies introduced to cats over more than one day – especially those younger than 12 weeks – are calmer and friendlier, which can help form a more harmonious relationship.
Casey said the vast majority of dogs exhibited “undesirable” behaviors when first introduced to a cat, including being aggressive, or playing with the cat when it didn’t want to play. Less than 10% of puppies introduced to cats were calm and remained relaxed.
The Generation Pup study is the largest of its kind in the UK, with more than 9,500 puppies already enrolled, including 4,500 puppies where there is dog/cat interaction.
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The project is a cohort study – where participating dogs are followed over their lifetime. Generation Pup said this model allowed them to investigate how events or environments early in life, as well as genetics, influence the development of conditions and shape behavior as dogs age.
The findings will be presented at New Scientist Live 2024, which takes place this weekend at the ExCeL London.
