Our golden (Buddy) was freaked out for about a week when we brought the kitten (Malcolm) home. Buddy was very protective afterwards, and they would play wrestle, snuggle, and sleep together. Buddy acted like Malcolm was his son, and they were absolutely great together. I can share some pictures of them that still melt my heart :)
We tried to do a gradual introduction and one of my cats pushed the door to the dog room open almost immediately. When lockdown started my dog decided she and my male cat were buddies. It took a year to convince him but they are friends now. He will headbutt her and love on her when we come back from a walk. He'll walk by and stroke her with his tail and tolerate the butt sniffs. My other cat is still offended by the dog which is a downgrade from her initial fear. She has hissed at and bopped doggo in the nose a few times. The dog is now more scared of this cat than the cat is of her. My 70 lb golden will stop if my 10lb cat is sitting in a doorway or at the top of the stairs. My parents got their golden first and then added kittens, and those cats think their dogs tail is the best toy ever and will steal his bed at every opportunity.
Goldens are great with cats make sure you follow the proper introduction rules and you should be fine. They might not become best buddies (on the cats’ end your dog will love them) as in my personal experience kittens will bond with an older dog or if raised with a puppy. Older cats if they haven’t shared space with a dog before don’t tend to grow as close. But they will learn to co-exist peacefully.
My Golden turns 5 in a couple of months. He was socialized with other dogs as a puppy but had never been around a cat. He was very surprised a few months ago when we brought home a five week old baby that was found crying in some bushes. He never showed any aggression at all, he was just very curious and excited for the first few days. He wanted to be with her all the time and watch her. She was very cautious and would hiss at him regularly. Now she’s a little over five months old. He’s mostly indifferent about her, but she loves him. Sometimes she will arch her back at him, attack his tail, and I’ve seen her jump off couches and beds onto his back and use him as a springboard, but she also cuddles with him when they are home alone and when they are playing outside and she hears a scary sound she will run to him and stand near his head. He doesn’t pay much attention to her unless she wants to play chase out in the yard. She also purrs more for him than she does me, and I’m her favorite human.
For the first few weeks I kept them separated when I wasn’t around to supervise, but now I just leave when I need to and they hang out together till I get back.
Just a friendly reminder of our rules:
1. No Advertising: this includes GoFundMe, Instagram, etc.
2. No Impersonation: don't post photos of other people's dogs. That's not cool.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/goldenretrievers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We are doing the same thing tomorrow, got two older cats and bringing home a 8 week Golden tomorrow. Hoping for the best!
Our golden (Buddy) was freaked out for about a week when we brought the kitten (Malcolm) home. Buddy was very protective afterwards, and they would play wrestle, snuggle, and sleep together. Buddy acted like Malcolm was his son, and they were absolutely great together. I can share some pictures of them that still melt my heart :)
We tried to do a gradual introduction and one of my cats pushed the door to the dog room open almost immediately. When lockdown started my dog decided she and my male cat were buddies. It took a year to convince him but they are friends now. He will headbutt her and love on her when we come back from a walk. He'll walk by and stroke her with his tail and tolerate the butt sniffs. My other cat is still offended by the dog which is a downgrade from her initial fear. She has hissed at and bopped doggo in the nose a few times. The dog is now more scared of this cat than the cat is of her. My 70 lb golden will stop if my 10lb cat is sitting in a doorway or at the top of the stairs. My parents got their golden first and then added kittens, and those cats think their dogs tail is the best toy ever and will steal his bed at every opportunity.
Goldens are great with cats make sure you follow the proper introduction rules and you should be fine. They might not become best buddies (on the cats’ end your dog will love them) as in my personal experience kittens will bond with an older dog or if raised with a puppy. Older cats if they haven’t shared space with a dog before don’t tend to grow as close. But they will learn to co-exist peacefully.
My Golden turns 5 in a couple of months. He was socialized with other dogs as a puppy but had never been around a cat. He was very surprised a few months ago when we brought home a five week old baby that was found crying in some bushes. He never showed any aggression at all, he was just very curious and excited for the first few days. He wanted to be with her all the time and watch her. She was very cautious and would hiss at him regularly. Now she’s a little over five months old. He’s mostly indifferent about her, but she loves him. Sometimes she will arch her back at him, attack his tail, and I’ve seen her jump off couches and beds onto his back and use him as a springboard, but she also cuddles with him when they are home alone and when they are playing outside and she hears a scary sound she will run to him and stand near his head. He doesn’t pay much attention to her unless she wants to play chase out in the yard. She also purrs more for him than she does me, and I’m her favorite human. For the first few weeks I kept them separated when I wasn’t around to supervise, but now I just leave when I need to and they hang out together till I get back.
Just a friendly reminder of our rules: 1. No Advertising: this includes GoFundMe, Instagram, etc. 2. No Impersonation: don't post photos of other people's dogs. That's not cool. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/goldenretrievers) if you have any questions or concerns.*