u/cowtail321

Hi,

Need some perspectives as I’ve never had a cat AND dog. Grown up with large dogs, had 4 at one time at one point then they all died of old age. I ended up adopting a cat who is 8 yrs old now, have had her 3 years. Can hop to last paragraph for question, but backstory might help.

Past weekend, I stopped on my motorcycle at a closed down gas station I normally stop at for a coffee break and to read in the shade and this young dog came running up and flopped all over me (not a puppy but definitely not a year old yet). He licked my armpit (one of my dogs loved doing that to get me to squeal) and the book I had grabbed to start reading that day is called The Guardian by Nick Sparks (about a woman gifted a dog that later saved herlife). Hard coincidences for me to ignore lol.

Anyways, I walked around to all the homes in area to ask if they had seen him or knew him and it’s apparently a dump spot by one woman’s opinion. He was covered in fleas and dehydrated but looked decently fed. I left and returned with bowl for water, dog food, and flea/tick to put on him but I couldn’t take him as I was on bike. Broke my heart but I left, (it was 2 hours away in a different state) and went back next day in my car. He was still there and ran up to me.

I rent a townhome and my landlord wasn’t able to return my call until the weekday so I took him to shelter…wasn’t sure what to do with my cat and him since I had no prep or ok from landlord. Landlord got back with me a few days ago saying they didn’t mind a dog either. I asked shelter if they can test if dog is cat aggressive but they said they only test for human and dog aggression. The dog is a 35lbs, looks like a staffy mix.

Just unsure if I should leave things alone, or shake our lives up a bit, having a developed frontal lope is lame, I miss just doing things on a whim 😂

So now my question is…how did it work out for single adults to bring in a dog with a cat already in the home? Was it doable? Has it “ruined” the cat’s home or changed its personality? I don’t mind the effort of baby gates or the slow introduction and I’ll be taking the dog out to parks and rollerblading like I used to for exercise, but I do not want to create an atmosphere of discomfort for either animal. I’m getting told by immediate family it’s a bad idea, I wasn’t trying to get a dog but the idea of that sweet baby at the shelter is killing me too…he tried running after me and I broke down in the parking lot.

Hi,

Need help and some perspectives. Grown up with large dogs, had 4 at one time at one point then they all died of old age. I ended up adopting a cat who is 8 yrs old now, have had her 3 years. Can hop to bottom for question, but this is backstory of dog that might help.

Then this past weekend, I stopped on my motorcycle at a closed down gas station I normally stop at for a coffee break and to read in the shade and this young dog came running up and flopped all over me (not a puppy but definitely not a year old yet). He licked my armpit (one of my dogs loved doing that to get me to squeal) and the book I had grabbed to start reading that day is called The Guardian by Nick Sparks (about a woman gifted a dog that later saved herlife). Hard coincidences for me to ignore lol.

Anyways, I walked around to all the homes in area to ask if they had seen him or knew him and it’s apparently a dump spot by one woman’s opinion. He was covered in fleas and dehydrated but looked decently fed. I left and returned with bowl for water, dog food, and flea/tick to put on him but I couldn’t take him as I was on bike. Broke my heart but I left, (it was 2 hours away in a different state) and went back next day in my car. He was still there and ran up to me.

I rent a townhome and my landlord wasn’t able to return my call until the weekday so I took him to shelter…wasn’t sure what to do with my cat and him since I had no prep or ok from landlord. Landlord got back with me a few days ago saying they didn’t mind a dog either. I asked shelter if they can test if dog is cat aggressive but they said they only test for human and dog aggression.

So now my question is…how did it work out for single adults to bring in a dog with a cat already in the home? Was it doable? Has it “ruined” the cat’s home or changed its personality? I don’t mind the effort of baby gates or the slow introduction and I’ll be taking the dog out to parks like I used to for exercise, but I do not want to create an atmosphere of discomfort for either animal. I’m getting told by immediate family it’s a bad idea, I wasn’t trying to get a dog but the idea of that sweet baby at the shelter is killing me too…he tried running after me and I broke down in the parking lot.