fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5743 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5743 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[What We Do In The Shadows]

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[RPGs in general]

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[We are Lady Parts]

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[Usada Pekora]

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[Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]

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[Cheers]

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[The Princess Bride]

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[Overwatch]

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I've been wanting a dog for a couple of years now. Since starting work from home, I've wanted one even more.

However, I have two senior cats (11yo). I've had them since they were kittens. TBH, I don't really like cats but they were siblings who were about to be put down. So I adopted them.

They have had exposure to dogs. The male actually got along well with my sister's dog. But his sister never warmed up to dogs. She won't attack them but if they get too close she hisses.

Should I just wait until they pass because they are seniors?

Not necessarily? What kind of dog are you going for? A brand-new puppy, or a senior rescue, or....?
If you're willing to go for a senior rescue dog (downside, they may die soon), it wouldn't be too hard to find one that is already acclimated to cats, and they would probably be fairly low-energy and not much into cat bothering.

If you go for a puppy, the pro there is that you can *train it* to not be a cat-bothering dog, and even though it's high-energy (puppy!!!) you can redirect that energy away from cat-bothering and into other things.

I think if your cats aren't deathly afraid of dogs in general, and they have several good spots they can jump/climb up to to hang out out of a dog's reach and/or place the dog isn't allowed that they are for respite, it will be fine. Our cats got used to the puppy my exSO got fairly quickly, and one of them would routinely rub all over the dog and love on her, so....

I say, you want a dog, do your research, and go for it!

A dog could be a stressful adjustment for the senior cat who doesn't like them. It's also a fact that shelters and rescues either don't really know or don't disclose the whole truth about whether or not their dogs are OK with cats. I don't mean to be a downer because it's possible that everything could work out! But...do you have a plan in place if it doesn't?

I speak from firsthand experience as someone who adopted a dog before the pandemic. I'd never had one before, and I don't have any other pets. I also work from home. Let me be honest - the first few months were very hard. I adopted a 1 year old lab mix who was very anxious and had separation issues. He didn't destroy stuff, but was super clingy in a way that I really struggled with. And by clingy, I don't mean affectionate or cuddly. This dog was scared and didn't trust anyone, so it wanted to be near me all the time but didn't necessarily want to be touched. He was also very bad on a leash and high energy, but walks were the only thing that he liked doing. He didn't know how to play and we couldn't burn off energy or bond with play time because of this.

I ended up physically exhausted because I'm not a high energy person on a good day. My arms and shoulders constantly ached from being yanked around on walks. I felt like I was very isolated and trapped in my house and I'm normally an introvert who hardly goes anywhere. My life suddenly revolved around a very needy animal who didn't seem to actually love me and I was extremely tired and frustrated. Happy dog adoption stories don't share stories like this, and I'm sure the majority of people don't have a rough time like I did, but I bet it's more common than people realize.

I guess what I'm saying is, think long and hard about how much time and energy you have to devote to a dog in order to give it a good life, with plenty of food, exercise, play time and regular vet care. Then think about what you would do if you end up with a difficult dog instead of a cuddly best friend. Be honest and realistic with yourself and the shelter about what kind of dog you want in terms of personality and energy levels. Don't adopt a dog just because it's cute.

As for me, things got better eventually, but it took a hell of a lot longer than the "three days, three weeks, three months" rule. My dog is still pretty anxious, I worked with a trainer on the leash issues, but it's not as easy or fun as I thought it'd be.

Our neighbours had a senior cat and got a hound dog. The dog turned out very high maintenance and high energy and we kept seeing the old cat just lying about chilling but ending up getting constantly harrassed by the dog who wanted to play. One day, the neighbours went around with search posters because the cat got fed up and ran away, never to return.

So yeah, from semi-personal experience, I would wait. I felt so bad for that old cat, getting his last months disturbed like that. I will add he was older than your cats, though.

Lol a young dog, not a hound dog. Autocorrect is an Elvis fan!

That seems like bad training.

That was an issue as well but they really tried, went to doggy school, agility, tried all sorts of things. Some dogs are more difficult than others, though. But I mean, it was a young, very excitable dog (and a very very high energy breed) and he was a very old cat. It wasn't a great idea all the way through.

The cats were there first, so they should take priority.

Then I hope they die soon. They

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