The puppy and kitten in this video are getting acquainted with each other. The puppy’s name is Poppy, and is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Notice their parents are watching, as well as their human parent. Poppy is drawn to kittens and cats. She underestimates her strength when she reaches out to touch her kitten friend. Still, the kitten returns the attention.
Poppy wants to befriend the adult cat also. It’s wonderful that little ones do not recognize species. According to Adrea in Life With Cats, the optimal time to socialize a puppy to other species is within the first 3 months, and for a kitten, the first 7 to 9 weeks. These are the best time for them to adapt to the other and learn their language.
How to introduce puppies to kittens
Some breeders raise dogs and cats together, so those dogs are accustomed to having cats around. They’ll probably be fine around cats or simply ignore them. A rescue organization often does some pre-screening, and can offer input on how to match the right dog with the family.
Adrea writes that when introducing a puppy and kitten, first let them have their separate space, so they can see and smell and hear each other, but not yet directly make contact with the other. Their separate space will have everything they need to be comfortable–food, water, litter box, bed. After they are familiar with the scent and sound and sight of the other, you can start having supervised meeting time.
It’s a good idea to first teach the puppy how to focus on you on command (even before making contact with the kitten,) so that if you need to get the puppy’s attention, it already knows how to focus. You can read more about this topic here. Enjoy watching this puppy and kitten getting to know each other.
Article source: Adrea in Life With Cats
