How do i introduce a family of cats to two dogs?

Ok so heres the thing.
I have three wonderful loving amazng cats.
Luffy(maine coon/bengal): two years old in march
Sage(snowshoe): 6months 1/2
Maple(tabby?): 4 1/2months
Walter(Yorkie): 2yrs
Gizmo(yorkie): 2yrs
Daisy(great gma)
Lilly(gma)
Kiki(mom)

OK
Walter and Gizmo have just joined our little family...along with them we have my mother in laws three girl yorkies their great grandmother mother and grandmother visiting for a week. When they walked in, i've never seen luffy so big in my life and sage puffed and maple was nowhere to be seen for abit. Maple claws but stares at them then runs if they come near. Sage freaks and nearly hit daisy or tried to. Luffy and sage stay under the bed in my room with maple. Walter and gizmo dont go after them but i dont want the cats thinking that their house has been taken. Their food and boxes are in the room with them too. How do i introduce them? To where my kittys are out in the area with me too. ): i havnt seen my cats since like 3pm ):

any ideas guys?
I attached a pic of me and all the dogs :D i have my boys in my arms the closer one to the camera is kiki the momma and the one behind her is daisy and the one behind me is lilly

[Mrs_Savas]

Honestly, I hope someone with more experience than us answers this question because we just don't know really.

But... for one thing, are they just visiting?  If they are just there for a week with your mom, then you are better off just keeping them separated.  A week won't kill anybody, and I don't think you would accomplish much in that time anyway.

Otherwise, like when you introduce cats, make sure you give lots of love and attention to the ones who were already there.  You want to reassure them that they are still loved and safe in their home and minimize the feeling of threat that is ineviable when introducing any new animal.

But we have never been in this exact kind of situation, introducing dogs to cats.  So I am throwing this out to the forum population!  

And I wish you much luck.  If it is just for a week - then just hang in there and be aware that at the end of the week your cats won't just immediately go back to normal.  There will be some time during which they will be wary and distrustful, at least to some degree, and will need lots of patience and understanding.

[CatShapedHeart3]

the two boys will be stayong with us. :D lol

walter is sleeping in the room with us and the cats tonight lol

[zodiacqueen]

WOOO............Do you have your hands full(literally) or what?  I really don't have any experience with introducing cats to dogs, but I do have experience intro. cats to cats.  I'd just try to keep them separate for a while, and very slowly introduce them.  Your cats are freaking because they feel like their property is being invaded.  It might put them under too much stress to just throw them together.

Hopefully, introducing them slowly will make them feel more secure and lessen their stress!!

Good luck, girl!

[CatShapedHeart3]

yea...so luffy watches walter at night when walter sleeps with usand sage dosnt puff up so much..maple just runs to me in fear and climbs my jeans LOL

its fun...sorry i cant be on alot more. mom in law :D you know how it is D:

ttyl
I LOVE YOU ALL
and i'm going to the dog park today with my friend amanda and her baby jude he's a yorkie pom LOL

[April2]

I've done it before. It's best to introduce slowly. If you have a child safety gate you could install it in the kitchen or somewhere where you could separate the dogs and cats. They can still see each other and smell each other but will feel safer with that barrier for a little bit. The cats need to be able to feel like they can escape when they feel stressed. You can try to take one dog at a time in your arms and approach the cat to sniff and investigate. Don't push it though. If the cat runs away then try later.
You can also take a baby blanket and let the dogs lay on it for awhile and take another one and let the cats lay on it and then switch them. That way they are smelling each other's scent but in an nonthreatening way.
I'd try the safety gates, though. They work pretty well and it's not forever. It's just till the animals get used to seeing each other. Don't let the dogs chase the cats, though. If they start to do that, put the dogs back behind the gate and try again later. Just keep working on it. If you go slow enough, they can all learn to get along.
Best of luck to you,
April

[CatShapedHeart3]

get this everyone

Sage walks aroun d the dogs with no problem luffy keeps distance but will go up to the dogs and maple just runs and plays with them. The dogs are NOT allowed in the kitchen and they know that so the cats just chill there on the counters by their food. I'm really impressed on how the cats are adapting to the change. with 5 dogs now...when my mother in law leavces and its only wally and gizzy they'll be so calm. We've been sleeping with walter everynight and the cats sleep with them too its cute. and...last night was the first night sleeping with gizzy and they were all fine. The only thing that bothers me is that the dogs eat their catnip mice LOL
we didnt end up going to the park but we take them on walks :D

today the cats ate dog food :o they were just chompin down it was funny.
their fine though :D happy little family i have now. I'll get better photos of wally and gizgiz

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, glad to hear that everyone's getting along!!  Please be careful about letting the cats eat the dog food.  I've heard that they can go blind.  Don't know exactly know the reason why.

ZQ

[CatShapedHeart3]

hmm i'll look that up. Husband seems to think thats not true :/

anyways i dont think tyhey liked the taste lol.

So guys how're all of you?

[CatShapedHeart3]

http://cats.about.com/od/catfoodfaqs/f/dogfoodforcats.htm

theres a link :D

[zodiacqueen]

Hey girl, I just went to that link.  I wanted to check it out, just in case I heard wrong about the dog food being dangerous to cats.  The page did say that it was dangerous!  Here's the part that said it-          

I cut and pasted this directly from that site:

But a cat fed exclusively on dog food can not only go blind, but can develop a heart condition, called feline dilated cardiomyopathy.

Did you remember seeing this?   :D

[CatShapedHeart3]

Yea i saw that. Scary. So they ate more but threw it up. At least it isnt staying in the system.
:/

[zodiacqueen]

Hey, barfing can be a good thing.....sometimes!  LOL.  Well, at least a couple of bites every now and then won't hurt them......that's good.  Honestly, I thought that dog food was MORE harmful then what that article said.  I thought it was soo bad, that if cats ate it only one time, it would be toxic.  So, thanks for posting that link, hon.  I learned something new!  :D

Did ya show hubby that he was wrong????  Admit it......it can be real fun sometimes!!!

[Savas]

Rules for introducing cats to dogs:

1: Hide all copies of the Old Testament.

There should be NO references to biblical catastrophes involving "Cat's and dogs" ie; "It's raining cats and dogs", "Cats and dogs lying down together", etc... don't let them get any ideas!!!

2: Lock up Knives.

Be sure all cutlery (knives) are locked securely in drawers.

3. Local and Federal Law Enforcement.

Inform your local police and homeland security of the situation. This way they can be prepared to deploy SWAT should the situation get ugly.

4. Weapons of Mass Destruction.

hide all armaments and weapons of mass destruction.  I don't think we need to say anymore on this one.

5.  The Media.

Instigate a media blackout. The media is well known for fear mongering and making a bad situation worse. So DON'T let them report on the story...and if they do, DON'T let your cats and dogs watch the newscasts. If they start falling for all that spin...it could get violent.

6. Arlo Guthrie.

Hire Arlo Guthrie to play the extended version of "Alice's Restaurant" every morning. Even the most feral of cats and dogs will exist in hippie harmony after a few mornings of this.

[CatShapedHeart3]

wtf your such a dork ily :D

that made us grin lol. their doing perfectly fine now.....they just keep distance lol.

how're you doing and your sweet little furballs?