All right, let me preface this by saying I've read over Mr. Frawley's article about this exact subject about 3-4 times and I just want to get some individual input on my situation and lay out my own thoughts. I also did an extensive Google search over the entire forum to see if my questions could be answered there, but no joy on that one.

I currently live in a 1500 square foot home in a relatively quiet neighborhood with my girlfriend. When she moved in, two adult-aged strictly-indoor cats came with her. One is positively indifferent while the other is a bit sensitive and skittish. As an aside: This seems to be the case in a lot of two-cat households.

My intention is to adopt a "homeless" dog from a great local no-kill shelter. A lot of them have interacted with cats in the past, and the shelter is good about stating exactly which dogs are good or are no good with cats.

I have a few questions about this:

• Is it possible to know whether or not a cat will be hopelessly dog aggressive? If this is the case, is it advisable to simply avoid the situation altogether?
• How does the initial pack structure training mesh with the cat-familiarity training outlined in the article I linked above?

Because I have virtually no experience in seeing dogs and cats interact, I really can't judge whether or not the cats would react well to a new dog in the household. I want to ensure that the dog recognizes the cats as members of the household while making an attempt to ensure the opposite as well. I know the feline mentality is quite different from that of a canine.

Any help you guys can possibly offer is greatly appreciated, and I'll attempt to answer any questions you might have to the best of my ability.

One thing you can do (on the dog side of the equation) is to call the shelter and ask them if they do cat-response eval.

That was part of what we did for the pre-adoption evaluation (not that it usually affected the dog's adoptability except to limit it to "best to a home with no other pets" or the like).

It's not a guarantee, but you'll be starting out without a known strike against the relationship.

I know that others (who own both cats and dogs) will have much better input.

Cats are more able to cope with change than most people give them credit for.

As long as they are given time to realize the dog is safe, and doesn't want to eat them, they should be able to adjust without too much problem.

We have gates that keep the dogs out of the bedrooms here and the cats are free to retreat to those rooms when the dogs are annoying them.

We have one kitty who thinks he is a dog, and another who gripes and moans every time a dog comes within 3 feet of her. But she doesn't lash out and the dogs don't bother her...it's just a lot of noise from her.

Do you make sure that there are higher places for cat-escape in each room they might both be in? I read that somewhere.

 Quote: jennifer lee

We have one kitty who thinks he is a dog, and another who gripes and moans every time a dog comes within 3 feet of her. But she doesn't lash out and the dogs don't bother her...it's just a lot of noise from her.

My girlfriend likes to joke that the "indifferent" cat was a dog in a previous life.

Yes, there is the top of the fish tank in the living room, the top of the fridge in the kitchen, and the top of the closets in the bedrooms if a dog happens to be in there.

But really the dogs do not bother them and except for Fluff who is an old cranky princess they sleep with the dogs a lot of the time.

Yote occasionally tries to play with them, but one hiss or swipe to the nose and he stops, he is truly just playing though. The younger two cats also instigate play with him so I don't worry too much about it. I do keep a close eye though!

the only thing I have to be really careful about is making sure the cats don't bother the dogs while they are eating, Loki who generally loves the kitties snapped at a cat for that and there was dog slobber on her. I am vigilant about it now.

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

the only thing I have to be really careful about is making sure the cats don't bother the dogs while they are eating, Loki who generally loves the kitties snapped at a cat for that and there was dog slobber on her. I am vigilant about it now.

My intention would be to feed the dog in his crate, thereby preventing the cats from bothering him - which I'm sure they would. These are cats who are most certainly not free-fed, and who have to rely on one of us to feed them.

I have a 2 cat 1 dog household. The cats were first, and my dog was almost an adult when he arrived on the scene. It took about 6 months before everyone settled in. I took it slow and made sure the cats always had escape routes. Now, my male cat spurns me and is slavishly devoted to his dog. He believes that the dog feeds him, since their food magically appears at the same time.

The shelter I adopted my dog did the cat test, and he passed fine, does great with our kitties, but "free" cats outdoors are prey. Best. Game. Ever.

 Quote: meredith hamilton

I have a 2 cat 1 dog household. The cats were first, and my dog was almost an adult when he arrived on the scene. It took about 6 months before everyone settled in. I took it slow and made sure the cats always had escape routes. Now, my male cat spurns me and is slavishly devoted to his dog. He believes that the dog feeds him, since their food magically appears at the same time.

Did you keep the dog on a leash, or have some way to instantly control or correct the dog when he was out and about in the house?

 Quote: meredith hamilton

The shelter I adopted my dog did the cat test, and he passed fine, does great with our kitties, but "free" cats outdoors are prey. Best. Game. Ever.

I actually appreciate the neighborhood outdoor cats. We tend to have some real bad vole problems in all seasons, and one of the best sights I've ever had before leaving for work in the morning was a dead vole on my doorstep. Thanks, kitty!