[Reader]

We are thinking of getting a kitten. We have a 6-year-old dog (female, desexed) who is pretty much an inside dog.

What tips/advice can you give about how to successfully introduce a kitten into the house?

Thanks.

[~Karla~]

Has she been introduced to cats and kittens before? How did she react? What breed is she?

I assume the kitten will be an inside cat? Are there rooms where the dog doesn't have access that can be the kittens "safe" place? Our cats have free run of downstairs and all the bedrooms but the dog is only allowed in the lounge room and dining room and bathroom (all upstairs). As she gets older and calms down, we will allow her access to the bedrooms but the cats will always have plenty of safe havens. The cats are less freaked out by the dog now but I don't think they'll ever be chummy with her.

I'd go slowly. Leave the kitten locked in 1 room with food, water and litter tray. Once she's comfortable and the dog is less interested in the new, interesting smell coming from under the door, you can start letting them see each other. Baby gates or screen doors are good for this - they allow them to see and smell each other while restricting access. Then, when the kitten is ready, she can venture out to meet the dog (totally supervised by you of course) but can retreat to her safe room when she wants to.

[Reader]

Hi Karla, she's a Beagle. She'd only have seen cats on the footpath during walks and I think she's been interested but not aggressive. We've had the class guinea pigs at home for weekends and again, she's been interested, but not aggressive - I'm not sure if that's an indicator!

We would want the cat to be an inside one - I don't like to idea of cats roaming around outside the yard. We could definitely keep it confined to a room or two for a while. I work from home so I'm here most of the time which might make things a bit easier in the early days.