Many families, like mine, include Pets of multiple species. For those lucky enough to live outside the city with room for large animals to roam, your brood could include horses, llamas or other large animals. My neighbors, who live in a neighborhood within Portland city limits, have a pot-bellied pig named Gordon who walks on a leash alongside their two dogs and sleeps on a dog bed next to the rest of the family, which also includes a cat. Though Gordon’s a little more country than city, much like my neighbors many of us in the city have smaller Pets including dogs, cats, hamsters and other scaly, furry and feathered friends that are well suited for both city and country homes.
Many Pets, especially young ones, often find best buddies in those of other species. Introducing Pets to others while they’re young can make it easier for them to intermix in a family. Zoos have found the benefit in this adaptability and act accordingly. The San Diego Zoo has a tradition of pairing young cheetahs with young dogs to help develop these life-long companionships. Small domestic kittens have been paired with monkeys and even with large breed cats. This video shows a chimpanzee caring for a pair of tiger cubs that lost their mother. Pairing Pets together when they’re young can work for mixing other species in your family, too.
Starting off with adult house cats and introducing puppies worked well for me. The cats set the rules and the puppies learned quickly to obey. An adult cat that stands its ground can easily lay down the law for a puppy exploring boundaries, which is a good thing since the adult cats weighed 15 pounds and several of the puppies grew to weigh over 100. Later, after the cats passed away, the puppies were adult dogs who readily accepted new kittens.
Of course, as with any blended family, ours wasn’t always in perfect harmony. A barking dog usually meant one of the cats was sneaking off with dog food from an unattended bowl. And our cat developed a urinary blockage from making off with the dog food. I quickly learned to remove any leftover food and store the bulk of the food in a pail with a cat-proof lid.
Professional Pet trainers usually have good tips on how to train your Pets to get along. Humane Society shelters and veterinary hospitals are other resources for getting tips on how to keep peace in the family with multiple Pets and multiple species. Besides, who better to groom a dog face than a cat with a busy tongue? Be sure to keep hairball medicine on hand just in case.
Below are additional resources with information about introducing Pets of different species.
I am trying to raise awareness about how dangerous Gorilla Glue is for animals. My two year old weimaraner got into the bottle of glue last night. That crafty little guy figured out how to open the cabinet under the sink! He had just gotten the lid off when I caught him. He ingested less than a tsp of the glue. Several hours later, he seemed fine. The next day he threw up. This concerned me a little. I googled it and found hundreds of horror stories about pets eating Gorilla Glue. I took him to the vet and sure enough, that tsp of glue had expanded into a softball sized mass in his stomach in less than 24 hours. He had to have emergency surgery to remove the mass. He is in recovery as we speak. The worst part is that the glue is attractive to animals. It smells and tastes like maple syrup and peanuts. The warning label does not do an adequate job “warning” about the risks if ingested. The acid in the stomach accelerates the chemical process and causes the glue to expand 10 times the original mass. Your pet seems fine because the chemicals are not toxic. The mass that grows can block the digestive tract causing starvation or if it continues to expand, it will rupture the stomach and kill your pet. It’s awful. My vet says she won’t even buy the stuff because of the risks. The surgeon said he has done this procedure four times in the last six months!! It’s dangerous stuff.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:52 pm