# Kitten and Puppy at the same time?



## Copper (Nov 21, 2011)

I was thinking about one day getting a German shepherd puppy and a kitten at the same time to keep him company. Is this a good idea? I've heard two puppies at the same time is bad but is it the same thing with a kitten? Or would it be a good idea to hold it off for a couple months at least?


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## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Copper said:


> I was thinking about one day getting a German shepherd puppy and a kitten at the same time to keep him company. Is this a good idea? I've heard two puppies at the same time is bad but is it the same thing with a kitten? Or would it be a good idea to hold it off for a couple months at least?


Hold it off. Both of them require 100% of your attention for the first few days. It's impossible to split that.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I would not get both at the same time, especially not a young kitten because a young puppy could inadvertantly hurt a kitten when playing. 
I would either get a kitten first and wait until they are a little older before getting a puppy, or get a puppy first and wait until they are past the puppy stage before getting a kitten. Of course there is the issue of whether they would get along so it also depends if you have other dogs or cats so the puppy/kitten will be used to other dogs/cats around...


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

Having had both in the last year, I would get the kitten first, then the pup a few months later. It's best if you can get a kitten that was maybe born where there was a dog/dogs. Definitely try to do it where they're still young though. Kittens are WAY easier than the pup, so I would do it first. Plus, it will help the pup to know that the cat is the boss.


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## Suka (Apr 9, 2004)

I wouldn't wish a puppy + kitten at the same time on my worst enemy! 

Kittens are absolute beasts! (i love them but anyone who has had a kitten knows what I mean!)

There is just too much potential there for hurting each other and that means vet bills. 

Also, you will need to spend so much time with the puppy, house training, training and exercising the puppy that the kitten would be lonely.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Chicagocanine said:


> *I would not get both at the same time, especially not a young kitten because a young puppy could inadvertently hurt a kitten when playing. *
> I would either get a kitten first and wait until they are a little older before getting a puppy, or get a puppy first and wait until they are past the puppy stage before getting a kitten. Of course there is the issue of whether they would get along so it also depends if you have other dogs or cats so the puppy/kitten will be used to other dogs/cats around...


My VERY first thought!


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

ugh..for some reason I got 2 kittens last month, they are nuts and I am sure I am going to lose one in the washing machine or something. LOL They are so small.

I agree, at least wait on the puppy until the kitten is 12 wks old. My kittens are leaping around the house and climbing over the dogs like they are furniture.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

krystyne73 said:


> ugh..for some reason I got 2 kittens last month, they are nuts and I am sure I am going to lose one in the washing machine or something. LOL They are so small.
> 
> I agree, at least wait on the puppy until the kitten is 12 wks old. My kittens are leaping around the house and climbing over the dogs like they are furniture.


Awww can I kitten sit your maniacs??? :wub::wub:


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Only if you're really into that whole S&M look. Scratches on your arms, bites on your ankles, bruises all over your body. . . . could be really attractive in some circles.


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## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Emoore said:


> Only if you're really into that whole S&M look. Scratches on your arms, bites on your ankles, bruises all over your body. . . . could be really attractive in some circles.


That's great :rofl:



krystyne73 said:


> ugh..for some reason I got 2 kittens last month, they are nuts and I am sure I am going to lose one in the washing machine or something. LOL They are so small.
> 
> I agree, at least wait on the puppy until the kitten is 12 wks old. My kittens are leaping around the house and climbing over the dogs like they are furniture.


Our kittens weren't actually that bad, though they were terrifying. Every time I lost vision of one I'd assume the worst. Lucy (our girl) kept trying to crawl into the vacuum tube! Finn would squish himself under the couch. He tried to climb in the washing machine. He hid in my dresser for the first two weeks we had him (he would paw at it and make us open it for him) and he was terrified of everything that moved. Lucy tried to eat the cord for our blinds. 

It was hard not to quarantine them to the bathroom just to make sure they didn't kill themselves on any of our normal household objects LOL


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## spiritsmom (Mar 1, 2003)

I would get one first and then the other. Agree that getting the kitten first is probably the way to go. That way the kitten would be older/bigger when the puppy came home. Or get the puppy first and then get an older kit-cat (6-8 mos old or so) that has been raised around dogs. Kittens are SO tiny and get injured so easily by a playful puppy.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

WarrantsWifey said:


> Awww can I kitten sit your maniacs??? :wub::wub:


You should have come to my house 3 years ago:













ladyfreckles said:


> It was hard not to quarantine them to the bathroom just to make sure they didn't kill themselves on any of our normal household objects LOL


Actually when I had the above kittens, I confined them to one room because they could have gotten into way too much mischief otherwise... There were 7 in the litter. I can't remember what age I started letting them have the run of the house. They were feral babies I rescued at 3 weeks old so they started out in a dog crate (unless I was supervising them-- not safe for tiny babies to be running around), then graduated to my bedroom and then finally the first floor of the house after they were a few months old. Even they I had to lock them up at night for a while because my family was complaining about getting run over while they tried to sleep.

They were raised around my two senior dogs so they basically learned to treat a dog like a piece of furniture most of the time.


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## nitemares (Dec 15, 2005)

I rescued a kitten in June from the street, he was about 5-7 days old, he's now almost 6 months old. I knew i will be getting a puppy soon, but I wanted kitty to be a bit older to protect itself LOL. My kitty was never socialized with dogs, in fact he doesn't even know what they are hehehe, his only encounter (thank God they were good ones) was at the vets office with a GSD and a rottweiler who thankfully both live with cats. he was more curious than anything and allowed them to sniff his butt wondering what the heck they're trying to do. 
I can't even imagine having both at the same time, a gsd and a kitten is like having not one but two landsharks at the same time.


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## ladyfreckles (Nov 10, 2011)

Chicagocanine said:


> You should have come to my house 3 years ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We had our cats in one room but even that felt too dangerous. They didn't get full run of the house until they were about 5 months old. 

I couldn't imagine 7 of them!

Also man, I wish I could train my cats to treat dogs like pieces of furniture. 

These were my treasures, and no, they're actually not related!


























But I digress, as advice to you I'd definitely say to get the cat first. Then get the puppy when the cat is a few months old and can defend itself. Most cats are fully grown at 10lbs. Puppies come home at 15-20lbs. There's a big difference.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Well I understand what the op is trying to accomplish by getting the pup/kitten at the same time. I actually think it's a good idea, and if i only had 1 pup & a kitten I think it would be great for the 2 to grow up together. However you have to separate them just as you would with 2 pups, at least till the kitten is big enough to deal with those paws. 
Right now my kitten is confined to the xlarge dog crate at night, my bedroom during the day. His free time in the morning from 4:30am till 7:45 is shared with Lakota now. I'm still working on the other 2 dogs. He's definately getting bigger but not big enough to fend for himself with the dogs.


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## Copper (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice guys! And I did want the two together to keep each other company, plus if they're both babies, I'm sure a GSD couldn't do that much damage?!! >.<" lol! But how should I know? You guys have been the ones to own these animals.  I'll probably get the kitten first, then the puppy later on.


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## GSDolch (May 15, 2006)

I think it really depends on how much you can handle and the personality of the animals.

I have had cats that could care less about being with their humans, even as kittens, so loneliness was never a problem with the dogs.

Personally *I* see no problem with it, but I have done it before and probably will again to some extent. Two puppies I will never do, puppy/kitten or kitten/kitten easy (for me).

Also, kitten/puppy doesn't always mean 8wks old, which I think alot of people are thinking about. You can always adopt an older kitten. I don't consider them *cats* until about a year or more. But that has just been my experience with the cats I have had.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

We got our cat about 18 months before adding our GSD. She is and always has been the boss of him, no doubt. I think it works best that way....the dog needs to be respectful in order for them to live together nicely, so the cat needs to be established before adding the dog for that to happen, IMO


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## Copper (Nov 21, 2011)

GSDolch said:


> Personally *I* see no problem with it, but I have done it before and probably will again to some extent. Two puppies I will never do, puppy/kitten or kitten/kitten easy (for me).
> 
> Also, kitten/puppy doesn't always mean 8wks old, which I think alot of people are thinking about. You can always adopt an older kitten. I don't consider them *cats* until about a year or more. But that has just been my experience with the cats I have had.


But if I do puppy/kitten, will they bond with each other more than with me? And I was planning to get the pup at 8 weeks but with a 3 month old cat.


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## Copper (Nov 21, 2011)

mysweetkaos said:


> We got our cat about 18 months before adding our GSD. She is and always has been the boss of him, no doubt. I think it works best that way....the dog needs to be respectful in order for them to live together nicely, so the cat needs to be established before adding the dog for that to happen, IMO


I was thinking that, but if they grew up together I don't think it would be that bad cuz puppies get along with everyone! : D


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I wouldn't do it. 

Sure it sounds like a super cute thing but my 5 month old puppy plays very rough and my youngest cat is going to be 2 years old in a couple of months and she is very small, almost the size of a kitten, in fact I still call her kitten (she's only 5 or 6 pounds), I cannot tell you how many times my puppy has trampled her and not on purpose. She gets along with the cat but she plays too rough sometimes and my kitten has to smack her to death and even bite her to tell her to back off. 

My puppy is very gentle with people and children of all ages, she's great with other dogs and she's good with my cats but she could do some serious harm to a small kitten without meaning to.

I would definitly not get a kitten while having a puppy.


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## mysweetkaos (Sep 20, 2011)

Copper said:


> I was thinking that, but if they grew up together I don't think it would be that bad cuz puppies get along with everyone! : D


Getting along with everyone and knowing appropriate boundaries are 2 very different things. Our new puppy "gets along" so well with our adult cat that he corners her and tries to lay on her and lick her....sound cute? It's not, he is 80 lbs she is 10. Puppies don't realize how big they are or how much damage they can do.


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## GSDolch (May 15, 2006)

Copper said:


> But if I do puppy/kitten, will they bond with each other more than with me? And I was planning to get the pup at 8 weeks but with a 3 month old cat.



If you spend time training, socializing, playing, etc with your puppy then I don't think you will have any trouble with bonding at all.

With the cat I honestly have no idea, I've had cats that ranged from dog like to wanting nothing more from their person than to be fed watered and some petting when THEY wanted it. Cats are very independent at times.

If you do, some things to keep in mind. Never leave them alone together, make sure the cat has places that it can get away from the dog and start from the beginning on manners. 

Don't do anything that you aren't comfy with either, if you don't think you can do it, then wait. If you are getting an older kitten that hasn't ever been around dogs, then you will want to give it time and introducing them slowly, with the pup on a leash (good time to begin teaching not to chase) and make sure the cat has some dog free zones and can easily go to them without the dog on its heels.


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## Copper (Nov 21, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I've thought it through and I think I'll get the kitten, wait till it's around 6 months, then get a GSD puppy. C:


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

you keep your pup company. i've had kittens, adult cats and a pup
at the same time. it worked out just fine.



Copper said:


> I was thinking about one day getting a German shepherd puppy and a kitten at the same time to keep him company.


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