In December 1967 we had a two-year-old cat, and we got a puppy–a just-weaned solid black spaniel-dachshund cross. She immediately took to our family and loved all of us, including the cat–who detested her; if she came too close to him he’d swat at herr.
I read somewhere if it’s the other way around–that is, a kitten paired with a grown dog–the dog will dote on the kitten and guard him with his life.
And then there are the puppy-and-kitten combinations in which they grow up as friends.
Any examples? 
When my cat was a pretty old lady we got my lovely labrador puppy, Jana. She looked up to Tabby as a wise and powerful being, to be feared and admired from a distance. One good swipe across her puppy nose taught her that!
Then Tabby died, and Jana will still walk out to look for her if you say her name.
Just recently, with Jana an old, old lab by now, my parents got a new cat. Finn is an oaf. He loves Jana, he wants nothing more than to snuggle with her and play with her. But Jana is old and grumpy and trusts a cat as far as she can throw it. Finn likes sitting in the arm of the sofa and bopping her on the head as she passes. She will shoot me a mournful Eeyore look, as if to say: “See that? See what I have to contend with? And they feed it more as well…” But secretly, when she is half asleep, she likes it when he snuggles up with her.
According to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, you can’t have a dog and a cat at the same time. Especially, if it Schrödinger’s Cat. which can be dead and alive at the same time, until you observe it.
Since the OP seems to be looking for personal experiences, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Probably better sequentially. I’d start with the fish course.
I have always had dogs and cats, never a problem until I got a chihuahua, the cat wants to be friends but the dog wants to kill her. After 5 years no improvement. Even when the dog was 6 weeks old and and maybe 6 oz he wanted to fight her.
My friend has 4 cats, and often fosters dogs. All of her cats are used to dogs. Maybe because my friend used to have a dog of her own (husky/shepherd mix.)
I’ve had all combinations at some point: adult dogs with kittens and with cats, puppies with adult cats and kittens, kittens and puppies together. I’ve never had any trouble with ongoing problems with any combination of my own pets, maybe because I never expected to have any problems. Some of them grew up to basically ignore each other and some of them became the best of pals.
Our current cat, who is the most ornery, standoffish, uncuddly cat I’ve ever had, sneaks up next to our border collie and kneads on her belly before lying down to sleep next to her.
I have 6 dogs and 3-4 indoor cats (one splits his time between the barn and the house). They all get on fine. Have had puppies and adult cats, kittens and adult dogs - they adapt. But don’t expect them to be best buds immediately. They’ll have to get to know each other.
I’ve also had a dog I wouldn’t trust with cats - an airedale with a strong prey drive. Then I kept them separated, the dog in the house with me while the cat was in another room, and the dog crated at night while the cat slept with me. It was a juggling act.
StG
We’ve always had cats, and when we adopted our first dog, who was one or two years old at the time, we had two adult cats. They were definitely wary at first, but they all adapted to each other over time. Since that time, we’ve see-sawed back and forth: we adopted kittens when we had the adult dog, then adopted a puppy when the cats were adults. Everybody has gotten along well enough, according to their personalities. Right now, we have two adult cats and a rather elderly dog. The dog and one of the cats love each other unconditionally. The other cat loves the dog dearly but the feeling is not completely mutual. She tries to snuggle up to him, but if she gets too close, he’ll get up and move across the room. She’s taken to waiting until he’s really asleep and then carefully curling up just touching his paws so he won’t wake up and move.
Our dogs have both been largish herding breed types. I imagine other breeds, like terriers, might react differently to cats.
Right now I have three cats and two dogs. One of the cats is a loner, but the other four animals pair off-- large female dog and male cat spend the day on my bed, and small male dog and female kitten spend the day together out in the yard. The male cat grooms the female dog, and the male dog grooms the female kitten.
Wasn’t there also a Schrödinger’s Dog, with equally debatable life & death? So there’s a 25% chance that they’d both be alive.
I pity this Schrödinger’s neighbors. He must be a really weird guy. :eek:
Hmm… A long time ago, I got Dog 1 for Cat 1, who seemed like she needed a noncat friend. She loved the dog and the dog loved her and they were good buddies. The cat was an adult, around 4, and the dog was 7 months old when I got her. Then Cat 1 died and I got Cat 2, who was introduced to the dog, as opposed to the other way around. Cat 2 was known as “Bitch Kitty” among my friends because she bit everyone she met, eventually. After she made her boundaries clear, Cat 2 and Dog 1 got along just fine.
Then Cat 3 came along and was introduced to Cat 2 and Dog 1. More problems with Cat 2, who hid under the bed for three weeks, than with Dog 1, who by this time is on her third cat and seems to like 'em all just fine.
Then Dog 2 came along and I had 2 of each in the house. So I moved to a bigger house. This dog got thrown into a bizarre dog/cat hybrid pack and he was all Whoa, wtf is up with y’all? After he got acclimated, he appeared to be afraid of Cat 3, who would sit on a counter or table and swat at Dog 2’s butt as he walked by. This always made me giggle.
So then everybody died except for Cat 3. He was Cat Solo and I think he hated it. He would walk from room to room meowing and crying as if he was looking for someone to swat, nap with, groom, I dunno. But he seemed damned lonely, having spent his entire life in a house full of other critters. So I got him Dog 3, who had been exposed to a cat at the foster home and did just fine with him. He’s done the swat from the counter thing and Dog 3 respects him, but isn’t afraid of him. She usually lets him stick his kitty head in her bowl and share with her, although if she’s super hungry and he has canned food, she’ll growl softly at him to tell him to fuck off and eat his own supper.
TL;DR: I’ve never had a problem with dogs and cats getting along in the same house. Doesn’t seem to matter the age or who you introduce to whom or in what order. Eventually, they all end up curled up together on the couch in a big furball anyway.
Honestly, it often seems like my cats like the dogs better than they like each other. Last night, Andy the German Shepherd and Spike the cat were lying together. Spike was lying on his back between Andy’s front paws and would occasionally bat at Andy’s head, and Andy would snuffle Spike’s stomach. It was cute.
StG
I currently have a dog and a cat I got at the same time (9 years ago). The dog was 4 or so, the cat was a tiny kitten. They have merely tolerated each other all these years. Mostly they ignore each other and keep a 2+ feet distance. Occasionally the cat looks at the dog the wrong way or intrudes on his space and he ‘disciplines’ her roughly, though he’s never seriously injured her. They both like to lay in bed with me but stay at opposite ends.
However, they both have difficult personalities. My dog just doesn’t like cats (though he has no prey drive towards them), and doesn’t like most dogs or people either. My cat doesn’t like ANYONE except me.
I’ve owned or shared space with lots of other dogs and cats over the years I’ve had them, and in that time my dog only made two friends, both other dogs, that he didn’t growl at all the time, and would cuddle with. Everyone else he tried to stay as far away from as possible. My cat made zero friends (despite the best efforts of two very friendly cats and a dog) and hits everyone who gets within reach. The idea of her sleeping with any creature other than me is laughable. And she was born this way!
TL;DR it depends on the dogs and cats in question, more so than their ages when introduced or any other factor. This is true of most pet personality questions, IMO
Absolutely. “It depends” is the only possible meaningful answer.
My sister has an (elderly) dog and four (!) cats. She’s very much on her way to becoming a crazy cat lady. (Well, okay, probably not.)
The dog gets along with everybody. The cats get along with the dog and with people.
The cats act like quaternions: no two are compatible! They ALL hate each other! Rowdy, nasty, screeching cat-fights, all the damn time. At feeding time, the dishes have to go in separate rooms with closed doors!
(If cats ever learn to work doorknobs, we’re all doomed.)
I will say though that if you want a dog and a cat and you want to be sure they will be friends, your best bet is to a]get a puppy and a kitten at the same time and raise them together or b]find adult animals to ‘adopt’ who both have a history of living with and enjoying the other species. But even in those two circumstances there is no guarantee.
Growing up, we always had a dog. We’d often have a cat too. I wouldn’t say they were friends. They just sort of tolerated each other. The same with other people I know who have both.
I’ve almost always had cats and dogs together. In my experience, an older cat introduced to a puppy (no matter the size), will teach the dog who’s boss in short order. A kitten introduced to an older dog… well, the kitten learned to tolerate the dog and is a little more tolerant of rough handling by kids as well.
Kitten and puppy at the same time… best of friends.
Only once did I introduce a mature dog (8 year old beagle) into a house with 2 mature cats. Again, the cats showed him the ropes pretty quick…