Pets, my Panther (cat) vs. dog issues (adoptions)

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about 13 years ago i rescued a wonderful cat from an Animal shelter that had been red tagged, meaning (last day).

So I asked the man at the shelter if i could hold her,  when he opend up the cage she was locked up in and I held her, she purred so gently and I had no other option but to take her into my home as a family member.  Whe the man had to put her back in the cage and Nana (my cat's name) held on to my shirt and tore it a little and scratched me.  i was asked if i still wanted her.  I sad of course i still want her.  The man said to me even after she tore your shirt and scratched you, I told him that if someone was throwing you in a small cage wouldn't you be scared and cling to someone for help?

I brought her home and ever since she became a member of my family I stil love her dearly.

Then the time comes with wanting to add another addition to the family, but this time, a DOG.

Nana didn't like the first two dogs i brought home and i had to take them back to the homes I got them from, but i had a dog over the weekend, named him Joey (from Friends) because he was lovable, cute and just a lot of fun to be around and to have around.

 

Nana didn't like him at all, even swated him across the face a couple of times along with her greeting of hissing at Joey every time we came inside the apartment.

I went to a place and took joey with me and found him a new home with a large yard for him. I learned that Joey was going to be somewhere aroud 60 to 70 lbs. of pure love and he loves to give you kisses all the time as well.

Today as I walked away from him I felt sooo sad   and began to tear up a little too.

I know he will have a great home and a big yard to play in and be with a family that has other dogs and kids too.

Its's hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful dog and I wish I had him back.  He's a 2 1/2 mth old German Shepherd, golden blonde colored with a darkened snout and a little black on his tail.

How does one get over not being able to keep a wonderful dog?  He was so wonderful, but I do not weigh that much and he was already 32 lbs and strong like an OX.  

I still miss him and will wonder if he will forget about me, or remember me if he see's me sometime down the road.

Nana seems happier having the whole apartment to herself.  I can't ever get rid of her for another pet because she has been with me for too long and I adore her always.

I want a dog though, I want a dg to got to the beach and run with, take for walks and to go places with me when I am out and about.

I wish I could have kept Joey, but it's wrong to keep a dog in small living quaters, but I already miss his kisses and the walkes we went on together this weekend.

Even in bed last night he layed right nest to me and went to sleep and woke me up at 3:30 am to take him out for him to do his business.  He loves having his belly rubbed and just a beautifl companion to have.

He even jumped out of my car window to do his business, I paniced of course and then realized what he was doing, but I then learned to keep the windows up most of the way on the pasenger side of my Van.

I feel like I did something wrong by not keeping him, and I feel I have done something wrong to Nana for bringing a dog into our little home.  

I know that as time passes i will fell better, but I will never foret Joey.  When he looked up at me to see if he did anything wrong, I just pat him on the head and gave him a kiss on the top of his head too and told him how much I will always love him.

Enjoy your new home Joey, and I will always love you. but you have a large yard and kids to play with too...

[Highmac]

Hi Tonye - more animals should have owners like you: You gave the welfare of the animals priority over your own desires.

Is Joey living near you - would it be realistic to keep in touch and perhaps "dog-sit" when his new owners need a day out and can't take him? Or would that just upset you more?

[PussEFoote]

Hi Tonye

Nana's reaction is not only because the newcomer is a dog, she may react in exactly the same way with a new cat.
(Although an older cat can sometimes be quite motherly to a new kitten.)

How long did you have Joey with you?
Realistically, even if they are going to get along eventually, it may take a good deal longer than a weekend - usually some weeks or even months, especially as Nana is an older cat now & has been solo Queen of your home for so long.

It's quite natural for her to dislike a stranger coming into her territory. She's protecting both her home & her relationship with you.
It's also quite natural for her to give the dog a swipe on the nose if he gets too close (personal space!).
Dogs very quickly learn the power of a cat's paw (or claw even!) & will avoid such discipline.

I'd give it at least a couple of weeks to see if the situation settles.
Ideally keep (including sleeping/feeding) the two in different rooms/areas at first, until they get used to the smell of each other, then introduce them for very short supervised periods.
After that a good time for getting together is mealtimes, put both feeding dishes in the same area but not too close.

It could take a good while & she may never really become close friends with any newcomer, but may at least learn to tolerate it.

Good luck!

BarbZ

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thank you all for he positive feedback, joey's in a new, wonderful home and i had Joey for about 4 days altogether.

i live in an apartment/condo, but learning that he would be a very large german shepherd of about 65 to 75 lbs, i had to find a better and more suitable place for him.  There is no room in my apartment for a dog that large.  Even though i miss him dearly, i will always have him in my heart and remember his wonderful eyes looking up at me.

I'm getting photos of him sent to me later this week and I do hope i will be ablae to see him from time to time, but for now, he needs to be with his new home and family of people and new pet family too.

I am going to get a midsize dog for me and Nana and take the suggestion of keeping them apart for a few days and getting them together eventually.

I hope to find a smaer version of a German Shepherd, because they are beautiful creatures and are loyal and loving and great to have as pets/companions.

Well I'll chat with you all later, and i do hope there are a lot of people on Techsurvivors that a Pet lovers and owners.

If anyone know of anyone that has a German Shepherd male puppy, that will be a medium size dog between 35 to 45 lbs, let me know.  I'm mostly interested in German Shepherd, Collie, or a larger Poodle type.

I do live in the Long Beach area of California.

Thanks again...  

[Dreambird]

Have a look here Tonye for dog breeds, advice on what kind for a certain lifestyle etc.:
http://www.netpets.com/dogs/dogref.html

Thanks for sharing your story...    I couldn't part with my little dog, Spencer... he's been with me for nearly 13 years now. I can imagine your cat Nana being jealous about another animal, I'm positive that Spencer would be the same way. I have a house but find that a small breed of dog is better for my lifestyle, it's still a big city and a small yard...

[krissel]

Having had two shepherd mixes, both about 55 lbs, I think you did the right thing giving Joey to a family with more space.

My house is rather small but I did have a very large yard fenced for a dog's desire to really run. Each had a great time chasing squirrels and rabbits and I knew they were also protected from outsiders. A side benefit was the deer avoided my property.
As my job duties became more involved and eventually kept me away for as much as ten hours a day, I really felt very guilty for having to leave an animal alone for that long. When my last dog (Pepper) died I decided not to get another one unless I had the time to give to the animal. In addition she had an extremely social personality and was rather lonely with just me in the house.

So aside from having enough space, consider how much time you have to give and whether the breed and individual animal is suited to living with a single person (I'm making an assumption here.)  Some dogs are better for families and others do fine if left alone.

As for your cat, when you do find a dog you want to introduce see if you can have them meet each other on neutral ground the first time. Perhaps you have a friend who could help with this. That way the cat won't be so defensive of her territory.

Good luck. Pets are capable of breaking your heart but they can also mend them as well.

 

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Thank all of you for your great stories and being pet owners as well.

I came across an ad in the recycler for a min-pin for 25.00.

I spoke to the lady and couldn't beleive that someone would just abandon any animal.  we talked for a little bit about my cat Nana and her pets as well, but her husband told her no more pets.

So I am going to be seeing my new family member tomorrow 10-15-03 at 1:pm.  He's a little over a year old, house trained, auto trained as well and loves to run and play, and needs a lot of  love and attention.

After I had become the victim of a hate crime, I don't go out much any longer and having a dog/ family member in my home will make me go out more often and feel somewhat more secure.

He's about 12 1/2" to 14" tall and about 13 to 15 lbs.  I don't think I'll have any trouble walking him on a leash or taking care of him.  I will have to come up with a great name for him.  So if anyone has any good names for a big guy in a little body they are all welcomed.

Joey, was and is a beautiful dog, I got pics of him sent to me last night via email, but don't know how to post them on this site for all you pet owners to see. (Love U Joey!)

I am still trying to recover and having a dog that has a lot of love to give and that needs a lot of love given back is just what I need.

I have a cat leash for Nana, but she just never took to going for a walk on a leash, so she's been strictly an indoor cat.

She's wonderful, loving and will get use to a new addition to the family, even if it takes months.

It also great to be a techsurvivor member where people can discuss just about anything.

Thank you all!

[June Drabek]

Tonye, my eyes  are filled to overflowing reading about your need for a  loving dog in your home. I am nearly 79 years old, but I hope I will always have a dog  in my life. When I get too  old  to  have a  dog that  needs exercise, I will go to the Shelter and get a dog that is in the same  condition I am..so we can give  one another comfort in our  disabilities. Please  do  let  me know how  things progress. I care. My email address is available via my profile. My husband and I have been married for 59 years, and we have never  been without a  dog in our lives. I wish you all  the best. June

* June, I edited your specific email address to preclude trollers from harvesting it, hope that's OK.* Harv

[Highmac]

June - I think most would agree it's not a good idea putting your email address in the open forum. Safer to send a Personal Message (click the PM button at the bottom of the window of the post made by the person you want to contact). Then you can swap email addresses in privacy.
You can edit your post to remove your email (click Edit at the top of your post window). You don't want the amount of spam some of us get  

[June Drabek]

Pendragon, Thank you so very kindly for editing my email address....it never occurred to me that there may be someone undesireable coming to this fine place. And you are correct...I do NOT need more spam. Had to delete over a hundred messages today, and some of them were messages I had already deleted. This is the third time around that this has happened...just last week I had to notify my ISP that there were over three hundred old deleted messages that had been resent. Their excuse follows...sounds sort of "nothing" to me. June

The email will automatically delete itself from our server when it's done
downloading, so there's not really anything you can do to help. The
problem is when someone sends you an email with a very large attachment,
like photos from a digital camera. The mailbox gets so big that you can't
download all of it, so none of the email gets deleted and you have these
kinds of problems. All we can really suggest is that you talk to people
that email you and ask them not to send large attachments your way.