Well, technically, the dog isn't new. We've had Buckwild (affectionately referred to as 'Buck' or 'Bucky') since before Christmas, so it's been about a month now. However, our cat still despises him. Licorice, our cat, used to roam the house freely. She is an indoor/outdoor pet, and her domain consisted of the entire premises. Her food and litter-box is kept downstairs in our furnished basement, but she would spend much of her time upstairs socializing with her owners or begging to be let outside. That was before Buck.
Now, she refuses to come upstairs unless Buck is outside. Even when she does come upstairs, she is extremely skittish and jumpy. She's also incredibly aggressive towards Buck. He doesn't seem to want to hurt her, but if he's anywhere near her, she hisses and attempts to attack him. Once, she's even hurt me on accident in her attempts to swipe at Buck.
Does anyone know of any ways to ease her into a friendly (or at least tolerable) relationship with Buck? I'd hate for them to be destined to wary or even hostile interactions with each other.
Oh, what you meant was how to introduce a new dog to a cat. Ok, it is the same thing, since there are only two of them.
It is not uncommon that dog and cat don't get alone. Some of them can be territorial toward other animals in the same house, and some of them can be jealous of you now pay attention to others instead of them.
In my opinion, you should make them get comfortable with each other by creating situations where they have to be together in the same room, in your presence of course. I am thinking maybe you can schedule group meal for the two of them at the same time. While they should eat out of different bowls, you may place their food in the same room at the same time, then call them over at the same time. Or maybe have the dog in the room first, then call the cat. So they won't have any confrontation on the way. If the cat is remotely wanting the food, she will have to come into the same room to eat. You must not do anything with the dog to make the cat jealous, but you also must stay close to prevent any physical confrontation.
That's actually a good idea that I've never thought of. We usually don't do scheduled feeding times for the cat - she's like the queen bee around the house, having food in her bowl all day and eating when she pleases, going in and out whenever she likes. But I think if she realized that she would only get her food at a certain time, and in the same room as the dog - she may just be willing to suck it up for once
I'm just afraid that she would get aggressive, or maybe stop eating all together. She's already retreated into the basement as I mentioned, and she used to love being upstairs. I almost think she'd rather not eat than to eat around Buck. I'll try it, and see what happens. Hopefully her survival instincts kick in, and she realizes that food is important. Even if it is at the cost of being civil towards the "horrible" dog.
Ok, it is the same thing, since there are only two of them. 
