New dog and old cat

I had this very situation. Well, except for the boyfriend part :-)

The cat had been ruling the house for about 10 years when we brough a 1½ year old black lab into the household. They did not like each other!

In our particular situation, we have a large 4 level backsplit house where the cat lived on the main floor and the dog had the run of the lower 2 levels.

For about a year they tolerated the other being in the other area. The cat would not go downstairs, but the dog went upstairs to hunt down the cat and also to eat her food. They would postulate, but never made an actual attempt to hurt each other.

Finally, one day, they came to a truce and would greet each other (in the cat's area) but gave up on the threats and seemed to agree to live together but apart. I guess this is the apathetic tolerance that you would find acceptable.

Neither the cat or the dog would want to put themselves in a position of being hurt and even though they may threaten each other, they will probably not hurt each other because one or the other would find that discretion is the better part of valour.

In other words, don't fret and they will eventually come to terms.

Good luck

I sure hope so, they're both my babies. Today when the cat got him, she was pretty close. I guess I'll just have to not have them separated.