Older dog scared of new kitten?

[xvCODY]

My girlfriend has a 2 year old Westie. She's a great dog. Acts fine. We got a kitten today that someone dumped at a relatives house. Our problem is, the dog is acting scared of the cat but the cat has no fear of the dog. When the kitten leaps at her toy, the dog lunges at the cat and barks really loud which i'm afraid is only making the cat adapt slower to the new house. Anybody have an idea as to why the dog is doing this? Could it just be because the cat is new and Luna has no idea of what's going on? Any way i could break the dog of this behavior if it doesn't stop? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Also, need ideas for names?

[xrayjeeper83]

gotta get pics to help with the name

Its probably use to be the only one and is now unsure of what the new little creature is

[xvCODY]

Luna, the westie, is used to cats. She's lived with a few before when my girlfriend wasn't living with me. I think we're going to name the kitten Cake. We're both big fans of the cartoon Adventure Time and there's a spoof episode with a magic cat named Cake. haha

[sevenyearnight]

Sometimes it's best to seclude a kitten to a room of the house for a while, so that the current pets can become accustomed to having a new member of the family. This also reduces the chance of the kitten going potty where she isn't supposed to, it can be hard for really young cats to always remember where their litter box is, or hold it long enough to get there. It can take sometimes several months for animals to adjust to one another, but with one being a baby, it's usually shorter. Make sure you don't punish Luna, but make sure she doesn't hurt the kitten. Make sure you also give her plenty of attention, so she doesn't feel jealous, or like she is getting replaced.

Is the cat a male or female?

[xrayjeeper83]

haha awesome name

[Reaperpilot2014]

My wife and I have rescued animals for years, and this is fairly normal behavior for established animals when a new animal is added to the situation. My dogs have had the same problem, but never with a new puppy. Cats, skunks, etc., lead to that kind of behavior occasionally though. Eventually they all settle in just fine and I have never had a large enough problem that I had to separate any of them for an extended period of time. It started rather shakily, but eventually at one point we had a baby skunk, 4 dogs, 2 cats, and a pot belly pig running around our 3 bedroom apartment as the best of friends. It was a bit crazy, but lots of fun.

[sevenyearnight]

Oh wow! Cuteness overload!

[Reaperpilot2014]

If only there had been a W alrus in there with that big bacon.

[sevenyearnight]

:O
Wa\ruses are not house pets!
Giant blubbery flippered body waddle-galloping through the apartment skewering pets, children, furniture, busting through walls, eating the refrigerator, bellowing and frothing fish smelling drool all over everything...

[xvCODY]

The kitten is a girl too.

[bertie 83]

The dog is probably stressing dominance over a very energetic kittten. +1 to sevenyear with seclusion, if they can smell each other they get used to the scent making them used to each other, first meetings should normally be bief and on the new animals turf. Full exposure to each other in a couple of weeks. As the kitten calms down the dog will take less interest in it. My mother has just introduced a kitten with her older cats, the biggest problem is the kitten sees everything as a game which upsets older cats

[xrayjeeper83]

:O
Wa\ruses are not house pets!
Giant blubbery flippered body waddle-galloping through the apartment skewering pets, children, furniture, busting through walls, eating the refrigerator, bellowing and frothing fish smelling drool all over everything...

It would be good revenge if you have loud neighbors

[DrKennethNoisewater]

my cat just had a kitten and my dog is afraid of it too! heres what i think:

it is no secret that dogs can be very jealous. until this kitten appeared Atticus (my male collie) got every ounce of attention he needed. Since the kittens been born its been a rave about its health as its been an unhealthy litter. Poor Atticus has had a significantly smaller period of the day dedicated to him. When i hold the kitten to him he looks awkward and walks away wanting nothing to do with it, even tail between the legs. To me it seems he feels threatened and jealous of the attention thrown at the cat. not sure if this is the same situation as what you are having but take it into consideration!!

[Flutter]

I need to buy the people below me a surlaW. The knocking on the door and hammering of the floor isn't getting the point across.

[sevenyearnight]

I need to buy the people below me a surlaW. The knocking on the door and hammering of the floor isn't getting the point across.

Hahahahaha!