We all know the age-old sayings about people getting on like “cats and dogs”.
But what about having your bengal cat live with a dog.
Is this possible?
Is it a good idea?
Or will it all end in disaster?
In this article we are going to look at whether or not your bengal cat can live with a dog (or dogs) and what considerations need to be made.
Story Time
If you have read any other articles on this website, then you will probably have seen me talk about Kala, who is my/my family’s bengal cat.
When Kala was a kitten, we introduced her to our family dog at the time – Rosie.
Although Kala was nervous at first (and Rosie a little unsure) they came to get quite accustomed to each other, relatively quickly.
A number of years later (and after sadly saying goodbye to Rosie) we got another dog, Daisy.
Kala was – to say the least – horrified that we had introduced a puppy into what was now her house.
Introducing A Bengal Kitten To A Dog
The potentially easier pathway to ‘peaceful cohabitation’ between cat and dog is to introduce a bengal kitten to an older dog (or even puppy) that already lives in your house.
Conclusion
As you can see, it is definitely possible for your bengal cat to live and get on with a dog. There are plenty of stories online of bengal owners who have dogs as well, and many reports of “happy families” so to speak.
However, a lot will depend on the nature of your bengal (and the nature of the dog(s) as well).
Another key consideration is the relative stages of life at which you introduce your bengal cat/kitten to your dog/puppy or vice verse.
As outlined above, it is probably easier to introduce a bengal kitten into a household with a dog already there, than it is to introduce a puppy into a house with an older bengal cat.
It’s not impossible to introduce a puppy to an older cat, but you do need to do it in a careful and considered fashion.
As mentioned above, I have experienced “integrating” a bengal cat with dogs in both contexts (dog with kitten and puppy with adult cat). It was definitely easier to introduce Kala as a kitten than it was introducing her to new puppies, but in the end she did get used to both Daisy and Winston … although I would hardly call them best of friends.
