Welcome Roberta 
It's usually recommended that members don't put their private telephone numbers out onto an open public forum. That could attract all sorts of trouble, you might not have even thought of. But of course, sharing your telephone number in a private message with someone is fine and at your discretion.
Now you may wish to reconsider having your phone number on display? If you do wish to remove it from your post, please contact me or Catherine, and one of us can edit your post.
Right ....back to your idea of getting a dog!
Dogs and cats can get along very well, but that does depend on a lot of things.
It depends on how afraid the cats might be of dogs, or if they have ever spent time with dogs before. If they haven't, they are probably going to freak out. Whether they will adapt to the dog in time or not is anyone's guess.
It depends on the dog's history, temperament, and if he/she has been used to living with cats.
It also depends on the dog's prey-drive.
Puppies and kittens raised together are fine. When I was a little girl, we had cats and a dog together and one cat or another often slept in the same bed as the dog.
But even so, if the dog is rambunctious and grows much bigger and stronger than the cat, accidents can happen, even in play fighting. So that has to be thought about.
Or, if you decide to introduce a tiny puppy, it could end up having its eyes scratched by your disgruntled cats, if they decide the puppy is an unwelcome intruder into their cat world.
I am sorry....my thoughts are not 100% positive are they? I don't mean to sound so negative! Just being practical.
End result is....it does depend on a lot of factors. But yes, cats and dogs CAN live very happily together.
It's usually recommended that members don't put their private telephone numbers out onto an open public forum. That could attract all sorts of trouble, you might not have even thought of. But of course, sharing your telephone number in a private message with someone is fine and at your discretion.
Now you may wish to reconsider having your phone number on display? If you do wish to remove it from your post, please contact me or Catherine, and one of us can edit your post.
Right ....back to your idea of getting a dog!
Dogs and cats can get along very well, but that does depend on a lot of things.
It depends on how afraid the cats might be of dogs, or if they have ever spent time with dogs before. If they haven't, they are probably going to freak out. Whether they will adapt to the dog in time or not is anyone's guess.
It depends on the dog's history, temperament, and if he/she has been used to living with cats.
It also depends on the dog's prey-drive.
Puppies and kittens raised together are fine. When I was a little girl, we had cats and a dog together and one cat or another often slept in the same bed as the dog.
But even so, if the dog is rambunctious and grows much bigger and stronger than the cat, accidents can happen, even in play fighting. So that has to be thought about.
Or, if you decide to introduce a tiny puppy, it could end up having its eyes scratched by your disgruntled cats, if they decide the puppy is an unwelcome intruder into their cat world.
I am sorry....my thoughts are not 100% positive are they? I don't mean to sound so negative! Just being practical.
End result is....it does depend on a lot of factors. But yes, cats and dogs CAN live very happily together.
