His Cat Plus Her Dogs?

My girlfriend and I are getting married. We plan to
live in her house. I have a small (7 lb) 13 year old
female, indoor/outdoor. She's very timid. When she
was young she hated to come in the house, but now she's
inside 80% of the time.

Girlfriend has 2 cats and 2 dogs, 7 years old. The
dogs are a 15 lb Pom and a 35 lb Jack Russell. They
are great friends and very active. They used to bug
the cats but no longer. One cat is mostly outdoor, and
the other is a skittish mostly indoor female. Both
cats stand their ground if threatened by one of the
dogs. They were in the house before the dogs, and so
they got to "train" the puppies.

Some years ago when a kitten appeared at my house my
cat refused to come in the house until the kitten found
other lodgings. She was able to co-exist for a couple
of years with an old dog who had no interest in her.

Is there any chance at all of merging my cat into her
household? I feel like the first time the Jack Russell
chases her we won't see her in the house again, and
she's too small/old to be an outdoor cat at this point.

Yes, you probably can merge the household. Your cat should be kept in a room
by herself with food, water, litter, and a comfortable bed. Very, very
gradually you can expose her to the other animals. I would continue to keep
her separated from the dogs. Perhaps you can set up a gate whereby she can
get into a room by herself without the dogs being able to follow. You should
keep a litter box and food, water dishes in this room where the dogs cannot
get to them. The cat needs privacy (especially from the dogs) and a room
where she feels safe.
Gail
<bluepost22.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1183739838.053824.276200@e9g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> My girlfriend and I are getting married. We plan to
> live in her house. I have a small (7 lb) 13 year old
> female, indoor/outdoor. She's very timid. When she
> was young she hated to come in the house, but now she's
> inside 80% of the time.
>
> Girlfriend has 2 cats and 2 dogs, 7 years old. The
> dogs are a 15 lb Pom and a 35 lb Jack Russell. They
> are great friends and very active. They used to bug
> the cats but no longer. One cat is mostly outdoor, and
> the other is a skittish mostly indoor female. Both
> cats stand their ground if threatened by one of the
> dogs. They were in the house before the dogs, and so
> they got to "train" the puppies.
>
> Some years ago when a kitten appeared at my house my
> cat refused to come in the house until the kitten found
> other lodgings. She was able to co-exist for a couple
> of years with an old dog who had no interest in her.
>
> Is there any chance at all of merging my cat into her
> household? I feel like the first time the Jack Russell
> chases her we won't see her in the house again, and
> she's too small/old to be an outdoor cat at this point.
>