Everything is Prey

Hi Shoes428!

Wow! Quite a resume!

I understand your concern but I think Maggie has a clear distinction between a member of her family (or pack) and an animal entering her property. It is also depending on how you introduce the kitten to Maggie.

My 3 dogs lived for years without any cats until my daughter moved back with her adult cat, who never had lived with dogs. She brought Oliver a few times before she actually moved in so that the transition would be smooth. She was holdig Oliver while she let our dogs sniffed him one at a time. Noah, our male dog, has the most prey drive among the three but he never has had any problem not only with Oliver but other dozen of kittens I fostered since then as well. Noah actually killed a rat and caught a bunny that entered in our yard and got attacked by a skunk. For the bunny, I shouted "Leave it!!" as soon as he put the bunny in his mouth and he released it and it ran away but was found dead a couple of days later.

Make sure you protect the kitten in your hands inside the house and have someone else bring Maggie in, holding her collar if necessary. Tell her to be nice to the kitten (my dogs know "be nice" and "be gentle" commands). Never leave the kitten and Maggie unsupervised until she becomes really trustful and you feel really comfortable. You will see Maggie accepting the kitten as a part of the family.

I am rather worried about your existing cat. We adoted a couple of kittens after fostering them and THEY ARE the ones who hated to have other kittens in our home so we had to give up fostering any more kittens. They are just fine us fostering dogs. Cats are not pack animals so I am curious how your cat will accept the kitten.

Anyway, I think a proper introduction is the key here. Good luck and let us know how it goes