Bringing a puppy into a house with an outdoor cat

[rickc]

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Hello, I'm looking to get a little Yorkie or Maltese/Yorkie mix puppy in the next few weeks, but right now I have 2 cats, 1 is an indoor and the other spends most of his time outdoors, I haven't had their boosters or worming done this year so I've got them booked in for those next week.

Is it safe to bring a puppy into the house with them after the cats have had their injections and worming, can the puppy get ill from contact with them (or by walking on the floors they've been on, or bed they've been on etc) even after getting wormed and having their boosters, or do I need to leave it a bit longer for this stuff to kick in? (I'll be trying to keep them separate for a while in general but there is always a chance someone leaves a door open for a split second etc), and is there anything else I need to do to minimize the risks of the puppy getting ill from them? The puppy will have had its first vaccine (8 weeks old atm) and be wormed from what I'm aware of.

I have never owned a dog before so I'm a bit scared about health problems since one of the cats is an outdoor cat, I don't want him giving anything to the puppy so any advice would be greatly appreciated, trying to prepare as much as possible.

 

[JudyN]

Are the cats overdue their boosters and if so, by how long?

 

[rickc]

Yes they're overdue by 3 months now

 

[JudyN]

I'd have thought that (a) their immunity would kick in pretty soon after the injection, (b) they may well still be immune anyway as vaccine manufacturers would allow that much leeway, and (c) they'd be unlikely to share the same pathogens as puppies anyway. But it would be best to double-check with your vet, who may be able to put your mind completely at ease.

You can never eliminate all risk - e.g. your cats, or even you, could pick up pathogens from unvaccinated dogs outside and then bring them in on their paws - but if we worried about every possibility no one would ever get a puppy at all!

Do let us see photos of your pup when he/she arrives - we LOVE puppy photos!

 

[rickc]

Thank you for the advice! I'll make sure the ask the vet about it when they're in, just had me worried as I'd read some horror stories about puppies getting ill and I've just been trying think about everything to minimize the risk as much as possible, I'll update this in a week after I see the vet with information they say just in case anyone else is thinking about the same stuff and comes across it, and I absolutely will show photos when I get her, can't wait but also nervous!