How should I introduce my cat to my parents' animals for the weekend?

[Meara Aideen]

My parents have two cats (aged 7 years) and a Lab (aged 5 years). Instead of boarding my cat (aged 11 months), it was decided (mutually) to bring her home with me. I'm only going to be home for the weekend this time, but I'll be home for longer at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. What is the best way to make sure that everyone gets along, even if they're not the best of friends? She will be sleeping and probably eating in my bedroom, and we haven't figured out where her litter box will be yet (it will be separate from everyone else's).
My parents' cats have always lived together and the Lab was brought into the house as a puppy, so he's always lived with cats. I'm not so worried about them fighting (though that is a concern, which is why when we're away everyone will be separated). I was just wondering if anyone had tips.

 

[grndprx08]

You can let be together while you are with them. They will be curious and will try to establish who the boss is. Play with all of them and even offer a few treats for good behaviour. Good luck.

 

[Jr. is angry]

you dont. unless you are into pet fights.

cats will never adjust that quick, the dog could go as far as killing the cat, or vice versa, depending on the cat.

keep cat, and litter box, in your room.

edit- i cant believe these answers. i must be the only one who has ever seen cats fight , and beat the snot out of dogs.

 

[Ariane deR]

If it's just for a weekend, honestly you might do best to just keep your cat separated in your room. with litter box in there too ( i would definitely do that - you want to make that room a secure den for her and not force her to have to traverse a house with 3 strange animals to get to her litter box. that's a good way to end up with "accidents')
Sometimes animals will make friends surprisingly quickly and yours being young may help. but usually cats take longer to adjust than 2 days. So for this trip you may want to only do the first stage of letting them smell each other. then you will need to repeat that again at Thanksgiving but you might get farther with it.
At least you should start out by keeping your cat in your room with the door closed and see how they react. Bring out your cat's carrier and set it down for the other animals to smell (unless she does not want to leave her carrier -- in that case bring something else with her scent on it) Meanwhile there should be something with the other pets scent in the room you are in so your cat can sniff it.
You can try feeding them treats at the same time on either side of the door.
After a while you could try opening the door a crack and letting them see each other, but you might really want to wait until the next trip to move to that step.

Just because the dog is OK with the cats he considers part of the pack does not mean he'll be OK with another cat. It's a good idea to keep the dog on leash when he first meets a new cat and keep a water bottle to spray the cat if it goes on the attack.
and I totally agree you should not leave these animals together when you are not supervising.

 

[DarkAngelAlliance]

well when my mum took one of my kittens and introduced them to her staffy cross, they had a bot of a 'shouting' match and then calmed down after 30 mins, now they share the same bed lol. It actually depends on the animals themselves. The dog will probably be ok, although a bit 'who's this' as it's already living with cats, the other cats will probably fight with yours a lot, for a while, so whatever you do do not leave them in the same room together.