At San Francisco senior dog rescue, a resident cat clocks in to test which pups can live with cats

A San Francisco senior dog rescue has been relying on an unlikely staff member to help place older dogs: a calm, cat tester who meets resident pups to see whether they can live with feline companions. Muttville Senior Dog Rescue first used an orange hospice foster named Mustache to carry out these introductions and assess dogs’ reactions before adoption. Mustache’s steady, unflappable behavior made him useful for the job. Staff would bring him into supervised encounters with senior dogs so the animals could approach or ignore him, and the rescue captured some of those relaxed meetings in an Instagram video. The cat’s temperament allowed employees to observe realistic interactions rather than guessing how a dog might behave around a household cat. Mustache arrived at Muttville as a hospice foster with advanced kidney disease. His guardian, Missy Dominguez, had promised three years ago to give him a home for whatever time he had left; Mustache later died of kidney failure. After his passing, another feline named Little Dude stepped into the testing role and has continued the work. Muttville says the testing is practical as well as sweet: roughly 40% of prospective adopters have a cat and ask whether a dog will be compatible. By checking dog–cat interactions in advance, the rescue can make better matches, lower the chance an animal will be returned, and give senior dogs a calmer, more stable retirement in a home that truly fits them. Staff members celebrate Mustache’s contribution as a legacy and praise Little Dude for being similarly “dog-savvy,” reading canine body language and helping the team place older dogs in homes where they’ll acclimate well. Muttville continues to use these supervised feline introductions to improve outcomes for senior dogs and the families who adopt them.