Boxer Puppy and Adult Cat Food = Help!

[suzyqdogsmom]

You can train a dog to do anything - this said let's be realistic. SuzyQ is a really well trained girl & rarely does things she isn't supposed to do. Eating Mr. Kitty's food is a big no no in our house. She never eats out of his dish when we are around, but I have woke up in the middle of the night and I hear the distinctive sound of his dish hitting the wall in the kitchen, and he is outdoors at night, so we know who the culprit is. I have caught her in the act and scolded her and still she will sneak on occasion. As Mr. Kitty rarely leaves leftovers, it isn't enough for me to figure out a place to feed him where she can't get to his dish. By all means try to train your pup to stay out of the cat's dish, but I wouldn't be too disappointed if it is very, very difficult. That goes for the litter box too as you have discovered. Good luck.

 

[pelow]

Food and Litter Box

We have also had the same problem. However, we purchased an automated litter box that cleans the box 5 to 10 minutes after the cat gets out. Currently our pitbull is the only one that can jump gates. Our 2 puppies are still trying to figure out how to destroy it. The only solution we have found for the cat food is to put it up high. Once your dog figures out he or she can jump a babygate forget it. They will clear that thing in a minute to get a bite of cat food or poop.

 

[MissLucysMom]

Just a note on the baby gate...it took my Lucy (13 weeks) all of 2 seconds when she was 9 weeks old to realize that she could actually CLIMB the gate like a ladder. Forget jumping it. I ended up having to wrap the gate in sheets so she couldnt get her little toes in the rungs of the gate. That worked. However, now she jumps it (ah, they get so big so fast).

Having 2 cats myself in addition to my baby Lucy, I put the cat food (and separate water just for the boys) on top of my dryer. Not only can Lucy not reach it, but it has also helped the boys be less skiddish because when the dryer is on and noisy, they still have to get on it to get food. This has made them easier to deal with, less jumpy, and actually more calm around Lucy.

As far as the litter, the absolutely best suggestion I think I have ever heard was the one about the hook on the bathroom door so the cats can fit through but Lucy cannot. I did not even think about that (she LOVES to feast on kitty nuggets). I am going straight to the hardware store when I leave work and getting the hook!!!

 

[SwadersGirl]

Babygate works for us...

We had the same issue when Cuya first came home. We have two cats and both eat whenever they want. We have the litter box and food/water in the office at our house. Since there's a door, the baby gate fits perfectly into it. Dobie likes to lean on it after one of the cats jumps over, but has yet (knock on wood) to try to climb or jump it. Cuya jumped it once. It wasn't pretty. She actually startled herself when she went over... but she's never tried it again. She's 8 months old now and her head is above the gate. My husband is 5'11" and I've seen her jump up to his sholders, but she won't try to get over the gate again. I think that's why Dobie has tried it too - if big sister isn't doing it, he's not doing it! Cat food or litter box or nothing, that gate's still standing firm... well except when their clumsey mommy trips over and takes the gate down with her! Then it's a free for all with cats and dogs and litter and nuggets and food going everywhere! Anyways, it's worth a try. We got our gate for a whooping $5! It was well worth the money. Besides, Cuya can now reach every inch of our counter, kitchen/dinning room table, and has even figured out how to open doors with handles (yeah, that's a lot of fun!)!!

 

[Baby Ripley]

I installed a kitty door on a door that leads into a hallway to my upstairs. I keep the litter box and the kitty's food there. ... I have 3 dogs and it has worked great!!!!

 

[AbbeyRoad]

Yep most dogs LOVE cat food and cat poop it's just the way it is. I agree with the others putting it out of reach is the best solution. On the cat box I have a booda dome with "stairs" and since it's covered and the tray is around the "corner" from the stairs the dog can't get his head in there so I don't have to put that out of his reach, but the cat food yes. Also it can give dogs the runs (if mine eats it he has the runs for a good 3-4 DAYS and horrible gas it's REALLY bad), so watch out for that.

Good luck!

I've been eyeing the boda dome! I know it is supposed to reduce the litter tracking, but the first thing I thought when I saw it was, "hmmmm, I don't think Abbey could get her head in there and around to the 'kitty crunchies' (as we call them)." Last week at the petstore they probably all thought I was nuts because I was sticking my hand in it and looking in it trying to gauge if it would work or not, so I'm glad to hear that it does.

Again, just when you think you have a great idea it turns out you are not the only one! That must be what makes it great!

And we too just put the cat food up high where the dog can't get at it, and first thing we do at the inlaws is put the food up high and turn the covered cat box around to face the wall so the cat can't get in, but she'll have to move it to be able to get at the crunchies and by that time we will have caught her in time to stop her.

We currently have a covered cat box that is in our kitchen (we don't have a basment to put it in and the only other non carpeted room with space contains our furnace and I don't want to know what my house would smell like if we put it in there!), but the cats basically have to get through an opstacle course to get to it. We have it blocked on one side by the trash can and the other side by our recycling bin, which is weighted down with a stool & tv table because she quickly learned that she could just push it out of the way....oh, the things we do for our pets...

 

[silly24boxer]

We put the cat food in a kitchen cupboard and put a spring on it so it shuts behind the cat. This works great because our cat zak will open the door to get his food. Gauge cannot figure out how to get in there, so he sits in front of the door and waits.