Boxer Puppy and Adult Cat Food = Help!

[GypsyGurl]

Hi Guys!

I have a 6 year old domestic longhair named Puka and a 13wk old boxer puppy named Toby. Toby has a sneaky habit of eating Puka's food when I am not looking. I have caught him in the act and scolded him and usually he just spits it right out in front of me. Puka is fed specific dietary food that is geared towards helping his skin condition. He has some sort of stress related dry skin thing. Anyways, the point is the food isnt cheap and I can't have Toby sneaking bites of it when I am not in the room. Puka has an auto-feeder cause he is accustomed to grazing. Toby gets fed twice a day and he likes his food. What I dont understand why he finds Puka's food so tasty. I have resorted to putting my cats food on the kitchen table so Toby wont be able to reach it. Please Help!

 

[johann]

What we did was put the cat's food and litter box in a separate room (bathroom) with a baby gate. The cat can get in, but the puppy still hasn't figured out he can jump over the gate.

 

[Sepra]

My mother who has 3 dogs had the same problem with them cleaning out her cats bowls, so she found a high spot in her kitchen for the bowls. The cats jump up to eat and the dogs can't reach it.

 

[bayleighmom]

We have our cat food on the counter in the laundry room. Watch the litter box! "Kitty snacks" seem to be irresistable to dogs! Try using a baby gate to keep your pup away from the litter box.

 

[Cami]

Don't allow him access to the food or any other item (litter box) that you don't want him to get to.
Simple fix!
Training a puppy to NOT eat the cats food can be done but much easier and far less time consuming to put it out of their reach while you concentrate on other more needed training!
Cat food just tastes good to dogs and is often times used to get a sick dog to eat when nothing else works.

 

[laurelheebsh]

Yup, been there, done that. Our cat food is now up on the kitchen counter. Apparently it has more protein than dog food and thus tastes better. That's another reason to keep it away from your pup--I've read that puppies shouldn't eat high protein food. And our litter boxes are now in the 1/2 bath with a hook and eye on the door so the cats can fit in but Duke can't. He still licks the carpet outside that bathroom to savor all of the chalky, goodness. Gross!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

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!

 

[HaiducAgnita]

Another thing may be his feeding schedule. From what I read puppies should be fed 3-4 times a day since they have a small stomach and can't eat 1/2 of their daily recommended intake in one sitting.
My Haiduc is now 5 months and since we got him at 2 months we've fed him 3 times a day.

 

[Taliesyn88]

My puppy, and my older boys, all love cat food. Buddy still has not dicovered the litter box, thank God!!!! I now only have one cat in the house(my boyfriend's) and I tell him only to give the cat what she can eat, several times a day. I cannot put the food up high or the dogs will reach it, and the cat is declawed and not a jumper. I am trying to get my boyfriend to put the litter box, and cat food, upstairs in a room with a gate in front of the door. The cat can crawl under, but Buddy is getting bigger and cannot. But, he can jump really high!!!!!

Oh man, the boxer farts are bad too!!!! Especially when you have all 5 boxers in the room with you, and the gas gets to flying!!!! It's enough to gag a maggot, I tell you!!!!! The gas is silent but deadly and you never know who is doing it!!!!

Good luck, everybody has given you some great answers!!!!!

 

[GypsyGurl]

Thanks for your advice guys! Toby has discovered the litter box and let me tell you he loves those "nuggets" So Ive always made sure Puka's box is clean and keep an eye on Toby around it. My boyfriend thinks he can train Toby not to eat Puka's food but it hasnt really been working so well. I think the baby gate idea would work the best since Toby is still so small he can't jump yet that high yet. I really appreciate all the advice though thanks!