Have small kids in the home?

[ashleycat]

Where do you put the litter box? And what about the water bowls? ha ha

Right now I have the cats box in another room baby gated up. But keeping Charlie's water safe is really hard. I have to put it up and let him have it every so often. So he doesn't have free access to it.

What do you do?

[chrangharris]

I kept the water and the food bowl down within reach for the animals. I taught Misha that it is not toy and she is not allowed to play with it. It took me a few weeks to really get that point across but now she leaves it alone. Now that she is older, I'm teaching her how to feed the animals and she will help me. She knows she can only mess with the bowls while I'm there with her.

We have several cat boxes down in the basement which she hardly ever goes to unless an adult is with her. We have one large cat box upstairs in the hallway. Again, we taught her that it is not a toy.

[Cataholic]

Like above, Jonah has been taught from an early age that the cat's food, water and litter box are off limits. Sure there were plenty of times he filled the water bowl with food, or, washed his hands in the water..but, you have to expect that. Today, at 22 months (nearly) I have two food stations out in the open, with nearly never a mishap. I have one box covered in my bedroom, and he couldn't care less, and the ones in the basement don't really matter, as he isn't down there without adult supervision. He would MUCH rather play on my 3k elliptical trainer!!!

Cannot WAIT until he can scoop the litter! LOL.

[Kfamr]

Johanna,
With that big sandbox in the backyard, who needs the kittie's sandboxes? :p

[Cataholic]

Johanna,
With that big sandbox in the backyard, who needs the kittie's sandboxes? :p


You do make a good point. I hope Jonah won't start taking Monte out there to do his business!

[Sirrahsim]

A guy from my old church once told me "Don't babyproof the house, houseproof the baby." While I wouldn't leave a knife or anything dangerous out, I think that that was great advice :) My one year old will occasionally push his boundries, but he knows what the no-no's are.
:)

Honestly, what harm does it do if your child splashes around a little in the dog's water? :)

[ashleycat]

Well.... not only does she splash it, she likes to dump it. And then slip n fall.

While I am working on her boundries.. it's still hard to keep her out of everything. She's VERY active.

[moosmom]

I have a friend who has a "babygated" community (her computer room) for some of the older cats. She has 2 dogs, one of which will not leave the cats food and water alone. So, she put up a baby gate with a hole in it just large enough for the cats to get through it, but keeps out Sydney (the puppy). Works great. The cats eat in peace.

As far as keeping both litterbox AND food in the same room, not a good idea. The food and water shouldn't be near the litterboxes, at least that's what I've read in books and stuff.

I keep my cat's food in the kitchen and the litterboxes in the bathroom.

[Lady'sOtherHuman]

Well.... not only does she splash it, she likes to dump it. And then slip n fall.

While I am working on her boundries.. it's still hard to keep her out of everything. She's VERY active.

I know what you mean. I have an 18 month old and a 4 year old who are very busy. Though the 4 year old knows better I'm still trying to get the point across to my son that Lady's doggie cookies and food are not snacks(YUK!). He also likes to take the dry kibble out of Lady's bowl and put it in the water dish.

[lizbud]

Does anyone use playpens anymore? Don't even know if they're still
sold, but they really came in handy when you had to put the baby (toddler)
down somewhere safe while you were busy with other things.I didn't use
it often, but it sure was handy when needed.