Dog eats cat poop

[Valerie]

Help - any ideas out there. My sister has a 6-mo Golden Retriver and a 6 year old cat. The dog eats the cat's kitty litter. She's tried putting kitty litter behind closed door, but cat can't get at it. She wants me to take the cat, but my own cat is 20 years old and I don't think it would be good to introduce another cat into the household. Any suggestions (her husband is giving her grief to give up the cat becuse he's (the cat) is peeing all over 'cause he can't get into the kitty litter.

[Andie]

Maybe she should try putting the litter box up higher. The dog can't get to it but the cat still can or maybe just a covered litterbox will do the trick.

[Valerie]

Many thanks. She's tried the covered box route, but the cat won't use it. I will suggest putting it up higher and see what happens. That's a good idea.

[Vermontcat]

You could also put the litterbox somewhere that the dog isn't allowed access. We installed a cat sized pet door in our basement door so our cat can use the litterbox down there and not have to meow to have the door opened in the middle of the night. Would it be possible to install a pet door for the cat that the dog wouldn't fit through?

[Valerie]

Yes. Excellent idea. Thanks. (Dog is huge, cat is small).

[Cookiebaker]

Another suggestion is to TRAIN the dog not to go near the kitty litter. When you aren't at home, make it so that the dog is contained in another room/crate etc. When you are at home be very consistent and every time he goes near it, say "NO" or "Uh uh" very firmly. We had a problem with malone & the kitty litter, and we have trained him so that he doesn't go near the litter box. Hope this helps!!

[Pam]

We also have a cat door cut out in the door that leads to the basement. My cats' food and litter boxes are kept down there because of course my dog would also like to eat their food. The only part of my dog that fits through the flap is her head. Sometimes when I am coming up the steps, Bella has her head through the flap looking down at me and she looks just like those deer heads that people often mount on walls! I should really get a picture of that some day. Too funny!

[Fuzzy317]

I hope the suggestions help. We cheat our cats have their own room, and the doorway has a Kiddie (or Kitty) Gate. Dogs can not go into the room, and the cats either jump over or go between the bars. Maybe you could do sometime like that, maybe a Kitty Gate to close it off from the dog ?

[Valerie]

Thanks so much everyone for all your responses (and pix!). We'll try them all. The kitty door sounds like a great idea - with food & litter downstairs. Max (the dog) does need to be trained, my sister seems to be falling down in that area - she's so smitten with him that he seems to be getting his own way. This is such a great website, I truly thank everyone for responding!

[Pam]

Valerie I wouldn't be too hard on your sister. Sometimes dogs just act like dogs. When we first got Trevor 9 years ago I had two other dogs at the time. The vet told me when we took Trevor in for his first visit "dogs like to eat what's in the litter box - be careful!" HA! Gross as it sounds, apparently this is very commonbehavior. The cat door has been the answer for us and I know it will work for you too!

[RockyRoad]

Lady eats out of Sally's litterbox too. What we do is block off Lady from going in here with chairs when she is off the leash. So she can go basically anywhere but here .