How do I stop the dog from plucking warm yummie's from the cat box?
In a completely grotesque turn of events Hollie's under the impression the little morsels are the hot plate special at a cafeteria and she's bellying-up, tummy growling.
Although she doesn't just grab and run, ohhhhh no, she breaks it up by grinding it into the floor with her little paws. She wants to savor it.
To be honest she's been feeling really good lately so it's possible Walter's poo holds mystic healing powers. It could very well be the feline equivalent of The Fountain of Youth. Analysis may be warranted.
Ew.
They way they act when they grab those snacks... you'd think it was steak!
There are additives you can put in the cat's food that makes their waste unpalatable (Forbid is one brand). But the only thing we found that worked was to use a self-cleaning litterbox. Put the automatic litterbox to work raking up the little "snacks" into a covered receptacle before the dogs can get their paws on them... that did the trick for us.
You can also use a baby gate in a doorway to separate Hollie from the litterbox area, but which the cat could jump over or get through. We did that for a while, until Stella got stuck in the gate trying to jump over it when we weren't around, and broke her leg. And hung there for several hours. So, I couldn't really recommend that method if Hollie is a jumper...
Posted by: atomic mama | March 09, 2006 at 09:13 PM
I do the baby gate thing, but my dog is such a wimp I don't even have to latch the gate. I just balance it against the door frame so the cat has about a 1/2 foot to get through on one side. The necessity of the baby gate just grosses me right out. Eww.
Posted by: Margaret | March 10, 2006 at 04:12 AM
Dogs are so gross! On the bright side, you don't have to clean the litter box as often.
Posted by: Shelli | March 10, 2006 at 06:22 AM
um, EWWWW. That is about the grossest thing I have thought of lately!
Ick ick ick!
Posted by: SpaceMom | March 10, 2006 at 08:22 AM
Our dogs like to enjoy each others' "snacks" as well. Only here in NY they are often frozen so we call them poopsicles. Gross.
Posted by: sara | March 10, 2006 at 08:36 AM
At our other house we put a cat door in the door to the laundry room and put the litter box in there. We have a German Shepherd, this might not work with a big dog.
If your dog is doing this, do NOT use the clumping litter. It can quickly kill a dog (apparently it turns to concrete in their bowels).
Posted by: Christy | March 10, 2006 at 12:33 PM
My dog does the same thing. He know's he isn't supposed to do it so sometimes, he will hide his tasty treat and munch it down when I'm not looking. Well one day last week I walk out into the kitchen and I step on "something". There it was in all it's litter covered glory! It looked like the biggest snowcap (my no longer favorite candy)I have ever seen!
Posted by: Lisa & Jeff | March 10, 2006 at 02:11 PM
Oh great. Your cat-shit-eating dog and I share the same name. Don't I feel special.
Our dogs, actually one in particular loves the same type of juicy little scooby snacks. I just send the cat out now, so he'll go in the neighbors garden. Very evil, huh?
Holly
Posted by: Holly | March 10, 2006 at 03:51 PM