Eating out of the litter box
 

Itsy has suddenly begun nosing through the cat litter. I have caught her several times now and I keep yelling at her but EVERY TIME my back is turned there she is again!!:eek: Is there some way to discourage this?? Why is she doing this all of a sudden??? There isn't really a place I can move the litterbox to that she won't be able to get at it. Errrrrrrrrrrr:mad:

Oh you poor thing!!! I know how you must feel though. When Max was just a puppy, we lived where there was a HUGE back yard, mostly desert landscaping....so very dry. And some neighborhood cats apparently used it for their litterbox when they were on their nightly patrols.....I never noticed any of it, but every now and then, here Max would come trotting across the yard with a cat turd in his mouth:eek:. It was the kind of place that there wasn't much you could do about it (we were leasing) other than just keep an eye on Max all the time.

Then, I have 2 cats who used to live in the laundry room (it was a 2 room affair, so they had LOTS of space), so Max was never around the litter box. And now, the cats have their own bedroom/bathroom and I put the litter box in the bathroom ~ if I'm not paying attention, Max is automatically in there nosing thru the litter box (after I've picked up their food dishes)...so I just have to really pay attention to him and not get distracted by anything else, LOL.

Is there a way you could maybe put up a baby type gate across the area where the litter box is...in a way the cats could get in but not the dogs?Or just something so that the cats could get in, but it would make it more difficult for the dog to get in and hopefully you'd catch him first:confused:?

Luckily, so far I've mainly only had to deal with Max eating their FOOD....it seems to be a good deterrent to eating cat poop LOL.

Good luck!

Gabby will do this, too. ewwww.... I have no where to put the litterbox where she couldn't get to it, either.

My litter box was in the laundry room and I had to babygate the room to avoid the temptation of kitty crunchies. Always felt a little guilty for kitties who had to potty but had to clear a hurdle first.

Does that mean that cats and puppies aren't a good mix? Wow never thought of that problem.

Me too guys...
Toby has been getting into the litter every time I am not looking.
We also put a baby gate up, and it's also sad for me that my cats have to jump to get into the bathroom. It's day 2 that we have the baby gate up, so we'll see how it goes.

The vet asked me to raise the litter box up off of the floor, but it's kind of impossible to do that where it is located, now... I can't put it anywhere else for the moment.

I have 2 cats, and they seem to get along with Toby just fine... except when he's in super Turbo mode.. and then he's chasing them all over the apartment.

I've just had a thought.... it's also possible to use one of those rubbermaid tupperware boxes to block the area that has the litter.. and this makes it a little easier for the cats to jump in and out of.... hrm.. maybe i'll give that a try.. I have tons of those rubbermaid thingy's...

let me know if anyone else has any solutions too..

Great thread here for those of us who have cats too!

Also -

I used to have one of those litter "houses" - with a door on it. That may work... though
they are larger than a usual litter pan though

We had one of those for a long time, until one of my cats had a hernia and wasn't able to get in and out of it easily, so I've switched back.

We had the same problem. We talked to the vet and they said it's common (gross). We ended up putting the litter box in a back hall with a baby gate blocking it. The cats had to jump to get to their litter box but they didn't mind. I've heard suggestions that there are top-entry litter box that discourage some dogs from getting in there.

We recently made an agonizing decision to put our cats outside and are having problems with them leaving "presents" (dead mice, etc) for the dogs (double-gross).

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Putting a baby gate between my kitties and their potty isn't really an option because one of my boys is 14 yrs old and he really struggles to climb over the gate. When I have the baby gate up in the living room to keep Itsy in where I can watch her and he wants in too, he'll just stand at the gate and meow until I come lift him over, poor old guy:(
I keep their litter box under our spiral staircase and I've started turning it around so the opening faces under the stairs...I'm hoping that will work since Itsy is afraid of the steps...I don't think she'll climb between them to get to the litter. I guess it depends how bad she wants that cat poo!:rolleyes:Yuck!

I got several hamster playpens and unfolded them and put them around the litter box and it keeps mine out. I got them at Petsmart

the reason why they go through the litter tray is because cats do not completely digest their food so when they do a poo dogs (usually puppies) think its cat meat coz thats what it smells like and they beam straight in so although to you and me this is utterly gross to them its just cat food, so if your thinking of buying your cat some really expensive food coz you think it will be good for them dont bother coz most of its wasted, cheap cereal meat is far better for them coz they get more out of it. (our vet told us this)

oh yes i can relate to this one!....Riley and my bichon pup chloe, wont stay out of the litter box either..they are the same age so they are partners in crime you see....and I heard scratching the other day and didnt see either pup, i said to my self,,,UGGGGGH the litter box, and i went into the bathroom to check. and sure enough there was Riley INSIDE the litter box digging away! nearly all the litter was on the floor..chloe was standing there watching and being his lookout is my guess...(i think she put him up to it myself)..that way she could sit there looking all white fluffy and innosent, while pointing at him behind his back letting me know that the only reason she was in there was that she was trying to stop him...ok ill stop now that you all think im nuts...lol

Hi!
I have a bichon too. She's 7 yrs old and a wonderful, sweet girl! It took a while for her to get used to Mariah but now they get along really well! She's so very calm and laid back that Mariah was a bit of a shock! She's so active and energetic...and such a character! We love them both so much!

My litter box is a covered one. It fits perfectly between my dryer and the wall so I just turned it to face the opening towards the wall and pulled it back some. My cat has no problems getting to it and seems to like the extra privacy. So far, I havent had any problems with the puppy getting in.