Puppy + litter box = one worried puppy parent?
I am the proud parent of a fourteen week old sheltie. She is very bright, sweet and good natured……and unfortunately for me, she is a fan of romping in my cat’s litter boxes like a kid in the ball pit at Burger King.
A quick bit of info on the cats: they are 12, 2 and 1. The twelve year old cat has arthritis, thus putting up a baby gate for him to hurdle over to get to the litter box is not an option– nor is placing the litter box in a high place.
I’ve considered the pet gates that have a "pet door" for cats go through, however, due to my sheltie puppy’s short stature, she, too, could pass through the gate.
Any ideas and suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. I am worried for the health and well being of my critter family.
Thank you,
A. Nonymauz
6 Comments on “Puppy + litter box = one worried puppy parent?”
You could try getting a covered cat box, but the dog may still be able to get inside.
theres nothin you can do but try to teach her to stay out of it. if she is a fan of "kitty roca" haha then you should be worried of her getting worms. be very careful if your pregnant and cleaning out the kitty litter box as well. because you can contract toxo plasmosis.
-RED
I have this same problem. We try to remember to close the door to our cat room but we forget a lot. When our puppies get caught they know they are in trouble. We yell "no" and give them a swat on the butt. They also get put outside or in their crate as well. It hasn’t been successful in keeping them out, but they are trying to only do it when we are not around..so they have learned it is wrong.
I agree that you should invest in the covered litter boxes. My little dachshund liked to eat cat poop, and I really hated it. I always knew when he’d been in the litter by the little granuals around his nose and on my livingroom rug.
I got a covered litter box, and it took him nearly two weeks to figure out how to get in it, but one time when I caught him with his head in it I couldn’t resist.
His head was in the box with the lid up and in. I’m sure you can visualize this. Anyway, this is where the fun part came.
I snuck up behind him, and scared the pee out of him. He got his head stuck in the door for a sec. when he drew back, but wiggled out in record time. Oh, he peed everywhere in front of that box, and ran out of the room like a bat out of hades.
Now, my dachshund isn’t a naturally scared or timid dog so this was ok. He was not traumatized by it at all.
It was absolutely hillarious. He never, and I mean, never goes near the box now.
I think he got the point. I suggest that you do something like this when you catch your dog in the act. There are certain things that I believe the dog should be afraid of or have a less than pleasant experience with so they will avoid the thing and any harm it may cause them.
I actually went out of my way to make my dogs afraid of moving cars. I can take them everywhere and not worry about them being hit because they run from moving vehicles; not toward.
I hope this helps. It may not be the most orthodox way, but it will def. get your point across.
for what ever the reason, dogs love the litter box. I think they think it is their own candy dish. Other than bad breathe, the pup should be fine. We bought a dome cover for the litter box, and our dog stayed out more. Hope this helps.
you could buy one of those self scoop litter box but they can be pricey.
Wow, that’s quite a dilemma you have there.
I’d say work around the 12 year old cat. Your best bet is still to get a baby gate to section off an area that’s strictly cat only. Would your 12 yr old cat object to staying in that sectioned off area for most of the day though? (You could take the gate out when you’re home as you can supervise the situation.) With all your conditions stated, it’s nearly impossible to find a solution that will put the litter box out of reach of your puppy. And considering she’s a puppy, some form of command training would probably be too much on her plate too.
Another couple of ideas:
Is your cat’s litter box already covered? If not, get a covered litter box that has a door. Providing that the dog doesn’t learn how to get past the door. It keeps the odors of cat poop out as dogs are unfortunately extremely drawn to the smell of poop (I’m sure you’ve heard of dogs eating poop) and perhaps if the dog doesn’t smell it (as strong), she might not be compelled to go for the poop.
If you’re not objecting to spending some money on litter box solutions, consider something like this: http://www.moderncat.net/2009/10/13/keep-curious-canines-out-of-kittys-business-with-the-new-dog-proof-litter-box-from-the-refined-feline/ You might have to work with the hole in a different spot or height for your 12 yr old cat (finding a height that’s still accessible to the cat but not the puppy). Search around the ModernCat blog, they have more creative litter box solutions.
Last resort, you’ll have to get firm and train the puppy to get the idea that playing in cat litter is bad behavior.