Dog AND Cat owners question

[disneydreamersx4]

We are getting a one year old lab. retriever from the shelter. We already have a one year old cat. I have heard that some dogs eat the cat food....do you have any suggestions where I can keep the cat food away from the dog?
I was thinking of putting the cat food up on a shelf but I don't really want the cat up on the shelf, it is near other food in an open pantry unit.

thank you

 

[kacaju]

I keep the cat food and litter box in the basement. We have a cat door to the basement.
Some dogs like to eat out of the litter box as well, so they are both out of reach for our dogs.

 

[happygirl]

Is there a reason why you don't want your dog to eat the cat food?

 

[disneydreamersx4]

oh my eating out of litter box

Guess I'll just have to see how the dog reacts to everything....we're supposed to get the dog on the 23rd. I suppose I could put in a cat door to the basement.

Wouldn't want the dog eating cat food because well it's for the cat and don't need the dog eating extra calories

 

[glitterkittyy]

We are getting a one year old lab. retriever from the shelter. We already have a one year old cat. I have heard that some dogs eat the cat food....do you have any suggestions where I can keep the cat food away from the dog?
I was thinking of putting the cat food up on a shelf but I don't really want the cat up on the shelf, it is near other food in an open pantry unit.

thank you

We just trained the dog to not eat it. We don't free feed. We give the cat his 1/2 cup of food at scheduled times. So when it was feeding time for the cat, it was feeding time for the dog. When she would start to go towards the cat food (opposite side of the room), we'd say sternly "No!". We sometimes had to use the squirt bottle after a "No", but she learned pretty quickly that it wasn't her food. Now she knows and doesn't even try to go towards the cat's bowl.

 

[happygirl]

oh my eating out of litter box

Guess I'll just have to see how the dog reacts to everything....we're supposed to get the dog on the 23rd. I suppose I could put in a cat door to the basement.

Wouldn't want the dog eating cat food because well it's for the cat and don't need the dog eating extra calories

Enjoy your new doggie

My dogs and cats eat each other foods all the time.

 

[kafitty]

at my mom's, Larry's food is on the kitchen counter...which is kind of gross, seeing as he comes in from outside and goes directly to the counter to eat.

at dad's, the cat's food is on top of the fridge. Which is kind of a pain now, since they're getting old (15 & 16ish) and sometimes we have to help them up there...and they're very vocal until we do, lol.

Dad's cats don't seem interested in the dog food, but Larry likes to eat just about anything, haha.

good luck! i like having both types of animals around, they're a nice compliment to each other, personality-wise. There's nothing like playing with your dog, but there's nothing like snuggling with a kitty, either.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I feed my cats on a small table in our dining room. it's an old cheapy I got at a yard sale. It's in a corner of the dining room.

I feed them small amounts several times a day (usually breakfast and dinner and a small snack before I go to bed) and don't leave food out all day. When I left food out all day, the 2 year old cat we adopted 4 months ago ate all day and put on 4 lbs. Now he's a chubby tabby. LOL

Our dog can't get to it. I only feed our dog twice a day. Once for breakfast and once for dinner. Sometimes my little 1 year old cat will eat a bit of the dogs food before our dog eats it but the other cat doesn't touch it.

What is really cute is when the dog and the 1 year old cat are eating the dog food out of the same bowl at the same time. It doesn't happen often and I sure wish I had a camera when it does!

 

[laurie31]

Enjoy your new doggie

My dogs and cats eat each other foods all the time.

Actually this isn't good for them at all.

http://www.pets.ca/pettips/pet-tip-97.htm

http://askville.amazon.com/feed-cat-food-dogs/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=4137984

We find that our dogs won't bother the cat food as long as they have their own food available. We do free feed, although we know that's not the best choice either. But if there's no dog food out, our dogs WILL eat the cat food, and so we just choose to always keep dog food out. None of our dogs are overweight, though. If they were, we'd make some changes.

 

[chabs]

We keep our cat food bowl and cat box in an upstairs bathroom with a baby gate across the stairs. Labs are notorious cat food and cat box eaters-even if you have them trained, they will still eat it if you're not around-they can't help themselves!

 

[ziggystardust]

you're getting a lab? count on that dog wanting to eat everything he/she can gets its paws on.

i have 2 dogs and a cat in my house, 1 of those dogs is a lab the other is a very picky eater. Exact opposites. My sister's solution to this problem is to have the cat food on the kitchen table. I do not like this at all but this was in place well before i moved in.

We do tend to keep a baby gate up in the kitchen doorway, so the dogs can't get in. in that case, the food can be put on the floor but you just have to remember to scoop it up quick before your little eating machine gets to it.

good luck with the new addition! Labs are fantastic, despite their never ending appetite!!!

 

[budmonster]

I have 2 labs (brother and sister 3yo) and 2 cats, my male dog loves to eat the cat food and his sister loves to eat the treats out of the litter box. Our solution is to have the cat food and litter box in our mud room and keep the door closed, we installed a small cat door on the bottom for the cats. Labs are so full of energy, I just love my two. The male (Chip) wants so badly to get to the cat food that sometime he tries to stick his head in the cat door and gets it stuck.

Here he is caught in the act.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

omg! that is too funny

Thank you all for your information.....to the lab owners how much are you feeding dry food? I read that one cup per 50 lbs of dog twice per day but then I read feed once per day.

 

[puffkin]

We no longer free feed our animals due to some weight/allergy issues. When we did, the cat food and litter box were in the basement and we had a catdoor.

We now have 2 cats and a dog. One cat is a pig and inhales everything. The other is super finicky and wasn't getting any food. The finicky cat ended up needing all her teeth removed and can now only eat wet. Our dog also was diagnosed with a thyroid condition, so he needs to take his pill with food 2x a day. Too make our lives easier we now feed everyone twice a day. Both cats get wet and we lock one in the bathroom, one downstairs and the dog eats in the kitchen. Free feeding was much easier!

 

[Piecey]

I put Reese's (cat) food on the dresser in the guest bedroom.
She jumps up to eat and Rink (dog) can't get to it.

I'm going to have to relocate it, though. It'll be the new nursery and I don't want her jumping around in there.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

We keep the cat food and litter box in a room where we don't want the dog to go into and put up a baby gate across the door and we cut a small hole in the gate so the cat can go through the gate but the very large dog cannot.

 

[budmonster]

omg! that is too funny

Thank you all for your information.....to the lab owners how much are you feeding dry food? I read that one cup per 50 lbs of dog twice per day but then I read feed once per day.

I have the two and because they are such high energy (ALL the time) I feed them twice a day, once in the morning usually about 3 cups of food, then once in the evening about half that amount. They eat out of the same bowl we tried to get them to eat from seperate bowls but they want to do everything together. So I just asume that they split it equally.
Labs are great dogs they are very close and protective of my children and very smart. Here is a video of my chocolate (chip) he is sweet as can be but as dumb as a box of rocks. In this I had my video camera hooked up to the tv so he was looking at himself on the TV. Which by the way he loves to watch Television, especially Animal Planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IdkUD7HigE

 

[Karalea]

We keep both the cat food and litter box in the utility room with the washer/dryer. We keep a short "gate" across the entrance to the door. It is really just a board about a foot high cut to the size of the door frame and painted white.

We can easily step over it and the cats jump over it. My mini daschunds are too lazy and short to even try to jump or climb over it. I guess for bigger dogs you could use a baby gate.