Eating Cat Poop From Litter Box

[Guest paulsmachetti]

Our greyhound Leah has been eating the cat's poop from the cat box. We'll come home and find litter on the carpet and some poop from the box and her breath smells like poop. We keep the boxes in the laundry room off the family room . We can't lock the door because the cats need to get in to use box and we're trying to figure out how to discourage this.

[Guest Polly]

Hello - they do like kitty "tootsie rolls", don't they! Our litter box is in the basement, and we cut out a cat sized mouse hole in the bottom of the door so the cats can get to the box. Can you cut a mouse hole in the door to your laundry room? I have even seen where people stencil kitty paw prints around the opening. Best of luck and hugs to Leah -

[Guest jettcricket]

My boys have been known to go for a "kitty poop treat" from time to time....I agree. It's pretty nasty....you could try and put a baby gate elevated enough from the floor so that your kitties can go underneath it when they have to access the cat box.

 

Good luck!

[Guest sweetpea]

It's not a greyhound thing, plenty of dogs are keen on "processed" cat food.

 

Sweetpea isn't interested, but our rat terrier is kept out of the cat rooms by baby gates.

Cats can go over them or under them, depending on your cat.

 

My folks used to keep their box elevated, too high for their golden to reach, you might try that if

gating isn't an option.

 

Good luck!

 

Buzzy

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Well. I cut a hole in our laundry room door so the kitty could get in and out. Kitty didn't like the hole and let us know by not using her litter box for the week. I'm up to my eyeballs in enzymes and dirty laundry. I'm currently building an enclosure to keep the dogs out. Like this:

 

http://www.moderncat.net/2009/07/22/saris-diy-litter-box-hider/#comment-24916

 

More ideas: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/08/simple-ideas-for-cat-litter-boxes.html

[JAJ2010]

we live in an Apt and could not block the litter box off any other way.... so we bought a litter robot. We LOVE IT. Although it would be much easier/cheaper to try and move the box elsewhere.

[PrairieProf]

They sell baby gates with cat-size door inset near the bottom -- seems like this would solve your problem with cats-only access to the laundry room.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Carlson-0941PW-Extra-Tall-Walk-Thru-White/dp/B000JJFNJK (they sell them lots of places)

[Guest Dragonmom]

i now have 3 that like the kitty buffet. i would love to get one of those baby gates with the cat door as i have poor kitty that can't jump.

[Sambuca]

Sometimes just turning a covered litterbox with the entrance facing the wall can help. Keep it about 4 to 6 inches from the wall and the cats can go it, but the dogs will have trouble.

[Guest lasharp1209]

We do the baby gate raised 8 inches or so off the floor. Still low enough that I can step over it and the cats can get in, but it keeps the dog out. We just use an el cheapo $10 gate from Walmart.

[Guest sheila]

ahh yes, the kitty roca dilemma. I had a dog that did this and someone suggested I add canned green beans to his kibble. Now I thought that was the dumbest thing I ever heard. However I had some in the cabinet and I began adding about 1/4 of a can a day into his food. I did this for 2 wks and then I ran out of green beans.

The dog stopped raiding the litter box during those 2 wks and within 2 days of not adding them, he started right back at it.

I know it's sounds kooky but it seemed to work here.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

The attraction is that cat food is much richer than dog food and even when it has passed through the cat it is still quite tempting for dogs.

 

I have my kitties' box in a little cubby hole under the basement stairs. I made a little gate with screen and cut a cat sized hole in it. Jayne has looked and sniffed, but hasn't tried to bypass the screen to get the poo.

[arandomchic]

Even though our greyhound only shows a mild interest in the litter boxes, we bough a hook and eye latch (I think it's either 6" or 8" long) and put it on the door. That way it stays open JUST enough for the cats, but not enough for the dog.

[Fruitycake]

We use one of the baby gates with the kitty door and have the door tied open (one of my cats isn't terribly bright and if the door is closed she'll try to go between the slats...and get stuck). She's a tiny thing, but her hips are just a little bit too wide. The gate is nice because the cats can see through it and know that it isn't a trap.

[Guest burgerandfrey]

Our previous grey loved herself some kitty litter! Two things you can do that worked well for me:

 

Since the litter box is in the laundry room, you could get a hook and eye at the hardware store... they make the hooks in different lengths. I think I used a 6-inch hook. You screw the hook into the door and the eye into the door frame and you hook the door so that it stays open just wide enough for the cat to get through but not enough for the greyhound to fit. You could also install a gate with a kitty door, or cut a kitty door into the laundry door.

 

Another option (an expensive one at that) is to get a litter box container that is dog resistant. We used to have one called the "Purrfect Privy"

http://www.pfprivy.com/models.html

 

We had the low model. It was expensive, but we lived in an apartment at the time that was too small to keep doors shut or gates up. It did the job well. The cat could get in, but the dog could not. It also contained the litter much better than a typical litter box with a hood. Before that our cat would track litter all around the box even with a pad outside the box. We used this until we moved into our house. Then our cat started using the yard (he always wanted to be an indoor/outdoor cat) and we gave the Purrfect Privy to a neighbor. A six inch hook and eye is definitely cheaper... probably about five bucks at a hardware store. And if you've got the tools you could cut your own kitty hole in the door for free.

[dante2zoe]

We don't have dogs that jump, so we just put a couple tension-mount curtain rods in the doorway. The cats can see fine, they go under the curtain rod easily and the dogs don't even try to enter the room. It is also very easy for me to step over the curtain rods. Good luck!

[Guest burgerandfrey]

We don't have dogs that jump, so we just put a couple tension-mount curtain rods in the doorway. The cats can see fine, they go under the curtain rod easily and the dogs don't even try to enter the room. It is also very easy for me to step over the curtain rods. Good luck!

 

That's a clever idea. I forget that with many greyhounds it really doesn't take much to create an impenetrable barrier. We could have hung up a sheet of tissue paper and our previous grey wouldn't have dared to try and move through it. She also wouldn't step over small objects that she could have easily cleared.

 

With our current two greys, there are times when we want to keep them out of the kitchen but it doesn't have doors...just a wide entry way. I might give this method a try since we happen to have an extra shower curtain rod.

[Guest gecko_foot]

My boys have been known to go for a "kitty poop treat" from time to time....I agree. It's pretty nasty....you could try and put a baby gate elevated enough from the floor so that your kitties can go underneath it when they have to access the cat box.

 

Good luck!

 

Ditto! The baby gate works wonders for keeping a needle-nose out of the litter box.

[Guest BorzoiMom]

Get a pet door like this one from petsmart, it has a kitty size door you can bungee open and a locking gate so you can access it. lucky you to be able to put the box in a separate room! Mine has to be next to the couch and he will routinely get some buried treasure if I leave the house without cleaning the box first.

 

[GreyTzu]

Sometimes just turning a covered litterbox with the entrance facing the wall can help. Keep it about 4 to 6 inches from the wall and the cats can go it, but the dogs will have trouble.

 

Yup, that's what we do. No more recycled cat poop for my stripeys.

[GeorgeofNE]

You need to close the door far enough so that only the cats can get in, or put the boxes ON or IN something the dogs can't get to.

 

I have two litter boxes; they're both covered boxes (I clean them both 2x daily) and my dog has never gone near them.

 

However, if the boxes are just sitting on the floor, uncovered, and you have a poop eater, it's a LOT easier to change the litter box type and/or ocation than train the dog not to eat cat poop!