How Do I Separate Greyhound From The Cat's Food? Please Help?

[NeylasMom]

Good ideas on here. When I added Olivia to the household, I didn't want to teach the cat that it's okay to jump up onto counters/high places to eat, so we use the babygate method, combined with a kitchen table/chair "obstacle course" for the cat to feel totally safe. A whole section of the kitchen/ cat eating area is unreachable by the dog, because where the baby gate won't reach, the table and chairs do. The cat loves hanging out there in her little "furniture-leg jungle."

 

The words "teach" and "cat" are cracking me up--but my cat is actually a Tasmanian Devil in a cat suit. The idea of teaching him anything is just so..foreign!

 

I had the same reaction to reading that! The cats are destined to have zero manners.... They aren't allowed in the counters but that sure doesn't mean they stay off!

 

Okay, okay...I see the error of my ways. Let me rephrase:" I didn't want to let the cat think I was okay with her jumping onto counters, etc...to eat or for any other reason. She knows what I don't want her to do but does it anyway, looks at me to see if I see her being naughty, and continues with the behavior with a snooty attitude." I stand corrected.

I've taught my cat many things.

[Guest Yankeegreyhound]

We use the kitchen chair/table method. Our table is against the corner of the kitchen. We put the cat food all the way back in the corner and the chairs block it so the dogs can't get through/under. It's not foolproof though. Sara has gotten under when we don't push the chairs in. But then she gets stuck and cries because she can't get out . I have pictures. I have to find them. It's funny. I felt bad the first time but after repeated attempts, she deserved to get stuck!

[cleptogrey]

the gate that cisco uses is purrrrrfect....now remember to leave the kitty litter box on the food side of the gate....those poops are gourmet treats to my hounds!

[Fruitycake]

We have the same gate, only without the extenders, to block off the litterboxes. We also use the "block the door" method for their food (in a different part of the house, because *you* probably don't want to eat in the same room with a litterbox, so why should the cat - with it's better sense of smell - have to?). I have one sandal holding the door just open enough for the cats, and the other sandal just slides under the door and is firm enough that it cannot be opened unless you know to remove the sandal from beneath it first. This works because my cats are fed meals instead of the "perpetual dinner" (they'd be too fat to fit through the door if they had constant access!).

 

When we go visiting we usually use chairs to block access...but depending on the tastiness of the food and the determination level of your dog chairs may just get pushed over or crawled under. I can totally see Monty doing that if the incentive were tasty enough. Fact is he did stay for a week with someone who had a cat-food room with a swinging gate that he pretty much destroyed when he tried to get to the cat food...where the resident dogs paid no attention. We felt pretty bad about that....

[Guest Audeamus]

I feed my cat twice a day in the bathroom with the door closed. I would watch out for the cat trying to eat your grey's food and in general be a bossy kitty.

[a_daerr]

I really feel the cat should have a place to call their own, with food and litter box safely away from the dog and as a safe place to escape if needed. I use my guest room/office for this purpose and keep it gated at all times with a baby gate that has both a door for me and a cat door that is kept open. Here's the one I have so you can see what I'm talking about: Pet Gate.

 

It's pressure mounted so no need to drill into the walls or anything, the door easily swings open for me to go in and out, and the cat is able to go in and out at all times while the dog obviously cannot. Cat door can be closed as needed, like right now I have a new foster so sometimes when she's getting free time and I would prefer not to monitor her and the cat, the cat is "closed" into his room. Since it's just a gate, he doesn't feel trapped or segregated and is comfortable in there for a few hours at a time instead of what I used to have to do, which was close the doors and cut him off completely.

 

ETA: Found a photo of Cisco using it right after I installed it:

 

This saved my life. We have three of them. The cats have their own space and the dogs can't access their food.

[NeylasMom]

We have the same gate, only without the extenders, to block off the litterboxes. We also use the "block the door" method for their food (in a different part of the house, because *you* probably don't want to eat in the same room with a litterbox, so why should the cat - with it's better sense of smell - have to?).

I think it depends on your cat, and of course the amount of space and set up you have in the room. I actually feed Cisco in the kitchen now (I have another baby gate that's installed in the wall high enough for him to go under it). I switched because now that he has kidney disease he gets more frequent feedings and medications and it's just easier and he's never seemed to have a preference. Recently though we had a lot of doggie guests so I went back to feeding him breakfast in his room and he actually ate better than when I left it in the kitchen. He tends to pick at breakfast because he has supplements he doesn't like and I had noticed he was spending more time in his room because of the doggie houseguests so I went with my gut and figured it would be easier for him to "pick" in there.

 

He has a cat tower with a pillow on top that sits against the windowsill where he can sun himself. It's adjacent to my desk, where I keep fresh water and was putting his food bowl and both are right next to the litter box. He doesn't seem to mind, he loves laying there. I also am religious about cleaning the box every morning though.

 

Anyway, all of that to say, you just have to know your cat.

[Guest karilynn]

This is what I did and it works perfectly well. I took the door off of a closet near the front door of my apartment and put a baby/dog gate with a little built in cat door (can be found here: http://www.amazon.co...ywords=dog gate) on the door. I put the cat's litterbox and food bowl in the closet and I hung a curtain up over the door with a small tension rod to hide the gate. I also cut a little slit in the middle of the curtain so my cat could go through. It works perfectly! keeps the dog out of the food and the cat litter. I also store the dog's food in the closet along with any chemicals and stuff that I wouldn't want him getting into.

 

Just noticed that people have already recommended this gate. My cat doesn't seem to mind her litterbox and food being in the same place - of course the food is on one end and the litterbox is on the other, so she's not eating right next to the litterbox, but my cat is such a pig, I highly doubt she'd mind.

Edited July 3, 2012 by karilynn

[Sighthounds4me]

Our cat was similar: free-fed daily. In our old house, we placed his food waaaaayyyy back in the corner of a large L-shaped computer desk, and pushed the chair in tight in front of it. The dogs could not reach his food, but he could easily jump up there to eat.

 

When we moved to this house, our master bathroom is attached to our walk-in closet. We put King's litter box in the bathroom, and his food and water in the closet. We baby-gated the bathroom so King could get to the bathroom, but the dogs could not.