How can I keep my dog from getting in my cat's litter box?

Answer 1

Cats are notoriously picky eaters, and as a result their food is significantly more flavorful than dog food to encourage their appetite. Since our cats have such short digestive tracts, some of this flavor can be left in their stools. Dogs are infamous for picking snacks out of the litter box for this very reason.

There are a couple things you can do to curb this behavior in your dog. Some dogs ingest stool as a result of a B12 deficency. You can supplement them with small amounts of this vitamin, and in some cases it will stop them from eating feces. This deficiency is more likely if your dog is also ingesting his own stools. If it's just the cat's poop he or she is interested in, it's more likely that there's just some flavor left over.

Another option may be more successful in this situation. You can purchase an additive for your cat's food to, as weird as this may sound, make your cat's poop taste REALLY bad. It's an over the counter supplement called ForBid that is mixed in with each feeding for a course of five days. The idea is that the dog discovers the feces no longer taste appealing; the cycle of scouring the litter pan for tasty snacks is broken.

I hope you have some success with modifying this behavior. It's a really yucky thing to have to deal with, and I've had great results with both of these treatments. Good luck!

Answer 2

You could always try a baby gate, however, if that is too much of a hassel for you, there are litter box covers. They look like a house and keep the smell in, the dog out, are easy to take on and off and you dont have to look in the litter box everytime you walk by.

Answer 3

We had the same problem and our only solution was to elevate it higher than the dogs could reach... did this with the kitty food too.

One other option if you have larger dogs, is to put a kitty door on the room where you keep the box. The cat can get in to use it, but the dogs cannot. My brother in law has this and it works well at keeping his large dogs out, tho a small dog will manage thru the opening I'm afraid.

Answer 4

Our litter boxes are in the basement so we put a chain lock on the basement door. Leaves it open for the cats, but not enough room for the dogs to squeeze through.

They still manage to get in there though when we hang out downstairs. Sneaky little brats!

Answer 5

either keep the litter pan in a place where your dog cannot get into or get rid of the cats because keeping a dog out of cat litter is as likely as hell freezing over

Answer 6

That is a really good question. Keep it clean. There is also an attatchment that you can get a any pet store or Walmart that fits on top of your litter box. Put it up high where the dog can't reach it, put a bay gate up in the doorway so your cat can jump over it and you can step over it but your dog can't.

I can't find the one I am talking about but here is an alternative:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441807400&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302023690&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023690&bmUID=1163019039685&itemNo=3&Nao=0&Ntt=Litter+Box&In=Cat&previousText=Litter+Box&N=2023690

Answer 7

Just think of how much money we could make if we could package up those kitty turds and sell them as dog snacks! I've barricaded the littler tray, and they always get to it. Sorry, haven't found a successful deterant so far, just scoop a lot. There is some additive you can put in the cat food to make their poop not taste so great to the dog though (yuck), I've seen it advertized, but I'm afraid of what it might do to the cats.

Answer 8

Get a baby gate to lock your dog out of the kitty box room. Your cat could just jump over it to do his thing.

Answer 9

put up a baby gate where the doorways to where you keep the Kitty litter box

Answer 10

TRY A CHILD GATE ACROSS THE DOOR WAY IF IT'S IN A BATHROOM OR A ROOM WITH A DOORWAY.