My dog loves the litterbox but my cat doesn't.

December 27, 2005 11:58 AM

PetOwneratWit'sEndFilter: my cat is picky about the litter he will use. The dog loves to play in the litter and strew it around the floor. A covered litter box prevents dog from strewing litter all over the floor. The cat won't use the covered litter box. Is there a solution which will please all of us?

Here's the deal. He prefers to do his business outside, but we do have a box indoors for him. He's really picky about litter, and he really, really likes the feel of cloth as a litter substrate. (It's his only quirk, but it's a doozy. Bathroom rugs, clothes in the hamper, a blanket left on the couch were all litterboxes for him.) It was a challenge finding a litter that he liked more than cloth, but he seemed to be okay with SwheatScoop. At least he relieved himself in the litterbox instead of on the various pieces of cloth(ing) around the house.

Enter dog. She became obsessed with the litterbox. She LOVES playing in the litter. She may eat some of it, but mostly she just loved strewing it around the floor. She's not going after cat refuse, since the cat rarely used the box (the box is backup for when he's not outside). She just loved the litter. Since it's wheat, I'm not concerned about her eating it, but I hit my limit with cleaning up several pounds of litter several times a day.

Solution (I thought): a covered litter box. Dog can't get her head into it. The cat used it once, so it seemed to be okay.

But cat has recently decided that either covered litter box/this litter is no longer okay. He's recently taken to peeing on a certain chair (and no amount of Nature's Miracle seems to get rid of the smell) and this morning, he took a dump on the bathroom rug.

Here's what I think I can do:

1. Accept that cat does not like covered litter box. Switch back to open litter box.
2. Accept that dog will dump over the litter box every day.
3. Accept that the cat is going through one of his periodic I-don't-like-this-litter-anymore-even-though-it-was-just-fine-before phases and test different litters to try to find one that he likes. I know there are tons of different litters available, but are they toxic to the dog if she ingests any? We've tried all the "all-natural" litters (like FelinePine, SwheatScoop, and World's Best) but none of the more mainstream stuff. (It's not snobbery on our part. Our neighborhood pet store only sells the "all-natural" stuff. If I have to drive across town to PetsMart to get something else, then fine. I'll drive there.)

We live in an apartment, so both pets are mostly indoor animals. The litterbox is currently in the bathroom, but there's no way to keep the dog out of bathroom without keeping the cat out as well. I suppose I could cut a cat door, but that's kind of drastic. The only other thing I can think of is to elevate the cat box, but I'm not sure where I could put it. The bathroom is kind of small.

Any suggestions?

posted by luneray to pets & animals (15 comments total)

You didn't mention age/size of either pet, but how about a baby gate across the bathroom door?

Our 11 month old dog got curious about the litter, but he got yelled at and "grounded" a couple times, and he doesn't even go near that bathroom anymore.
posted by jerseygirl at 12:02 PM on December 27, 2005

ditto the baby gate. We have a little nook about closet size in the hallway. The baby gate across it keeps the cat litter and toddler properly separated.
posted by selfmedicating at 12:04 PM on December 27, 2005

I was going to say baby gate as well. Put it tall enough for cat to slip under, but short enough for dog to not get under.

Or, in my parents house growing up, we had an old school baby gate that was a series of diamonds that allowed kitty to slip through. We also were able to feed the cats back there. It worked well.
posted by k8t at 12:05 PM on December 27, 2005

Depending on your dog, you may have to research the babygates also -- they come in different types/heights. No matter though, providing the cat is of okay health/age, they should be able to get over it no problem.

We had some freebie hand-me-down gates with the small diamond mesh and when he was a puppy, he figured out how to put his paws in the mesh and climb over it like it was a fence.
posted by jerseygirl at 12:10 PM on December 27, 2005

We have two small dogs (dachshunds) that, if they had their druthers, would dance, sing, and be merry up to their ears in kitty litter (and the gross sundries found therein).

So we built a simple little stand for the litter box. Because they are small dogs, it didn't have to be that high...but it is high enough to keep them out of it (and we can store litter stuff handilly underneath it).
posted by tpl1212 at 12:18 PM on December 27, 2005

The apartment I live in has a big utility closet in the hallway, with two folding metal doors that slide open to get in. It's where the water heater and AC are, and where a washer and dryer would be if we had them. We put the cat's stuff (food, water, litter) in there and rigged the doors with a bit of wire so there is a five-inch opening. Cat can get in, dog can't, and as an added bonus I don't have to share a room with a litterbox.
posted by cmyk at 12:23 PM on December 27, 2005

I'd suggest putting a big weight in the bottom of the litter box to prevent the dog from tipping it over, like a flat weight you'd use in a gym, and then replacing the solid cover (which I'm just guessing the cat doesn't like because it makes it dark inside) with a wire grid cover attached to the litter box with zip-ties.

You can get square wire mesh from a garden or hardware store. This would be solid enough that the dog wouldn't interfere, but likely open enough visually that it wouldn't bother the cat.
posted by odinsdream at 12:24 PM on December 27, 2005

Another afterthought...

Which came first? The dog's fascination with the litter box or the cat's fussiness? The cat may be pissy because the dog is invading his/her space and that's why the cat may be having "accidents" all over the house...
posted by jerseygirl at 12:24 PM on December 27, 2005

How about a short cord on the bathroom door so it will only open somewhat? This assumes the cat will nudge the door if it's somewhat shut. Should be easy enough to find $10 worth of parts at the Home Depot to put the cord on a hook & loop solution so you and yours can open and shut it easy enough,
posted by phearlez at 12:50 PM on December 27, 2005

I have a CleverCat. The number one advantage for our house is the litter stays in the box. Our cat has also been very picky about the type of litter. We use Tidy Cat.
posted by chase at 12:52 PM on December 27, 2005

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I hadn't thought of a baby gate. That might work out well. He could probably jump it since he already jumps up on the dryer to get his food (his food dish is up there to keep it out of the dog's reach).

The cat's fussiness predates the dog. This is the third time in as many years that we've gone through this. The cat's about five years old, and is (probably) a feral rescue via the Humane Society. He's extremely sweet and friendly, if a bit lacking in "civilized manners". AFAIK, he grew up using a patch of dirt as his box.

The dog is an older Lab mix that we adopted last June. I have no idea if she was fascinated with litter before then. To be honest, I don't think she was ever around cats before. (She and the cat have become buddies, though.)

I'm not willing to have the litter box in any room except the bathroom. That's my litter box quirk.
posted by luneray at 1:01 PM on December 27, 2005

I second the CleverCat. Bonus is that the cat can keep his head outside the box whilst doing his business and can't be ambushed by the dog. This may be part of why the cat doesn't like the covered box -- the dog may have interrupted him and scared him. As long as the cat isn't over the weight limit, these things are a dream, and they've limited tracking of litter for us. Also, another added bonus, regular 30 gallon trash bags will make excellent litter liners.

As far as litter goes, Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract helped us solve a litter box problem, and then we transitioned into the same brand's regular type litter -- PetsMart sells it, but it's not listed on their site, for some reason. Anyway, it's in a blue bag. It's now the only stuff our cats will use, at any rate.
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:29 PM on December 27, 2005

Place the litterbox in a location where dog cannot access it. I have a dog and a cat, and my dog will not enter a room if it cannot fit through a door left ajar (she will not push the door open). If this is the case for your dog, place the litterbox in a location with a door left ajar.

Alternatively, use a baby gate as above.
posted by cahlers at 1:43 PM on December 27, 2005

We have to put the kitty food in a cage so the dog can't get it but the cat can. The cage has kind of large openings on the side so the cat can get in but not the dog. We push one side up against the wall and push the dishes over to the inaccessable side by the wall. I bet it would work for the litter box too. Obviously this only works with a larger dog.
posted by BoscosMom at 4:05 PM on December 27, 2005

There are actually screens for privacy that can be put in front of the litter pan. It hides the fact that you have one,
also. My cat's box is in his crate. He was crate trained as a baby because we had a cantankerous older female that
would spend much of her time in the basement but when she came up she didn't tolerate the new little wild one. This has come in handy as I now own an Irish Wolfhound puppy (or is that pony?) and she is also crate trained. The crates were in close proximity until the cat started avoiding his litter box. It seems he resented the puppy watching him and after moving her crate elsewhere has returned to using his box. When the puppy is out she wants to see what's in the litter box but cannot access it do to her size and the cat's crate being too small for her to
reach her nose in. You may think about introducing the cat to a crate (with litter box at the opening and gradually move it toward the back) or try the screen, but make sure the cat knows the box is back there. We originally thought
that it was a medical condition with the cat because he has IBD and heart problems. My vet gave me a syringe with a gel medication to be rubbed in the ear of the cat. A very small quantity works. It relaxed him and stopped his going outside the box just as we discovered it was the dog's being too close to the cat's box that was the answer. The med took the edge of the cat's anxiety.
posted by CatyDidn't at 12:14 PM on February 20, 2006