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If you own cats and dogs at the same time, you've probably encountered a little problem: your dog wants to eat the solid waste the cat leaves in the litter box. Gross though it seems to us, there's a logical reason; cats don't digest all the fat in their food, so their feces smells meaty enough to be a temptation for dogs. It's not a very sanitary habit, and there are a few simple ways to discourage it.

First off, consider an upgrade in the food you buy for your cat. Well-formulated food is easier for the cat to digest, so there's simply less waste for the dog to go after. On a similar note, making sure to keep the box clean means that the waste won't be sitting as long, and the dog's less likely to get to it. A diaper pail or similar lidded recepticle next to the litter box can keep everything under wraps till garbage day comes along, and it'll only take a minute or so a day to keep the box well scooped. Automated boxes, that scoop themselves once the cat has left, can help, though keep in mind that some cats are afraid of them.

If minimizing the amount of available waste doesn't work, try making the box inaccessible to your dog. Cats are much better jumpers and climbers than dogs, in general, so putting the litter box on the far side of a barrier such as a baby gate (or up on a table, etc) might do the trick. Sometimes it's even enough to put the box in an area of the house your dog rarely visits, like a utility basement. Dogs being more socially oriented than cats, they won't tend to spend time in such places, whereas the cats will be happy for a little privacy while they do their business.

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to make the litter box unattractive that won't put off the cats as much as the dogs; they're both carnivores, and such things as bitter apple spray will keep the cats away from the box as well.

If your dogs are larger than the cats, there are a few tricks that will take advantage of that fact. Put the box behind a barrier that has only a cat-sized hole in it, or get covered boxes with entrances too small for the dogs to get their whole heads through. The technologically-minded might try putting the box on a weight-sensitive platform, that shuts a door or sets off an alarm if something much heavier than a cat puts weight on it.

If all else fails, you could try just training the dog to stay away from the litter box; such things can work, with time and patience, but they tend to lead to a dog who won't go near the box...unless he thinks he can get away with it. Much better to just remove temptation as much as possible.

Learn more about this author, Carrie Schutrick.
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