We got a new baby kitten Monday. She is so sweet and tiny. But what I need the advice for is regarding a litter box. We also have a young dog that is a year and a half old. Ginger, our dog that died a few months ago, went thru a short spell of eating the cat litter but I had forgotten about that. First time the kitten went poo in the litter, the silly dog was into it.

I don't want to be constantly fussing at the dog. And I need to keep the litter box accessible to the kitten.

Any recommendations on a kind of cat litter the dog won't bother? Or a litter pan that the kitten/cat can get into but the dog can not? My dog is a yorky/maltese/poodle mix so he is small but a little overweight.

It's been awhile since we've had a kitten in the house and I had just forgotten a few things.

By Janet on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 11:57 am:

When we got our kitten, we used an old shallow baking pan for a litter box, because she was too little to get into the one we'd used for our adult cat. It had a lid and was about 2" deep.
I don't have any experience about keeping a dog out of the litter box, though.
I was thinking of putting it up on something, but that wouldn't work for a kitten. Hmmm.
Would your vet have any suggestions? I know there are litters made of recycled material like newspaper, but I don't know if it would deter a dog. That's all I can offer, sorry!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 12:00 pm:

My experience is the only thing you can do is put the litter pan where the dog can't get at it - maybe put a gate across an area?

I never had that problem with my mom's dog and her multiple cats. But Scott's Rottie has that "taste", and Scott keeps the litter box in his bathroom. Even though it is one of those boxes sort of like a house, Sascha would still come downstairs with kitty litter crumbs on her nose. The only solution we found was to put a hook and chain on the bathroom door so the cat can get in and the dog can't.

I much prefer the clumping litter for cats. But I don't think there is any kind of litter that a cat would use that would also deter a dog.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 12:02 pm:

We've never had dogs, so no experience there, but I would have to agree with Ginny. Put the litter box somewhere not accessible to the dog. Good luck!

By Kaye on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 12:02 pm:

I found that if we have a cover over the litter box, the dog doesn't snack. But our cat was not loving that...so now we have a big rubbermaid tub blocking the entrance to the box, dog can't get through, but cat can. I found my dog forgets about it for a while, but once she starts back she is a handful.

By Cat on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 12:16 pm:

Our dogs don't have access to the litter box. In our current house it's in the basement, with a gate at the top of the basement stairs (cats just jump over). In our old house it was in the laundry room with a gate across the door. Good luck!

By Imamommyx4 on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 05:01 pm:

My house problem is that with a run around 5 yr old dd in the house, I can't see any location that I can keep the dog out of and the kitten still has access to everything without putting her or the dog in the garage. And that is not why I have pets.

So I went to PetSmart and Wal-mart and didn't find anything that would work. And what they did have was anywhere from $25 to 45. But you ladies placed a couple of seeds in my brain that I may be able to use.

I bought a large plastic tub and a plastic baking dish for $10 at Dollar General. I am going to cut a small hole out in one corner a couple of inches off the ground just big enough for the kitten to get through and not big enough for the dog. She weighs ounces and I've never had a cat that weighed more than 3 lbs. The dog weighs 14 lbs. So even as she grows, I can just make the hole bigger. I'm gonna cut air vents, too. The top comes off for easy cleaning. Voila! Litter pan not accessible to the dog but still accessible to the kitten without closing one of the into one room. I'm kind of proud of me!

By Heaventree on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 07:44 pm:

We have a covered litter box and I place the box facing the wall with just enough room so that the cat can access her box. This does three things keeps the kids out at least momentarily until I can reach them, keeps the dog out and keeps the cat from tracking litter all over the floor.

I have seen a wooden box that you can buy that looks like a nice storage trunk with a lid that lifts, on the side of the box is a half moon shape cut out so the cat can access the litter box. You place the litter pan inside the box. So if you have an old toy box you're not using have your dh cut out the side of the box and you have a nice litter box.

My vet said that some dogs look at kitty poo as a delicacy.

By Janet on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 01:27 pm:

The gate post gave me an idea...what if you got one of those accordian-style wooden baby gates (if you can still buy them!)to put across the doorway where the cat box is. The kitten could easily get through the openings, but the dog couldn't. Would that work?
Easier would be to face it to the wall, though!

By Imamommyx4 on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 02:50 pm:

We made the little concoction last night that I mentioned above. Seems to be working okay so far. The dog can't get in, kitten can. It's clear so I can see what's going on inside.

Thanks for the ideas.