Need to vent AND get some advice...

[bluskygirl]

OK, so my wonderful, perfect little puppy Bella  has decided that she MUST clean out the cat box anytime I disappear from the living room.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH! Talk about frustrating. I didn't catch her in the act the first time, so I didn't scold, but the last few times I have and apparently the idea of me telling her that this is unacceptable is not working.  My last dog learned real quick that teh cat box was off limits, but Bella.... well, I think maybe Bella is just a little "slower" than Pepper.  Each time she does it I get more angry to the point that this morning (she did it twice within about 30 minutes) I was so angry she was obviously scared of me. I feel soooooooo guilty for raising my voice and body language to the point of scaring her, but I'm so frustrated. There is no other place to relocate the cat box, and my attempts to train her to leave it alone are failing. Any ideas on something else to try?  On that note, I wish I could spray bitter apple in there, but I have a feeling my cats would be very angry with me if I did.

[VdogLover]

EWWWWW Kitty-poo treats. My Coonhound loved them so much the cat box ended up in the basement behind 2 doors (with a cat hole in them).

Have you thought of getting a self-clean box? The treats would be quickly removed that way.

Heres some other ideas...
http://natureofthepet.stores.yahoo.net/clcatli.html

http://www.hawkswillwoodwork.com/LitterBoxHiders.html

[mtaig12]

What has worked for me is to use a litter box with a cover (the cats aren't crazy about it, but they'll still use it), and have it face the wall next to a corner (with a large potted plant on the side) so the only way into the box is around the plant. It's worked so far (for a few months)- I did find some of the plant soil that had been scraped in, where I believe Star (dane) tried to get the plant out of the way. But she wasn't sucessful!

My next scheme is to put the litter box in the (carpeted) closet that has a kitty door on it (the cat dishes/food are in the closet). The drawback to that is that I hate cleaning litter from carpet (messy kitties), and the cats will be unhappy about eating and pooping in the same small room.

Hope that helps!
Tracy

[The Brindle Pack]

Kitty cookies seem to be one of those delicacies that the dogs just can't live without.  We ended up using a baby gate with the plastic mesh cutout of one corner.  We did the cutout only because we had an 18 year-old cat with arthritis.

I know how frustrating it is but unless you use some sort of barrier Bella will most likely continue to indulge the tasty treats.

Good luck and please keep us posted on what you come up with.

[bluskygirl]

Oh, thank you for the feedback! I guess it must be a BP thing, becuase Pepper got that it wasn't "hers" and always left it alone after the firt two attempts.  I currently have the cat box under the stairs (I just have a big useless "hole" under them in the living room. I can't gate it becuase it's a big triangle, but I think I could turn it around and position it in such a way that Bella couldn't get to it as easily. In my frustration, I didn't think of that!  It already has a cover on and my cats don't seem to mind, so hopefully the fact that it faces a different direction won't be an issue. Thanks everybody!

[bhender254]

We put ours in the bathroom and cut a kittie door, and keep the door closed. Our downstairs box is a covered one that the dogs can't get into.

[shangrila]

I know that when you want to stop a dog from eating it's own poo, one way to do it is to sprinkle a little meat tenderizer on their food. It doesn't bother them eating it, but it mixes with the acids in their stomach to make really foul tasting poop (according to my vet ). So then after they eat meat tenderizer poop, they think its yucky and dont want it anymore.

But you should check before you do this to make sure it isn't dangerous to cats (I know its harmless for dogs to eat).