Cat Food/water Bowl And New Puppy

[Snowball]

OK, getting ready for the bundle of cute golden retriever puppy to arrive over the next 2 weeks, so .....

we have our cat bowls with food water in the living room which will be goldies area, the rest of the house will be baby gated off limits, so any hope of teaching her to leave the cat stuff alone or do I just need to find a new spot for it away from the living room.

Is she likely to be interested in it? My guess is yes, but mayeby she wont like cat food?

I am starting to feel like I will have stuff spread allover the house, there go my vague dreams of having anything resembling a tidy neat clutter free house

But seriously, what to do witht he cat things, and the cats sleeping igloo is in the living room too, but I cant just move the cat out, he will get a wee bit annoyed, and rightly so, he was here first.

oh dear,

any help appreciated

Snowball

[Bjelkier]

OK, getting ready for the bundle of cute golden retriever puppy to arrive over the next 2 weeks, so .....

we have our cat bowls with food water in the living room which will be goldies area, the rest of the house will be baby gated off limits, so any hope of teaching her to leave the cat stuff alone or do I just need to find a new spot for it away from the living room.

Is she likely to be interested in it? My guess is yes, but mayeby she wont like cat food?

I am starting to feel like I will have stuff spread allover the house, there go my vague dreams of having anything resembling a tidy neat clutter free house

But seriously, what to do witht he cat things, and the cats sleeping igloo is in the living room too, but I cant just move the cat out, he will get a wee bit annoyed, and rightly so, he was here first.

oh dear,

any help appreciated

Snowball

Chances are the pup will want the cat food and will eat it.

Can you move it up somewhere high or in another room?

[poodlefan]

Dogs usually love cat food. Cats often don't like to drink water dogs drink because of the dog saliva in it.

I'd be moving them.. and the cat litter box if the pup can get to it. Pups generally love to eat what cats leave in there.

Edited October 27, 2009 by poodlefan

[Monah]

Pup will LOVE the cat food!!!!

We have 4 cats, what works for us is that they are fed on the kitchen bench :nahnah: that may not appeal so, another good idea is just anywhere high that you can put the food, or, we have litter trays (read, dogfood trays to the dogs!!!) and they are in the laundry and the door has a hook on the wall and loop on the door, so that means there is only a hand width space to get through and the cats can get in the room, but not the dogs. Cats can also have peace etc. if they want and we could put the food in their really, but don't. Your cat can still have it's 'bed' etc. left where it is. I'd be teaching the cat to eat elsehwere before pup come shome. All our pets share a giant waterbowl in the kitchen. Or, you could leave the cat food out all night for the cat whilst the pup is in 'bed' and let the cat have a supervised snack during the day.

Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun!! Give up on the tidy house now

[Jenni87]

Hi Snowball.

My biggest worry about getting our Pup was our cats. We have 2, a 5 year old girl I got about 3 years ago when I first moved out of home and a year old boy we got November last year. Neither had anything to do with dogs before (or that I am aware of, my girl was a rescue) and when we moved into our house, we set up a kitty room (crazy I know but they're indoor cats.....) and thats where their beds and food etc goes.

We blocked our hallway off with a baby gate and that gives them the whole back of the house and their room as their own space so luckily we didn't have rehoming/moving things issues. Before we brought pup home we borrowed some friends dogs who are good with cats so they could see/smell and get used to a dog being around and so when Ella came home they were not overally interested in her, just confused I think when she stayed overnight and didn't go home. We also got some Feliway to try and get them in a relaxed state of mind pre-puppy.

Anyways,

I would move the food. Cats like feeling secure so maybe move it up high or out of sight where they will not be bothered by Pup running around/trying to get to them/food. Thankfully Ella has been an angel with them and after a few hisses from my older girl she stays away from her and the other one is so close to playing with her. You can tell he wants to, he just isnt a 100% as the other one just stays away from her and vice versa.

I am also crate training pup and at night when she is crated they can still free roam the house aka their territory in peace. Every morning my girl cat used to come for cuddles before I had brekky so I am keeping with her routine and thats when Ella gets her morning brekky outside. So far everyone has been getting along great.

With his bed in the lounge can you move it onto say a cofee table or something where Pup wont be able to get into to. Trust me they will get into EVERYTHING!! if it's a little higher he should be happy with that (cats love being up high) or just block it off like a fire guard around it (first thing that popped in my mind) but then he might feel a little caged and upset. Hm......

Maybe move it somewhere new now so he can also adjust to that?? Not sure about your kitty but with mine they know their beds and as long as they're the only ones in it/been on it, they don't care where it gets moved to as long as they stick to their own. Otherwise my older girl gets a little defensive.

Sorry, I hope it helps, I kind of rambled along there!!

edit- Bad spelling mistakes!!

Edited October 27, 2009 by Jenni87

[Snowball]

thanks everyone, pretty much what I thought, drat, was hoping there was some magic way they could all get long beautifully in the same room with minimum clutter for the rest of the house

Well, I will have to move the cat bed (igloo) somewhere else, I will also get the relaxing cat spray (forgot the name now).

have allready moved his food and scratching post, he is not happy with me at all, oh if he only knew what was about to come soon - poor thing, he is such a cat iykwim, he will not be impressed with a puppy. on the plus side, he is only 10 months or so, so maybey they will become firm friends

Snowball

[Monah]

Well done, they'll be fine in the same room, may take a day or two, they'll probably end up sleeping together. Try not to separate them too much, they have to get used to each other. But ,the food will be an issue and can give dogs an upset stomach, so just make sure feeding and toileting are out of pups reach. I would be more relaxed with everything else, but just make sure the pup realises that rough play with the cat is not on. They soon get the hint, as long as there is somewhere for the kitten to get out of the pups way, there's no need for separate rooms etc. That way they can see each other and will end up ignoring each other most of the time

My cats dont go outside, but if yours does, I'd be keeping it in for a while because a new pup may cause it to run off and get lost

[Guest RosieFT]

When we got our dog, Mishka's (the cat) food was moved from the floor in laundry to on top of the washing machine (i have a front loader). She had no trouble adjusting to this :-) . Just have to make sure the clothes hamper is not full as Rosie has once climbed on clothes and onto washing machine to eat cat food LOL

[Jenni87]

10 months or so, so maybey they will become firm friends

I am sure they will. My OH just txtd me a pic of Aussie and Ella playing (finally) he must be so happy to have a playmate as the older cat doesn't play so much and he quite active and playful.

[Snowball]

Thanks everyone, your replies are really helpful and great to read

Snowball

[princesszelda]

Our Bernese (4 mths now) still loves cat food when she can get it! We moved the cat food into the laundry room (prior to puppy arriving) and put a cat door in the laundry room door, so the cat can come in & out, and have a bit of a safe spot if he wants to get away from the puppy. Bella (pup) can fit her head in the cat door, but thats about it! The only time Bella gets cat food now is when we forget to close the laundry door

[Teebs]

I posted in your other thread about the cat flaps

But all my cat stuff is in the laundry, with a cat flap to get in, so dogs cant get into their food - they all do share the same water fountain - I have one cat bed on top of the dog crate, but only one cat sleeps in it, the others sleep on the lounge or my bed

[BittyMooPeeb]

When we got dogs, the cats food was moved to on top of the dishwasher, or (sounds odd!) on top of the telly. We also put a small dresser in the upstairs hall with their 'free feeding' dry food on that, and a water bowl with it. They dont like to drink when the dogs are around - I think they feel too unprotected.

[princesszelda]

Our cat is now refusing to drink out of his water bowl, and insists on only drinking out of the dog's now! Oh well, pup doesn't seem to mind...

[Lindainfa]

Goodluck, I think it will end up fine for you.

I have two indoor cats, 3 and 4 year old who have never been around dogs.

Previously their food bowls were on the laundry floor. I have now moved them onto the laundry bench (dont use it for anything anyway!) The water bowl is on the floor still and they all drink out of it no problems. I am also lucky in that my Cavalier pup is not at all interested in their litter or the items in the litter!! So he doesnt go near it now. At the start he ate a few pieces of the actual litter(its the recycled paper one, so pretty safe), but within a week he got over it.

Now, my ragdoll cat is best friends with Arnie, they chase each other and have fun. My moggy doesnt want to know him, and this is just her personality, she doesnt really like anyone except for me, she barely even tolerates my Ragdoll!! She was a rescue and has anxiety issues! LOL Poor girl.

Goodluck, it can be stressful but fun at the same time. The cats will get over it eventually.

[Persian Spitz]

For a while my 3-month old Japanese Spitz, Brian, and my 9-month old Persian, Stewie, were staying in a large room by themselves during the day. There were benches, chairs and tables around the room so the Persian had his territory up top and the Spitz was penned on the ground floor. Whenever Brian got out he would eat Stewie's food so the cat wasn't too happy about that. I had to move Stewie's food to a side table and his litter to a chair, he seemed to reach them just fine and didn't mind them being moved around.

We keep them separated now because the Spitz plays a bit rough and almost bit Stewie's face. In puppy pre-school the trainer told us that the contents of a cat litter tray is like chocolate to a dog. Don't know why. They've only known each other for about 3 months so they're still getting used to each other. The Persian is still kind of snooty towards the Spitz. He has that look.