Cats won't leave the Dog's food alone.
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| What about closing the cat up in another room during Max's meal?
The concern about about cats eating dog food is that there is a component in cat that isn't put in dog food - and the cats need it. My cat runs in when it is time to feed the sheepies because she loves to play with the kibble. could have been a forward. The dogs are pretty laid back about it. |
| well I have been putting them up when I want him to eat. It lets him eat and allows me to get to peace and quite without the cats running around. I don't worry about the cat's nutrition...he eats the cat food too. I think he is trying to tell Max that this is his house and he owns everything but we will see when Max gets bigger. |
| There's always locking the cats out for a few hours or your dog, so the dog can eat.
Scheduled feedings. There's NEVER dog food laying around w/yuki.  Even w/my very picky eater, after just letting her know "look, this is when you're eating" ...she will eat, although we do have to start her off by hand-feeding.
It's been a few years now, and I do leave my other dog's food out, but they seem to only be interested in yuki's food. I am always here to tell them to back off the food, and at night, I put the food too high for anyone to reach. When your dog gets a little older, you can also put your dog's food in his crate. I made my visitor dog eat in his crate at night. Owner said he is free-fed and I can't do that, but i knew that wasn't going to be possible in my house. Once the dog realized it's eat or die.. he ate at night and when I would lock him up for about an hour at lunch. Or... you could just leave the food out the hours you are home. Cats can learn "NO" if they don't already  I say that because I'm shocked by the number of people who have cats and they've never taught them that... |
| Also, maybe you should only put half the amount of food out that you are now. If they're eating the same amount as Max.. it sounds like there's an unnecessary amount of food in the bowl at one time?
I don't think it's a good idea to wait until he's older to solve the problem because if your dog doesn't care now about the cats stealing the food... he won't care later on either... |
| I try to keep the cats out of it and let Max eat. I don't think they are eating as much as him but the boy cat does eat some but I don't think it is alot. I try to get the cats out of the way and move Max in so that he will know to get them out of the way of his food. |
I had the same problem. I have three cats and three dogs. They are almost the same age. Since they are raised together, they all get along very well...too well. The cats can go underneath the dogs and stick their heads into the food bowl WHILE the dogs are eating. At first I thought it was sweet and just let them be...but big mistake! Now my cats are overweight. My 9 mos old female tabby weighs 17 lbs. She looks like she has swallowed a football and is stucked inside her tummy sideway. 
So I had to do something about it. Other than putting my cats on diet food. I also bought adjustable elevated food bowl for the dogs. It is elevated by a vertical pole and two round hoops for the food bowls, so there is no way the cat can stand on top of it. They can reach up but can't reach in to eat out of it. So now the cats can't get to the dog food anymore. Link to petsmart Gigi |
 My advise would be to put the cat away while the dog eats. Pearl used to sneak and eat China's food and she started to get very heavy. She was also an inside cat. So I put the dog food up now and she only eats hers. We let her out in the backyard (well we didnt let her, she just started going out the doggy doors on her own) and since our yard is fenced in with a privacy fence, she is much happier and has lost weight. Her weight is where it should be now and she turns 12 yrs old on Saturday. |
| Hi,
Lots of good advice so far. Interestingly enough do you know that while dogs can be vegetarians cats would die without a meat diet. The extra protein is what one of the posters meant about the extra componant. Cat food is richer and may not be balanced nutrition for a pup. Still the occasional nibble isn't going to kill any of them in the long run, weight gain might be something to consider if it keeps happening. Some owners get really creative..a friend build a little alcove type thingie under their stairs so only their cats have access but the dog isn't able to fit. It's kinda funny actually as most people have the problem the other way around..dog eating cats food. You can bet as he grows he's probably not going to let kitties eat his food. In fact he's probably going to roam around in search of their food. Other friends I know feed their cats in spaces higher up so the dog can't reach. I like the idea of the elevated food bowl but as you said your pup is only 10 wks old at the moment and still same size as the cats. Another month and he'll be twice as big as them. At Max's age he should still be eating 4 times daily so that may be something to consider too regarding your cat's weight. Lots of extra food! As for me I feed all my critters in seperate rooms and when I let the cats out of the room, Merlin pushes his way in hoping to lick some tasty morsel they've left. Never happens but a few crumbs! PS I started giving Merlin carrots at aprox Max's age to munch on from recommendations from my breeder. You can bet the cats won't find that appetizing. Good Luck Marianne and the boys |
| If you're crate training, you can also try feeding Max in his crate. We feed our Norfolk in his crate pretty much because he will try to gobble up all of the OES' food. Soon as the food bowl comes out he does the gleeful puppy food dance all the way to his crate. |
| Our 3 "littles" eat in their crates too - and we get then happy dance too!
Our cat tries to eat the food before I let the dogs in , but he backs off once they start eating. I know he is trying to get as much of the yogurt as he can before the dogs get there! |
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