How to Keep Dog from Eating Cat Food – Top Ideas
If your family consists of both dogs and cats, you would be finding it hard to keep your dog out of cat food. Many families have to keep the two in separate room ensuring that they stay that way, or unfortunately give one of them up. This leads to a lot of heartbreak on all sides, but things do not have to be this way.
How to Keep Dog Out of Cat Food
1. Since cats can climb on various surfaces, it would be a good idea to put the cat’s food in a place where the dog cannot reach there. It could be a cabinet, or a table, or any place where your dog has no chance of reaching it. Even if you are not looking to figure out a way to keep your dog away from cat food, this would be an excellent way to maintain the harmony of your home. This way, your cat will be comfortable in the environment and won’t get in way of your dog.
2. Make a feeding timetable for both. This would ensure that both are stress-free and if you keep the same feeding time, both would be rushing towards their own bowls to care about the other.
3. You can also install an electronic dog door in order to ensure that you can stop your dog from eating cat food. With this, you can ward off a room in order to keep the two separate. You can keep both the bowls on each side so they will have to be away from each other when eating.
4. Like every other thing with your dog, you can train him that he cannot be near the cat’s food. Admittedly, this is not the easiest trick in the world, but with time and a lot of patience, this is possible. It is food, so your dog is bound to take time in order to understand that it is not ok to be near it but hang in there. This could be harder if you have previously trained your dog with the help of food. But, you can do this with food that the dog loves more than the cat food. If you are not able to do this, you can have a word with a professional dog trainer or a dog behaviorist.
Along with the peace that comes with both the animals knowing and growing comfortable around each other, this also ensures that you do not have additional cost in terms of one eating the other’s extra food. It is good for their individual health as both bodies have different needs in terms of nutrients.
Of course, if either one of them is feeling a little sneaky and just going off to steal other’s food to irritate them, that’s not a big deal. You can only get concerned if this starts happening more and more. So, make sure you follow these ideas to ensure that both can be comfortable as well as healthy.