Of Shih-Tzus, Cat Feces, Cat Food, Pet Gates, and Obesity

[Stinky The Clown]

Our little Shih-Tzu rescue is the same size as our cats. To deny her access to someplace is to deny them, too.

Asia has a serious jones for cat poop and cat food. She eats both with gusto. No matter how we limit her food, she gets plenty to eat elsewhere.

We've tried all manner of things to restrict her. Barriers that bar her but allow the cat in get bypassed through sheer tenacity.

Until now. We put a pet gate across the access to our back hallway, litter box and cat food bowls back behind it. The gate looks like this:



See that little offsets at the bottom sides? By adjusting the gate just so, the cat slips in and out freely and the dog can only get her head through. All day she's been hanging out at the gate, looking wistfully at her favorite food, just a few feet away and in full view.

The dog is now at 17.5 lbs. The vet says she should be no more than 10 or 12 lbs. Small as she is, she's actually very obese. We **hope** this will allow us to better control her diet. We've already moved the big dogs' food bowls up onto plant stands where they can reach it and she can't. Or so we thought. Turns out, if she stretches, she can just barely get to the food. So now we've limited the big dogs' food, which confuses them since, all their lives, they were allowed to self-regulate.

Circling back to the start: is cat food high calorie? Is eating it harmful to dogs? I guess I should ask the same questions about cat poop.

[ginnyinWI]

1. don't know about the cat poop, but

cat kibble has about 400 calories to the cup. I doubt it would hurt a dog. Only in the weight gain department I guess. Good luck!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Cat food has more protein and fat than dog food.

This is what makes it attractive to dogs, but it has too much fat for a small dog. I guess cats burn it off better than dogs - also, cats are obligate carnivores and they need all that protein, but dogs don't.
Dogs eat cat poop because there's undigested cat food in it.

:puke:

[Walk away]

3. It's all bad! Sorry but anything going in or out of cats is bad for dogs,

I have spent years trying to help people in your situation. For the litter box I usually I recommend the gate high enough to keep back the dog but low enough for the cats to clear. It looks like that is what you are already doing.

For the food it works great to feed the cats on a table or counter (just for them) that the dog can't jump on to. Unless your cats can't jump (elderly, ill) they are much happier eating high above Doggie.

Do you think you could set their box up on a table or shelf?

[iscooterliberally]

4. Cat food/poop is not good for dogs, but it's not the end of the world.

I have 3 big dogs and about 5 cats right now. 2 of my dogs love cat food and all 3 will go for the poop when given the chance. I use the Booda Dome style cat boxes and my big dogs can't get in there without knocking the top off. They know they are not supposed to go in there, so it's very rare to find them doing that. The two dogs sometimes get into the cat food usually end up with stomach aches. I try to keep the food up high, and I don't feed the cats a large amount of food all at once. I want them to eat everything that is there and not leave any behind. My cats know how to ask for food when they are hungry and I make sure that they eat. I feed my dogs all at the same time. In your case I would not leave any food out. I would just have a feeding time, and if anyone doesn't eat just pick up the left over food and put it away. This way there's nothing left hanging out for your Shih-Tzu to get. My vet told me that cat food has too much protein in it for dogs. It's not good for them but it won't kill them either. Do you take Asia to the dog park? Exercise should help a lot too. One of my dogs is a large lab/husky mix and he started to put some weight on. I didn't have to change his diet, I just make sure he runs his furry butt off at the dog park. Good luck with your critters! :hi:

[Warpy]

5. Cat poop is typically high protein, high fat so dogs see it as candy

and the combination of the poop and the food that made it such a wonderful doggy temptation likely caused the obesity problem. I'm just surprised the big dogs haven't gotten into it, too.

I was going to suggest a gate just about that height, low enough for any self respecting hungry cat to jump over but insurmountable to a cannonball of a shih-tzu.