Skip to content

Copropha…coppero...she eats cat poop!

Behavioral Issues
  • Okay, not so much eats it as brings it out of the cat box and puts it out for us to see. Not a HUGE ordeal but man we want to break her of it without alienating the cats in the process. It's just nasty and unhealthy.

    We've tried boundary spray and green apple (to make the cat poop taste bad! :) ), and naturally we let her know we don't approve of it when she does it, but nothing seems to deter her. To a dog, cat poop must taste like pumpkin pie or something.

    Anyone got some ideas? We can't really fence off the area as one of our cats is pretty old. They're also indoor cats so letting them out doesn't quite work either.

  • it IS a nasty thing, LOL.

    I don't have that problem now as the cats live upstairs and the dogs downstairs.

    I did buy a covered cat box and turn it so the opening was facing the wall; that slowed the dogs down…. a bit.

    Could you put the cat box in one room, say a bath or laundry room, and put a smaller cat door in the door? It would have to be a small one because the B's can squeeze through the larger ones.
    Any chance of that?

  • Can you put it in a room where you can install a cat door and then keep the door closed? This is what we do. We also have indoor only cats and have the litterboxes out in the garage with a cat door as access to the garage. We don't open and close the garage very often so this works pretty well for us. It really could be any room that has a door though. The dogs don't fit through the cat door so they can't get to the litterbox.

  • Dallas goes to the cat box as well. Ick.

    At my mom's we actually just cut a small square at the bottom of the laundry room door for the cat to slide in. Dallas has tried getting through it actually [his dog food is kept in the same room] & got stuck. Haha.

  • I keep my litter boxes in the basement and up on an old dresser. I put a chair in front of the dresser so the cats can jump up easily, but Stormie can't - his cat poo breath drove me to desperate measures! lol!!!

  • Since you said you had an elderly cat, this probably wouldn't be an option for you, but maybe somebody else on this thread could benefit: We put our cat litter boxes in one room & put a baby gate up. The cats can jump over it. Booger has never tried. Lola jumped over once, and has never seemed to have the desire to jump over again. I don't know why.
    Obviously this wouldn't work, either, if your basenji can jump or climb a baby gate. But it works very well for us.

  • We have a special litter box we had made so the cats could hid from her but the problem is our older cat is about the same size as the dog. So she still gets in the cat poop!:(

Suggested Topics

  • Pooping in the Bush

    Behavioral Issues
    11
    1 Votes
    11 Posts
    5k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    Redial I've had 3 bitches and have fostered both males and females. Absolutely zero wanted bushes or high grass. I wonder if it's your environment? Our Samoyed male, however, WANTS to use bushes. As we have a serious snake issue, we just don't let him. He eventually gives in.
  • Eating all of my clothes!!!

    Behavioral Issues
    10
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    11k Views
    TimesthemythT
    How crazy am I that I'm envious of your puppy eating clothes? Getting starry eyed for puppyhood again. Anyways, this behavior will get better over time. But, it's unlikely to stop 100% as everyone here is pointing out. ….you may want to try decoy items? Just a suggestion. I've done that with tissues/toys and it worked pretty well...never tried it with clothing or shoes so I have no idea if it would make things worse, or not, as far as training them goes. If it were me though....I'd get an old pair of dirty sneakers or something from the salvation army stores and 'leave them out' that way at least he wouldn't get into the 500 dollar shoes/jeans/undies. I used to put out decoy tissues and stuffed animals when Beo was a puppy....I would let him watch me put them somewhere 'out of reach' and of course he would go straight for those items as soon as my back was turned. Or....the best suggestion already mentioned is just to pick up your stuff :) If you live in a multifamily household sometimes that's a hard pill to swallow though. I used the decoy items when I used lived with my family because I got tired of having to replace my sister's expensive items he would chew up. My family never learned to pick up their things.
  • Looks like Binti's poop eating is over

    Behavioral Issues
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    5k Views
    ?
    Great work. Jolanda and Kaiser
  • Poop eating

    Behavioral Issues
    3
    0 Votes
    3 Posts
    2k Views
    K
    Forgot to mention that a potassium deficit might be involved. You can check by feeding banana or cucumber, both high on potassium. Cucumber is better, because less sugar and calories. Binti loves it.
  • Eating rabbit droppings

    Behavioral Issues
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    3k Views
    Shaye's MomS
    Funny story all this reminds me of: when my oldest child, Michael, was little, we lived near a lot of woods. In the woods there were growing bushes that shed "puffballs," which were round and when you squeeze them, little puffs of powder came out of them. The kids liked to collect these and squeeze them at each other (yeah,I know). One day Michael came home with a whole pocketful of "puffballs." On closer examination, I discovered he'd come home with a whole pile of rabbit crap. Needless to say, I was glad he hadn't squeezed them all over his little sister. That story still embarrasses him even though he was only 7 or so at the time.
  • Eating behaviors..

    Behavioral Issues
    16
    0 Votes
    16 Posts
    6k Views
    N
    Hello, I just wanted to send a quick update on Nulla. She is doing so well! We started a dog training course where my boyfriend and I are the alpha dogs. There is not treats involved and it has shown amazing results. Nulla has been in the course for about a month now. We have had no eating problems from her (no barfing, no not eating what we set our for her), no behavioral problems (no chewing my shoes, etc). She seems so happy and I am sure she is gaining weight (although I have not weighed her). I think dog training is completely necessary and we've seen HUGE results in Nulla. Everything I posted about before is no longer a concern. Thanks for all the input though. Take Care :)