- Joined
- Jun 14, 2015
- Messages
- 20
- Purraise
- 4
You'd think this would be an easy enough problem to solve. The dog is fed twice daily, basically on a schedule. Well- it's not. Me, my boyfriend, and our three cats live with his parents, and their two dogs. One dog is not a problem; he is confined to his mom's room, is fed in there, door closed, etc.
The other dog is confined to the kitchen/downstairs bedroom area.
Only one of my cats is really doing this, my Kilo, adopted September 2013. This dog, Cookie, was adopted the following December. Ever since, Kilo has taken to eating the dog food. This dog is my boyfriend's dad's dog. Beyond complaining about spending money on dog food the cat is eating, he doesn't care! He says that if it was that bad for him, there'd have been problems by now, and besides, that the "TV said it was fine for cats to eat dog food." One: It doesn't matter if nothing has happened YET. Two: ...seriously?
Cookie is fed at 4am and 4pm roughly; when her owner wakes up for work and comes home for work. You can see then why we can't exactly supervise and keep the cat away when this happens, and his dad refuses to since, again, he doesn't care. At 3am, we're sleeping. At 3pm, I'm usually in class and my boyfriend is usually at work, etc etc. Or he just comes straight home and feeds the dog before either of us get a chance to come down and grab the cat.
We can't even lock the cat in our room with us at night/etc, because our room doesn't actually have a door. It's more like an upstairs loft area with a curtain for a door. The only two real rooms in the house are each occupied by one of the dogs/parents (one whom is mildly allergic to the cats and has banned them from being in her room).
The vet has warned us that it's possible Kilo (male) may encounter crystals in his urinary tract as a result of eating dog food, but understands there's nothing we can do to stop this.
It drives me nuts, too, because I make a point of feeding the cats good, healthy, grain-free foods, etc. What's the dog get fed? Purina. Formerly, Beneful (yeah, the one with the lawsuits), not Purina... Active? Or something in a black back? Or, Purina Light, the diet version. It's all huge pieces of kibble that I can't fathom how Kilo is even managing to eat!
The cat sits there and cries and cries and cries at the dog's empty food bowl when it's around dog feeding time and the bowl hasn't been filled yet. The thing that seriously annoys me, too, is that rather than pushing the cat away or anything of the sort when he does this, my boyfriend's parents come and fill the bowl up then walk away so that the cat stops crying. I don't even know if Kilo eats the cat kibble upstairs. He eats the wet food, but I seldom ever see him at the kibble bowl. They're free-fed.
I'm at a loss. My cat just loves the taste of any and all dog foods, and I don't know how to convince him to stop eating that and to eat cat food instead. Every now and again, I've started to catch one of our other cats mimicking him and eating from the dog's bowl too. The dog just lets him, too... sits there and watches or waits for the cat to be done first.
I feel like my hands are tied, and I'm concerned about Kilo's diet. He eats his wet food just fine, but I'm leery of that being "good enough" to counter his eating the crappy dog kibble. I don't know if I should look into trying to supplement his diet or what... switching kibble brands doesn't seem to make a difference, and I can't keep switching on my other two cats since I'm struggling to put weight on one who is very fussy. But I can't force my boyfriend's dad (or his mom, who also gives in to his begging) to lock the cat in the bathroom while they feed the dog, or try to discourage him with spraying. They just won't, because they don't think it's a big deal, and refuse to listen to us (or our mutual vet).
I guess at this point I just need advice on where to go from here - ideas on how to convince the cat to eat CAT food, or if the cat wet food is good enough for his nutrients. :/ Or just... let it go, since as his dad says, it's been 1.5years and "nothing's happened yet."
The other dog is confined to the kitchen/downstairs bedroom area.
Only one of my cats is really doing this, my Kilo, adopted September 2013. This dog, Cookie, was adopted the following December. Ever since, Kilo has taken to eating the dog food. This dog is my boyfriend's dad's dog. Beyond complaining about spending money on dog food the cat is eating, he doesn't care! He says that if it was that bad for him, there'd have been problems by now, and besides, that the "TV said it was fine for cats to eat dog food." One: It doesn't matter if nothing has happened YET. Two: ...seriously?
Cookie is fed at 4am and 4pm roughly; when her owner wakes up for work and comes home for work. You can see then why we can't exactly supervise and keep the cat away when this happens, and his dad refuses to since, again, he doesn't care. At 3am, we're sleeping. At 3pm, I'm usually in class and my boyfriend is usually at work, etc etc. Or he just comes straight home and feeds the dog before either of us get a chance to come down and grab the cat.
We can't even lock the cat in our room with us at night/etc, because our room doesn't actually have a door. It's more like an upstairs loft area with a curtain for a door. The only two real rooms in the house are each occupied by one of the dogs/parents (one whom is mildly allergic to the cats and has banned them from being in her room).
The vet has warned us that it's possible Kilo (male) may encounter crystals in his urinary tract as a result of eating dog food, but understands there's nothing we can do to stop this.
It drives me nuts, too, because I make a point of feeding the cats good, healthy, grain-free foods, etc. What's the dog get fed? Purina. Formerly, Beneful (yeah, the one with the lawsuits), not Purina... Active? Or something in a black back? Or, Purina Light, the diet version. It's all huge pieces of kibble that I can't fathom how Kilo is even managing to eat!
The cat sits there and cries and cries and cries at the dog's empty food bowl when it's around dog feeding time and the bowl hasn't been filled yet. The thing that seriously annoys me, too, is that rather than pushing the cat away or anything of the sort when he does this, my boyfriend's parents come and fill the bowl up then walk away so that the cat stops crying. I don't even know if Kilo eats the cat kibble upstairs. He eats the wet food, but I seldom ever see him at the kibble bowl. They're free-fed.
I'm at a loss. My cat just loves the taste of any and all dog foods, and I don't know how to convince him to stop eating that and to eat cat food instead. Every now and again, I've started to catch one of our other cats mimicking him and eating from the dog's bowl too. The dog just lets him, too... sits there and watches or waits for the cat to be done first.
I feel like my hands are tied, and I'm concerned about Kilo's diet. He eats his wet food just fine, but I'm leery of that being "good enough" to counter his eating the crappy dog kibble. I don't know if I should look into trying to supplement his diet or what... switching kibble brands doesn't seem to make a difference, and I can't keep switching on my other two cats since I'm struggling to put weight on one who is very fussy. But I can't force my boyfriend's dad (or his mom, who also gives in to his begging) to lock the cat in the bathroom while they feed the dog, or try to discourage him with spraying. They just won't, because they don't think it's a big deal, and refuse to listen to us (or our mutual vet).
I guess at this point I just need advice on where to go from here - ideas on how to convince the cat to eat CAT food, or if the cat wet food is good enough for his nutrients. :/ Or just... let it go, since as his dad says, it's been 1.5years and "nothing's happened yet."