Millie the brat meets the cat.....

[Milliejb]

My mom has an older cat who is crippled with arthritis. He is still a happy cat but spends most of his time including eating and sleeping in one room of the house. Millie is constantly going in there and taking his food. I have tried just about everything but she has yet to learn that this is not allowed. I can't raise the food because the cat does not jump. When I go in to reprimand Millie, she takes this as a game and runs away from me. No matter what I do, she seems to be right back in there within 5 minutes stealing the food again. When he has no food, she stands there and barks relentlessly at him! I know this is a typical case of Millie shows no respect to me or the poor cat but I don't know what to do to fix it. :tequila: Please help!
The cat thanks you in advance for your advice

 

[2newfs4now]

Two words...baby gate. It's what we did when Charlie wouldn't leave our cat, her litter box or her food alone. She stayed in our room anyway, so it was just a matter of keeping the dogs out.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

When we got our invisible fence they gave us a free "pod" to use somewhere in the house. We put it on the stairs to keep Elvis on the main floor and the cats could have a dog free area to hang out in. It plugs in to the wall, but also has a battery so you can place it anywhere. It works with his collar and beeps/shocks when he gets too close. He's such a wimp that the beep is all the needs.

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

Get the baby gate with the cat door in it. Solved our problem quite quickly!

Then you can leave the door open so the cat can get in and out, and Millie can't get in there. She should lose interest when nothing fun happens there anymore!

It's cheaper to buy on amazon or at target. The ones at petsmart are expensive.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

I also did the baby gate (cheepo one, $9.00 at target, I think) when we got Stash, I lifted it a few inches, so there was enough room for the cat to get out if he wanted too and the pups to stick thier nosey noses under just incase they wanted to try and get used to each other. (wishing now I had pictures cause they were funny) I used to sit on the outside of the gate to get Stash to exit and made pups sit and stay, I did the same with Zeke and Dusty the ferret...but also had a handle leash on him to keep him close until it clicked.

 

[wrknnwf]

I have a baby gate that has a cat door in it. It was the answer to my prayers with my old cat. I think mine was made by Carlson and cost about 40 dollars on Amazon. Was twice that at the pet store. They also had an extra tall one for 19 bucks more.

 

[Milliejb]

Thanks everyone for all your advice!! I am definitely going to try the gate with the cat door in it!! I never even knew they existed!! Thanks again... I wil let you know

 

[mulenag]

I think the baby gate is a great option! I've always had luck with "punishing" the cat food. I don't scold the dogs, but I go over and tell the cat food how naughty it is and I will slap the floor by the cat food dishes. So far it has worked with the 3 dogs we've had. Phoebe is so cute...she knows that she isn't supposed to touch the kibble in the bowls, but if there is kibble outside of the bowl she is kind enough to clean it up for me.

 

[cmorgan.1505]

The baby gate with the little door is great! We bought two when we first got Thor and of course they didn't work till he was too big to fit in them, but he knew that the downstairs bathroom was Zeus' room and not his. The gate will be a great help. Good luck