Is there any food that is safe for both cats and dogs to eat? I'm having an awful time keeping the dogs out of the cat food. If the cats don't eat it immediately it's gone. I have one blind and one 3-legged cat and neither jump so putting it high is not an option. I did a little research online but came up dry and figured you guys and girls would have some ideas! TIA
not sure if this would work for you. I have three cats and two tripod dogs. I keep the cats dry food and litter in my guest bathroom and have a baby gate up in front of it. I just lean the baby gate up in front of the bathoom with room for the cats to be able to walk in but the dogs can not get in. I keep the litter box in the tub so all the loose litter is easy to pick up. and I have the dry food out on the floor in self feeders for the cats.
Dogs and cats have different nutritional needs. I don't think it will hurt the dogs to eat cat food, but it's more expensive than dog food so you really wouldn't want them to. Maybe try feeding them a smaller amount twice a day, see if they would eat it all right away?
Actually, without researching, I believe the cat food is bad for dogs because of the extra protein dogs don't need. Hard on their kidneys. I may be mis-remembering though. This is a battle I fight too, with having two cats and the dog in the house. I feed the cats on their own table up off the floor (just one of those small wooden fold out snack-type tables, Molly is short), but since the OP's cats can't jump up, that is a problem.
bless you for taking care of special needs cats, i have a soft spot for tripods,as i had one who died last year. you could feed them several times a day, both cat and dog, and watch them we feed ours many times a day,we had a diabetic cat so thats when we started it and they got used to it. we now have a kitten so we have to watch the others dont eat it, they are fat emough!
Unless you go strictly raw, I don't recall anything readily good for feeding both. But, perhaps invest in one of those dog gates and put in bathroom or laundry room with the dog gate up. I stress dog gate because nowadays they make them with a cat size door built within the gate so cats can come & go without having to jump over anything - they just go thru door where dogs cannot go. May be kinda pricey but guess it'd equal out in the long run of buying extra cat food when dogs keep eating all they find that they think is available for their taking.
We call them our grumpy old men. We've had them since they were kittens. Thanks for all of the ideas. I know they shouldn't eat each others' foods, and I have thought about raw. Not sure. I'll probably end up doing what Grandma said, and feed them smaller amounts and make sure it's all gone.
Having 4 cats in the house and three dogs who would eat their food if they had the chance...plus having the birds, I had to find ways to make it work. The cat food and litter is in my room and in my sisters room, there is a baby gate up to the hall way, the dogs aren't allowed in the bedrooms and never have been. So no chance of the eating the cat food. But, it's what works for me, of course have to clean the boxes every dare day. All 3.
