# Cats and Havanese



## chrisdisser (Aug 3, 2006)

I invited a person to join the forum who is thinking about getting a Havanese. Is there anyone out there who owns cats and Havs? If so, do you have problems with your Hav eating cat poop or the cat's food?
We don't own a cat, but cat poop found outside is a delicacy for my Havanese. YUK!! Please answer this thread if it applies to you.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Most dogs will eat cat poop & food. Our Jack Russel does, my daughters spca small dog does and Smarty would if I let her.


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## chrisdisser (Aug 3, 2006)

What kinds of things can you do to keep dogs out of cat poop if you have a litter box and a Havanese?


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Ask Capotesmom--she has both a cat and a Hav. 

I would assume that if you put the litter box in an unassable area to the Hav, that would work--about a bath tub?

I had a cat when we owned our cairn terrier. The dog never ate the poop, but sure liked the food--it caused him to gain weight. We had to keep the cat food up on a ledge in the basement to keep him from getting it.


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## Amy R. (Jul 1, 2007)

We have had a cat for five years, and he has taken 6 mos. to adjust to our getting Biscuit, really felt displaced and jealous. But now, they are finally pals, and like to nap together. Though Biscuit is so perplexed and frustrated that Jesse won't PLAY, like another dog would. He tries every trick and pose to entice Jesse, and that's hilarious.

The cat's litter is in a laundry room and the garage, areas that Biscuit isn't in (he's gated in a large family/kitchen), and the cat doesn't go outside, so Biscuit isn't exposed to cat poop when he plays in our yard. Also, the cat is fed elsewhere in a bathroom, so Biscuit doesn't ever see his food, cause otherwise he'd eat it. Thus for us, segregation is the answer and it works, but might not for most folks.


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## radar_jones (May 6, 2007)

I often visit my Bet Friends Mother and she has a Cat and Radar doesn't really find the cat Poop that entertaining. He can smel it and has even seen it but will not eat it. Thank God for That.

Derek


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

We have a cat and two Havs. We keep the cat's food and litter box in the den. The french doors to the den stay closed and the door into the hallway is blocked off wth a baby gate. The cat goes over the baby gate but the dogs can't.

I'm looking into getting one of the top entry cat boxes. If I get one of those then I can open up my den. The girls woiuld not be able to get to the litter. They also make litter box holders out of nice wood that look like furniture but so far, I haven't been able to justify $200 for a cat box cover..... 

Susan


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

We also have a cat and the answer for us is keeping the food and liter box out of the dog's reach. The litter box sits in a bath tub and quite out of the reach of the dogs. The food is also out of dog's reach, otherwise the dogs would eat all of it and the cat would be hungry.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

We have 3 cats. Food is food. I wouldn't worry too much about that. The cats will always eat the dog kibble and the dogs love the cat food. I have the litter boxes and the food in my basement and the dogs don't go down there unless they are with me. Then I put up a gate so they can't get to it.


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## Brady's mom (Dec 1, 2006)

I also have 2 cats. Abbie is 9 and Jake is 6. Abbie lived with a dog when she was a kitten, so I thought she would like Brady. Not so much. The cats moved to the basement for about a month when I brought Brady home:fear: . My cats have always spent a lot of time in the basement (we leave the door open). Their food and water and litterboxes are downstairs. When Brady first came home he was afraid of the basement stairs so we went with that. He will now do any stairs, but still does not go into the basement. He did start to attempt once or twice, but we told him no and now he doesn't even try. My cats have learned that they can jump on a counter or down a step and get away from Brady when he starts harrassing them too much. He doesn't understand that they are cats and don't play like dogs do. Brady would be thrilled if they would rough house with him.

One cute thing is that Abbie will bring up her stuffed kitty toys from the basement for Brady. She meows her whole way up the stairs to let him know she has something for him, and then she will drop it at the top of the stairs for him to play with. It is pretty sweet.


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## dboudreau (Jan 12, 2007)

I have two indoor cats, I did not expect their reaction to Sam, they hid for 3 days. Both cats weigh more than 13 lbs and Sam a mere 3.5 lbs. The cats were brought up with my old 100 lbs German Shepherd and they were petrified of this tiny little pup. It took some time but, they get alone fine now. Not best friends, but not ememies either.

Their litter box and food is in the laundry room which is gated. Sam will try to eat their food any chance he gets but so far has never gotten into the litter box.


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## Dulce (Nov 21, 2006)

Hi Chris, i dont remember if you met our kitty (Tito) he is 9 years old. He wasnt thrilled when Champ arrived but he still kept to his routine. Kitty is the lowest maintenance pet i own, doesnt need a cat litter he goes out everynight - stays on our porch, doesnt scratch the furniture or climb on the counters...

Since we had dogs before Champ, kittys food was always up (in laundry room) where the dogs couldnt reach. He got used the food location very easy. Kitty was used to our rotties who basically left him alone, a hello sniff once in a while. They were introduced when kitty was over a year old and dogs were 5/6 yrs old. I think the key was the introduction, no chasing allowed, they got used to each other pretty quick... so he's perplexed as to why Champ is so interested in him - kitty will let champ chase him until he's had enough then he stands his ground and Champ does a very quick retreat... here are some old pics, can you see the look on kitty's face?

If the food or poop was within Champ's reach it would be lunch! 
Dulce


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## CapotesMom (Apr 3, 2007)

Capote adores both his own poop and the cats. Now his I can only do so much about, but the cats is easy to maintain. 

The litter box area is off limits to him and he knows it..I've trained him to stay out of the guest bathroom. If he so much as goes near the corner that leads to the guest bath I give him a stern 'no' ..he knows better. So..since he doesn't go near that room, I have Sinatra's food in there as well..on top of the counter because Capote would eat that too if he could. It's not very aesthetically pleasing but when I'm home alone it serves it's purpose. 

They do make litter boxes that are harder for dogs to get into though if keeping the dog out of a certain room isn't an option. I know they have one that looks like a big bucket and the cat goes through the top and drops down. Being that Capote has short legs I don't think you'd have to worry about him getting in there. 

It's more training you than the dog. When I first got him I never thought about him eating the poop. After fighting with him over a few pieces I decided things were going to have to change. uke: :brushteeth: Now he knows better.


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## CapotesMom (Apr 3, 2007)

irnfit said:


> We have 3 cats. Food is food. I wouldn't worry too much about that. The cats will always eat the dog kibble and the dogs love the cat food. I have the litter boxes and the food in my basement and the dogs don't go down there unless they are with me. Then I put up a gate so they can't get to it.


Actually I read somewhere that cat food is really not good for dogs because it has too much of some sort of vitamin or mineral that isn't good for dogs. I keep him away from the cats food as much as possible.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

We have a cat and Quincy just loves Jasper the cat!He gives Jasper kisses till Jasper just hits him with his paw!Quincy will get into the litter box---YUK!I have Jasper's litter box and dishes out on my back porch,by the washer/dryer.I block the litterbox with a laundry basket.Cat jumps over-Quincy stays out!I had to start feeding Jasper on top of my dryer-out of Quincy's reach.I always know if some how (a kid)gave him some of Jasper's food,as Quincy then needs butt-baths!POOPERS!


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

Wow!Your Tito kitty looks like our Jasper!


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## NancyVB (Jun 27, 2007)

We have a cat and she was not happy when we brought our first Havanese home. It took a couple weeks for the cat to come around. Now she thinks she's one of them.
We learned in a hurry that the litter box had to be hidden, so we put it into the laundry room and put an 18 inch tall wooden box around it. The cat jumps over it without a problem.
The cat food was another story, we had spent the cats whole life telling her to stay off the counters and tables and now we have to feed her on the dining room table or she won't get any.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I agree about the cat food. I wouldn't make it as regular diet for the dogs, but if they get into it, it's not a catastrophe. That's why it's down the basement. When I had my other dogs, sometimes the only way I could get them to eat was to give them some cat food with their own food. The both lived to ripe old ages with no health problems.


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## miang248 (Jun 29, 2007)

> We have 3 cats. Food is food. I wouldn't worry too much about that. The cats will always eat the dog kibble and the dogs love the cat food.


 Vet said keep dogs out of cat food. It gives them terrible diarrhea. I do a gate in the basement, cats jump over.

Those pictures are ADORABLE!!!


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## CapotesMom (Apr 3, 2007)

phosphates...thats what's in cat food thats too abundant for dogs.  Too many phosphates.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I have an indoor cat and just put an 18" ex-pen around the litter box. The cat gets over it just fine, but the dogs know it is off limits. There has been a time when one of the dogs moved the fence in a way they could get to it and yes, they think kitty crunchies are wonderful. Ga-ross!


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## RedHeadedGator (Oct 4, 2006)

We've got 3 cats along with the dogs. Since our persian pee'd on the leather couch a couple of years' ago, the cats are no longer allowed in the house for long period of time. One is an outdoor cat that comes into the garage at night and the other two basically go from the garage at night to the screened in patio during the day. We usually take out dogs through the patio to their area of the yard for potty and I have to say that the 2 Hav's ALWAYS have to stick their heads in the litter box for a quick peek! Of course we promptly tell them "no" but they always have to take a quick look. We keep the cat food bowl on a high table on the patio as, of course, they would chow it down if they could. The litter box and food in the garage is no problem as the dogs are rarely allowed out there without supervision.

Our Dani girl loves to play with our Siamese, they will chase each other around and have a good ole' time whenever they can!


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## elregalohavanese (Jun 20, 2007)

*friends or enemies*

Our female havanese was best friends with our last cat til she met an untimely end. They played and played together and would even nuzzle each other. However, our new cat is not the lovely type and all of our havanese are afraid of her even though they are bigger. I have never seen them get into the cat poo... They don't want anything to do with her and will avoid her if at all possible. It is too funny to watch..


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## casperkeep (May 16, 2007)

When we had our cat we just put the liter box out of the way to where the dogs could not get it. As for the food we just put it on the bathroom vanity where the dogs could not reach. My dogs never ate the cat poop outside but my lab eats our cocker spanielsuke: So it can work you just have to figure out how in your own home!!!!


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

Ask Kimberly 
. I know she has a cat as Cosmo tried to chase it .. He had never seen a kitty in his life .. 
She not only has show dogs and puppies but a kitty as well .. Sh seems to manage them very well ..


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## brandy (Jun 12, 2007)

I breed Havanese and own cats. The cats are outdoor cats and sleep in the garage so no litter box. They all get along great together and I don't have any issues with them eating either cat poop or their own but it's definetely not a good idea to allow them to do it. All kinds of health concerns. If they do start and you dont stop it right away it's hard to make them stop as it has become a habit. If you think you might have a problem you can pick up a additive that you put in your animals food that makes the poop taste unpleasant instead of tasty. Like who would have thought that would be tasty anyway??? It's harmless to the animals and suppose to work although I have never tried it myself. I think it's probably best to stop it before it even has a chance to start. Who want puppy kisses from a potty mouth...yuck


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