How to prevent dog from eating kitten food when kittens are small?

Congratulations on your new addition! In general, I prefer feeding cats separately for their entire lives so that you can be sure that every cat is eating an appropriate amount and type of food. I find that the best way to feed all animals (both cats and dogs) separately is to feed them in different rooms with a door as a barrier between them. Simply close them in their feeding area for 10 minutes twice a day, then pick up all of the bowls when they are let out. When every pet is fed in a separate area, there is no need to elevate the cats' bowls to keep the dogs out. Your new kitten should be fed more frequently than your adult cat. I typically feed kittens 4 times per day until they are 4 months old, then 3 times per day from 4-8 months, then twice a day. There's definitely a bit of training involved to get all pets accustomed to their new routine, so it might take a few days to get all pets adjusted to their new normal. Good luck!

Feed your cat up on a counter out of your dog's reach. You can also crate the dog while the cat eats. Cat food being eaten by a dog can predispose the dog to becoming overweight and may also cause GI upset.

It is unlikely that the kitten food will hurt Grundy but it could cause diarrhea or weight gain. You should move the kitten food to an elevated area so that Grundy cannot reach it. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Training kittens is not like training dogs. Their brains are different. Water in a squirt bottle typically works very well to correct them when they do something you don’t want them to do like get on the counters. You can’t really train them to not get into your food if you leave it out. They are opportunistic. While you are with the food, you can use the squirt bottle to teach them to respect the boundaries while you are with the food. Most cats will learn quickly but most will take adavantage of a situation. You can also avoid these situations by putting the cat away at meal time. Always remember to rewards good behavior with praise, play, pets or treats. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Bobby and Coco are adorable! I do recommend only feeding Bobby kitten food. This is a common problem where kittens will want the adult food. I would recommend once Coco is done with her food and she walks away to just pick it up. You are already feeding in different rooms so just by picking up the food should help. Otherwise, if Bobby cannot jump hight then I would put Coco's food higher up. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would recommend feeding your cat up high and in a different room then your dog. That way your dog cannot get Tiger's food and Tiger is in a completely different room then your dog. I would also recommend shutting the door of whatever room you feed Tiger in. You can also crate your dog during feeding times. That way he just gets his food. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would try to teach everyone to meal feed. this would mean you place everyone’s food bowl down at the same time for 30 minutes. I would put them if different areas of the house if possible. Once that time is up, the food gets picked up. If you have to add canned food to the smaller cats’ food to help entice them to eat and prevent weight loss, that’s ok. This would also allow you to feed Clover a set amount and prevent obesity. Unfortunately, this is the best solution. There isn’t a great way to prevent him from eating too much when it is always available. You can also encourage him to increase his activity by making him play more. I hope this helps.