Guests from out of town

by Shannon
(Buffalo, New York)

So my cat's litter box is set up in my basement and it seems to work well. I recently had guests stay with me for the weekend and they brought along their two small dogs. My cat was scared of the dogs and refused to come downstairs until they had left. Since my cat did not come down, he did not use the litter box which resulted in an accident. The overnight guests are family and will most likely be staying with me again. Any suggestions of how to handle this?

Answer by KAte
Hi am not sure what you are asking. If you are asking is there a way to stop your cat from being scared of the dogs when they visit then I am afraid the answer is no.

Animals need some considerable time to be able to get to know each other and relax, so in this case this would not be possible.

All I can suggest is that you either keep your cat in one room while they visit along with their litter tray water and bed ( you would have to arrange for him to eat outside of this room with the dogs locked away somewhere else while they eat). Or the dogs will have to be kept separate some how, I don't know if this would be possible or not.

With the cat in a secure room with their things around them, they will at least experience less stress during the visit than having to hide away and not feel able to get to their tray etc,

Best wishes Kate