Something in the garbage that they'd eat most likely isn't going to be an issue unless it comes in contact with some poison of some kind mixed in there. I just don't allow mine to dig in the garbage at all. If there's attractive things, meat scraps or the like, I get the garbage out right away or put it in a cupboard. My "late" cat, Sunny got in there and dug out the rib bones. He scattered them around the house so he'd have a snack available when needed. He did like his rib bones! And then I would find one or two after he had died! Now how it got out into the middle of the floor a month after he was dead....

My other cat will occasionally go in the garbage but only to get a toy. A scrap of paper or something and she chases it around. Can hardly get upset with her for just wanting a toy! And that's all she does. Doesn't knock it over or anything, just picks one out, plays and she's happy. Cheap entertainment. Bought her all kinds of toys but a scrap of paper is preferred. Sort of like the kid that throws the toy aside and plays with the box.

A squirt bottle or a spray bottle set on "stream" works well. A couple squirts should dissuade him from checking out the pail. Plus getting rid of the attractive odors. He's likely just bored and curious for something new to do.

I don't think cats eat bones, do they? Last week I made a crock pot chicken thigh dish, where the meat just fell off the bones. So hubby tells me one of the dogs, Masha, threw up. I didn't think anything of it since they sometimes eat grass. So on our walk she tried to poop and a lot of mucus came out, then had bloody diarrhea. I had a sneaking suspicion hubs had left the pantry door open with the garbage in it. I looked and sure enough, no chicken bones. The dog had gotten into the garbage and quietly ate all the bones. Well, she paid for it the next day.

"I know they don't barbecue their mice..." OMG, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!!! :-)

You shouldn't let them eat cooked bones. Cooked bones can break into sharp slivers and do bad things to their insides.

I do not have indoor cats but do have Izzi my pom. She does not bother the waste baskets, however if it was down low she probably would eat just about anything that was in it! She never bothers the wastebaskets though. Most waste like that does go down my disposal, not bones. I would imagine anything they would eat that is not their normal food would upset them to say the least. Good luck Jasdip with Bud!

Sue

No bones in the garbage.
He's just had his face in there recently. Cooked beef one time, and raw chicken fat (boneless breasts).

I don't want him to get in the habit of sourcing the garbage for food. He's probably just bored, or curious.

He loves ham, and I scooped out the remains and gave it to him.

I know someone whose dog died from eating cooked chicken bones. Seriously.

There is a plastic bag in our fridge for bones and anything nasty the cats might find interesting.

We wait until we take the trash out to include that plastic bag in the bin. This keeps the kitties safer.

count me in for a belly laugh about the "They Don't Barbeque their Mice"...well they would if they could I say!!

This danged cat of mine has brought in so many varmints I've lost count...so I just try to keep it out of my head on what she's probably ate in the last 5 years...but I have stopped her from eating the two snakes, bat, several gekkos, a bird and a butterfly...

We keep our trashcan velcroed closed...yes we finally got a smart little collie girl who taught her two big male collie buds how to open the trash can...we've had the same trashcan for years and they never touched it...she comes in here and as soon as that long little nose could get tall enough to open it...she did and taught her two male counterparts to do the same...

Yes, of course cats eat bones. And as others have said, cooked bones can very easily kill them (and dogs). Personally, I wouldn't give my pets bones, cooked or not cooked.

LOL Liz!!

I can't imagine finding THOSE kind of presents for me to admire!
You DO have to reward her for her kills you know.

Hmmm so is it safe, if Bud gets into the garbage and snags a bit of raw chicken or beef? I still have no idea.

I know bones are potentially deadly for dogs. That's why I was mad at DH for leaving the door open so the dog could get at them. I think Petaloid's idea is a great one--keeping a plastic bag in the fridge for that kind of waste. Thanks!

There are a lot of things that can kill a cat or dog -- onions, garlic, chocolate, grapes, raisins. Even sugarless chewing gum. Even if something was cooked in onions or garlic, that can make a pet ill.

I would think that with all the sodium and preservatives in ham, that wouldn't be a good thing to let your cat eat.

Secure the garbage can with a bungee cord if you have to.
You just never want to wonder what your pet COULD have eaten. Keep it off limits and it won't be an issue.

Cooked chicken bones -- or a part of a bone -- can get caught in a dog or cat's intestinal tract. If the animal has bloody diarrhea, that means some foreign object (toy, bone) has actually cut something inside of him or her (the vet's explanation).

Usually when I have cooked bones or the trimmed fat from a piece of beef or any of the other things that I know can possibly hurt my dog, I put that stuff in a Ziploc bag and toss it into the freezer until the day the trash is being picked up.

Meat garbage isn't too bad but if your dog (especially a small dog) eats too much fat s/he can get pancreatitis, which can be fatal.

I keep my kitchen garbage in a bin in the cabinet under my sink. My dog and cat haven't figured out how to open the cabinet (I think it requires hands and thumbs). My sister keeps her garbage in a plastic can in her kitchen. Her 2 cats and 2 dogs regularly knock it over and eat. One dog consumed a kitchen towel (??!!) and needed surgery.

My concern wouldn't be so much what they could eat that would hurt them but of other contents like cans or glass that could cut them or injure them. My dog once got into the trash and she cut her tongue on the lid to a can.

When I do have a lot of meat and bones in the garbage, it gets tossed right away. I don't need it to start smelling.

It was just a couple of scraps in the bottom of a new bag that got me wondering. I don't put lids to cans, etc in...they go in the recycling.

Bud and Roxie both know how to open cupboard doors and closets. We often hear banging and it's Bud opening the bathroom or kitchen cupboard door and letting it close again. Thump, thump. And the closet door open magically when Roxie puts her paws under and pulls them open (bi-fold).

He was curious again this morning, but there were just coffee grounds, a tea bag and some rice. He wasn't trying to eat anything, just had his head over the edge, having a nosey.