Persistent cat steals food
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We have had a hedgehog feeding station for some years – an upturned storage box with a doorway cut out – which our hedgehogs have happily used to access their nightly food. But my new neighbour’s cat is proving a real nuisance. I have added an entrance tunnel with a 90 degree turn to deter it. It still wriggled its way in and scoffed the lot. I extended the tunnel and reduced the height and watched on my nighttime wildlife camera as it dragged itself in on its belly. I put a dish of water inside the entrance and it pushed itself under the box, despite it being weighted down with a brick. I have now weighted the box down with 4 bricks. I fear it may still get in, even if it has to crawl through the saucer of water. It is really spoiling our efforts to feed our hogs, which still come at night to find all the food gone. Any solutions?
Hi Tedthegardener
Sorry to hear about your cat problems. Some cats are particularly persistent – and bendy! You may already have seen this https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cat-proof-hedgehog-food/ but in case not there are some tips in there.
I had a rat problem as well (the cats were never around when the rat was!) and there’s no keeping a rat out of a hog box. So now I sprinkle the food (dried kitten biscuits) on a bit of lawn – it not only encourages the hogs’ natural foraging abilities but takes longer for both cats and rats to eat all the food, giving the hogs a good chance to get some of it. I don’t seem to see cats so often now – but maybe that’s just because there are fewer around. But some cats can’t seem to be bothered to search for the more spread out food. Rats, seem to come in phases and/or seasons, I find, so they aren’t always around.
The hogs don’t seem to mind this feeding regime at all and it even gives the more timid ones the chance to sneak in and feed at the edge when none of the more aggressive ones are looking. A selection of different corvids seem to clear up any leftovers in the mornings.
Water is important as well, of course and there is water around in various places in the garden, which the hogs get to know, but not necessarily amongst the sprinkled food – which also gives more hogs a chance to eat whilst other (potentially more ‘bossy’) hogs may be elsewhere drinking.
I hope you manage to find some solution. Good luck and happy hog watching.
I came on the forum today to search for suggestions to deter cats.
My experience is almost exactly the same as yours – I could have written it!
I even have a ‘recommended’ cat scarer which the cat ignores.
I may try spreading the food around as suggested by Tedthegardener.
Anyone else with success ideas? Is there a specific brand of food that cats don’t eat. I have been using Brambles dry & crunchy hedgehog food.As regular feeder of hedgehogs feeding station in my garden over the last two years trying all sorts of things to deter cats realising tin cat food or dry cat biscuit which attract cats as it’s their regular actual food
Having a permanent camera linked to my TV in my feed station which I can observe the hedgehogs feeding at night
cats don’t seem to like a hedgehog food and since switching to just hedgehog food I’ve not had one cat enter the feeding station they just look in and move on
I have no special entrance on my feeding station but I have two entry points normal size 130x130mm
The brand I use (brambles or spikes) crunchy hedgehog food and (brambles or spikes) semi moist hedgehog food also a few dried (black soldier fly larvae Cal worms) not to confused with mealworms as they look similar
Water is important as well; I have a water bowl just outside by my feeding station
and water bowls around in various places in the garden,
hope this is some help to youI have had this problem with cats, thought i had built a fortress around the entrances of the tub, but one cat always got in, he was very bendy not the other cats. But that one has long gone and not had anymore get in. Use bricks and tunnels. Also always used Hog food and the cats would scoff the lot lol. Good luck. Have put water bowl in front of the hole hogs will go through it but not the cats.
Our Naturespy Ursus camera (recently acquired from this site, highly recommended) has shown that it’s one of the local cats which has been hoovering up the pellets we’re putting out, so I’ve extended our feeding station which is a 13 x 13cm brick and slab tunnel now about 75cm long, and so far it hasn’t got in, though there is another smaller cat which I haven’t seen try yet. It’s also hopefully too heavy for our regular fox to move; it sniffed around it last night but no more than that.
Hi Ted,I too was having a persistent Cat getting in and eating the hogs food, I did a re-designed on the feeding station. My station is a plastic storage container, about 2 1/2 feet long,by about 14 Inches wide, and 7 or 8 inches in depth, I cut an entrance hole (using a heated 4 inch nail,held in Grips to melt the plastic, so it would’nt crack or shatter) at one side, on the end of the box, then created 2 baffle walls to ceiling/ lid height, inside with only a 5 inch walkway for the hogs, that left an area at the far end of the storage box, that was more than plenty of room for the dishes and room for the hogs to move.The double baffle walls,and low ceiling have done the job, no more cats getting in Ted👍😄.I also put newspaper down in the dish chamber,with a light covering of Meadow Hay,and spread that out to the entrance, they seem to like it,lol Cheers, and good luck Ted, 🙏🤞👍Shada(newbie).
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