Hogs vs Cats
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I have a cat problem. Not only have they found that i put dog/cat meat out into a feeding station and stealing it, but i am being overrun by them. Does this put hedgehogs off coming into the garden? I do also put nuts, mealworms, fresh water and fruit etc out for the hogs so there is still food there for them. But, i have had to hunt 3 cats out of the feeding station { but have seen more } within half an hour tonight and not seen any hogs 🙁 Last year i had a hog and cat sitting eating beside each other, i just think there are too many cats now though.
Thankful for any suggestions/help or advice on this as i find it a worry.Hi Wobblez
The cats can be a pest! If you feed cat food, and there are cats around, they are bound to try to get at it. I was hoping a cat would turn up last night, because there was a rat, being equally annoying. Where are all the cats when you want them!
There are some hedgehog foods which cats are not supposed to be interested in. I use ‘I Love Hedgehogs’ and most, but not all cats ignore it – unless, of course I offer some kitten biscuits as well, which I sometimes do. There are other sorts of hog foods available, if you look on the internet.
I don’t think cats would put the hogs off coming into the garden – although I suppose they would be less interested if they never get any of the food! Be wary, though, of giving them too many mealworms, nuts, etc. as they do not have a good Calcium to Phosphorous ratio. (see discussion on the forum under ‘what to feed hedgehogs’).
There are people on the forum who have come up with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping cats out of their feeding stations. Hopefully, some of them will answer too.
Hi Wobblez,
Cats aren’t usually a problem for hedgehogs, in fact one of our regulars has been known to head butt the odd one or two!
We have had a huge problem with cats, but then it’s hardly surprising when we place cat food under their noses!
The best solutions I have found so far are:
• Try using dry cat biscuits in the feeding station, they don’t give off the same irresistible odour so the felines are less likely to attempt a break in. The defences only seem to have been breached when wet cat or dog food has been on offer.
• Place saucers on top of the feeding dishes, the hedgehogs have no problems removing them, but the cats rarely manage it. I did catch one removing one on video once, but thankfully the following evening it had been erased from its memory. Unfortunately I haven’t yet managed to train the hogs to put them back on when they have finished and the more persistent cats will hang around and wait for the hogs to do the job for them!
• Place a large shallow seed tray or similar filled to the brim with water in front of the entrance to the feeding station leaving just enough room for the hogs to squeeze through. Cats hate getting wet so this usually does the trick.
As long as they don’t steal too much of the hedgehogs dinner I have stopped worrying about them, they can actually be quite entertaining. I have put together just a few of my favourite clips – you’ll see what I mean…
Hi Nic,
Thanks for replying. I am very careful not to give too much of any one type of food and do vary what i put out each night. I am going to check the different sections for tips. Last year i was putting out dry Hog food and the cats still ate it, this turned it into quite an expensive season. I even tried putting food out in small amounts where the hogs travelled but these cats are relentless.
I had 5 hogs last year in my garden all at the same time and that was the only time i never saw a cat. Mind you, two of those hogs were the size of cats, they were huge. Sadly the numbers went down and i noticed the bigger/older hogs didn’t eat the dry food 🙁 Maybe their old teeth couldn’t cope, or thats what i thought anyway.
Need to go in a minute and prep for tonight just in case Ninja Boy appears. I started calling the hog that last year as it came through the garden like a Ninja loll Hiding behind plant pots, running to hide behind the bird table etc so funny. He is the only 1 i have seen this year so far so i miss him 🙁 Because of his actions i know its the same hog plus i think he hibernated in the house i got for them.
Thanks.Hi Penny,
Thank you for the tips and videos, i will try them and did have to giggle at those jumping cats 🙂
I actually forgot to mention that i did see a Stoat in the garden 1 night, though i have not seen it again. I fell asleep earlier today { my medication causes this at times } then when i went out to refill the bird bath i noticed a cat had got a young sparrow 🙁 They are just a nightmare and i sometimes wonder if its worth the upset. These cats think nothing of jumping up onto the bird table and pulling it over on themselves, even though i have weights on the bottom of it. Each time they do this of course it breaks the roof of it uugghh!!!! You would think these are feral cats but they actually live over the back from my house and further down the street. I am going to be getting my garden landscaped and will make sure its as cat proof as possible.
Well unless they are vegetarians they will not be fed in my garden tonight, no meat out.
Will go and have a look about the posts in a bit after i have checked to see if the cats can still get in the station. I narrowed the entrance and put the hogs water dish nearer the entrance -_- We will see how they like that hmmm!!!!
The picci i use is my hogs feeding station but i have lengthened the entrance and it is like a tunnel now and has trellis on top 🙂Thanks for the much needed giggle.
Hi Wobblez,
Sounds like you have some very determined cats there. Unfortunately they seem to be able to gain access no matter what you try. I have just caught one leaping up at a nesting box full of great tits which I thought was out of their reach. Looks like I will have to come up with another devious plan to stop their wicked antics. Fortunately, quite a few of the local cats wear bells, so at least the birds have a sporting chance, if only they all did! 🙁
I have the water trays in front of the feeding station the hedgehogs use them as a bath / drinking bowl – it has deterred some cats but not all.
The saucers I have tried but unfortunately I have 1 feline visitor with half a brain and knows to knock it off grrr.
We have 3 cats (not mine) coming in our garden and the hogs don’t care. When feeding sometimes a cat will feed from a bowl whilst a hog feeds from another, sometimes they just sit and watch the hogs feeding.
Cats are creatures of habit so need re-educating if possible. They hate water being flicked at them so a child’s water pistol not a super blaster type just a little one. The smallest amount of water lands on a cat and they usually hate it (incl. mine they do like watching running water, drinking it just not it touching them!). If you do it during the daytime it may /may not help.
A lot of us have cats in the garden and it’s a case of trial and error to see what works best.
We had a problem with the cats grabbing the birds of the feeders, we use hanging baskets now which work brilliantly,
My hoggies aren’t bothered at all by cats but one cat does like their food which really, really annoys me. Why should I feed someone else’s blasted pet?!
I’ve tried everything to put cats off and nothing works 100% for all of them. The best I’ve managed thus far is the Mk2 Cat Proof Feeding Station that I’ve mentioned on here before. It’s a “bed box” from B&Q designed to store clothes underneath a bed. It’s low enough to be inconvenient and long enough so they can’t reach in to get the food. The Mk1? I made the hole too big and they got in but the new one has a smaller hole and it’s fixed down so they can’t lift it.
Just a quick note to Penny
thanks for sharing your Hogs Vs. Cats clips. Very funny!
when we had hogs our cat did sniff them occasionally but that was about as far as it went in my vision,
As you mentioned Penny. If you put out cat food then cats are going to try and munch it but I have read many ingenious approaches here to ward them off!
Richie
Hi Wobblez
We had this problem last year with rogue cats realising there was free food and beverage on offer! We soon put a stop to that! I researched lots of different hedgehog foods and found one called “Spikes”. It’s in a purple bag with picture of hog on front! It is like semi moist pellets and you just put a large handful in the dish and plenty of fresh water. Our hoggies LOVE it and can’t get enough and word has obviously got round as we now have more hedgehogs this year. You can but it on line from Amazon and it’s not that expensive and I think larger garden centres also stock it. The best bit is watching the cats try it and walking off in disgust! Good luck.
Hi Wobblez
Where there is hedgehog food, there are cats! My solution, which seems to work a treat, is to feed the hogs under a one metre square wooden packing pallet (not the prettiest feature I admit)! Put the food in the centre of it and the cats (and foxes) can’t crawl that far under it, but it is the perfect height for hedgehogs! I put some tarpaulin over it to keep it dry underneath and the hedgehogs quite like it as it gives them a bit of privacy too! One hog seems to think she owns it though and camps there for quite a lot of the night, huffing at any other hog who goes underneath. The downside is you can’t see them when they are under there, but you can hear them crunching. I have a camera that catches them going in and out, and I’ve never seen a cat go under. Once it is light, however, the blackbirds do a fine job of dashing underneath to finish off the leftovers!
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