Hi pushthedriver and Penny
I had a similar problem.
I thought Penny’s box was brilliant, especially having two entrances. I have a box with a similar entrance and I, too, thought it was cat proof. I was wrong. A quite large cat managed to get in there one night and ate all the food. A hoglet then decided to make a nest in the box.
I got a friend to make another box with the same dimensions, but with an extra partition, so not only did the cat have to keep bending round, but the end chamber was quite small for a cat to turn round in. You’ve guessed it, a different cat (also quite large) managed to get in there too. I thought that for a feed box, maybe the height was the problem. If it was only just low enough for a hog it would make it more difficult for the cat. I put a half brick in the first corner and so far that seems to have worked. A cat has been seen half way in, but, so far, no further. The hog has no problem getting over it. If I was going to have another box (specifically for food) I would try to get it shallower.
I usually use hog food which cats aren’t supposed to like, but it seems one or two don’t mind what they eat. Unfortunately the rat also liked the hog food, so for the time being, I have switched to kitten biscuits and so far the rat hasn’t been back.
Re. the humane trap. I have heard of hedgehogs getting caught in them too. Ok it doesn’t kill the animal, but not very pleasant for a hog if it was caught in one all night, especially at this time of year.
