CATS!
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How to make a cat proof feeder. I’ve tried everything! Started with upturned plastic box and bricks. Then wall of bricks with extended roof. Then wall of bricks plus wooden purpose built tunnel. Then all of that with extended tunnel with logs with twists and turns. Have boulders against bricks. Cat won’t give up! Any further ideas please? I have separate nesting box with internal tunnel. Have to laugh, but it’s like a castle out there!
Hi Kassie
You could try narrowing the height of the tunnels, as well as having the twists and turns. I think cats find it harder to get through a shallow tunnel with twists and turns, (If squashed downwards they tend to get wider so it’s not so easy to turn sharply), whereas hogs can get through shallower heights more easily. It’s really a matter of trial and error until you get the height/width that the hogs can just get through but the cats can’t.
You could try reducing the height of tunnels/corridors by raising the floor – using offcuts of wood or bricks.
Cats sometimes enter tunnels/corridors at an angle, so if you put an obstable (such as a heavy flower pot) in the way of that, it sometimes helps.
You could also try strategically placed water trays, which cats don’t tend to like. Although that’s not quite so nice for the hogs, either, at this time of year!
For the best solution you really need to carefully watch the cat to see how it is behaving.
Hi Kassie
Lots of advice on this if you read through some previous posts on the forum. It certainly sounds like you have a persistent cat/cats and you have put a lot of effort into trying to stop them. I had many similar issues also earlier in the year and had to redesign the feeding station several times but they still got in.For me the most successful change was to restrict the entrance way a lot. If you have an entrance tunnel that’s great, just block it off properly so the cat can’t make the turn. I reckon hogs only need about a 10-12cm gap as they are surprisingly agile and flexible. This is the sequence of changes I made…
Cats gets in…
Entrance gap narrowed but cat still gets in…
Entrance gap narrowed even further, cat can’t make the turn…
Wow that’s really interesting! I had been thinking perhaps the start of the covered ‘maze’ (before reaching the feeder) could be lowered and raising the entrance is a good idea. Last night one HH couldn’t get in, but others did. The cat just sits there for ages.
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