Any Ideas?

Anyone have any ideas on how to build a good feeding station where the cats can get to the food, but other animals canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t? Our problem is we feed in a park that has animals such as chickens, peacocks, rabbits, and of course your problem pigeons. Since all these other animals will eat the cat food, we have to feed daily at sunset when theyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re going into roost/sleep and the cats are coming to life. We would love to have a feeding station where we could leave a supply of food that would last the cats several days, give us a bit of a schedule break, and ensure the cats are getting the food and not everything else. We basically donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have a life feeding this way. We have to schedule everything around the feeding times, and rarely are able to go away for even a weekend. If we could figure someway to feed a few times a week, this would free us up quite a bit. Any ideas?

I've had great luck keeping dogs out of the food, but can't for the life of me figure out how to keep out birds. I can't wait to hear what others use to keep birds away.

Once upon a time I saw someone turned a large plastic rubber tub (with lid) into a feeding station. They cut holes in the side (that had a plastic type "door". Once the lid was opened you could put a feeder inside. I don't know how to make it discrete where you are feeding them.

It's just an idea.

Katie

Lisa, I know that you have shelters in the park for your cats, is there a way to make something like that into feeding stations? Going along the same lines as what Katie suggested, only much more pleasant on the eyes to the public. You could put a cat flap on the door that I would think most birds wouldn't be able to open (although I'm not entirely sure on that point, but I would think it would discourage them).

Thank you all for your input. There are SO many cats we need something that will feed several at one time. The birds aren't as much problem as the chickens! The chickens will go into any area the cats go. They even sleep in the shelters and lay their eggs. We love going daily and feeding, but when it comes to going on vacation, etc. we have a problem. We have paid people to take over while we're away, but it sure would be nice to have another option.

I've tried putting food at that back of an upside down laundry basket with a small door cut in the side. This worked great with keeping out the dogs and large racoons, but the birds didn't seem to mind it one bit! However, I never tried putting a flap over the door. That might be the trick that makes it work!

Here is part of the problem, notice the peacocks, chicken behind peacock, and poor cat behind them!

First feed the birds....then move further to feed the cats. Perhaps there is a local bird loving group that wouldn't mind feeding the birds while you feed the cats.

Katie

Originally posted by TNR1
First feed the birds....then move further to feed the cats. Perhaps there is a local bird loving group that wouldn't mind feeding the birds while you feed the cats.

Katie

Click to expand...

Yes, we bring bird food and this works with the pigeons, but NOT with the peacocks and chickens. They want the CAT food!!! This has been a problem we've been going over for 5 years now. I thought just maybe there is someone out here that could come up with something we haven't thought of!!

You know, chickens can't fly. So if you could create a feeding station where the cats could jump to, or climb to, the chickens wouldn't be able to get to it. Don't know about the peacocks, though.

Chickens fly high enough to roost in the trees! The peacocks fly to the rooftops on the historic houses in the park. I'm telling you, it's such a problem with all the other animals. We've been wracking our brains trying to figure this out. That's why we go daily after sunset and feed. That's the only thing we could figure out to ensure the cats get the food. We love doing this, it's just difficult at the times when we need to be away for a few days. We do pay people for these times, but it would be nice financially if we could figure something else out. Thank You!!!

Well, it seems like your birds and your raccoons are taller than the cats, so how about taking some 2x4s and plywood and making a platform that the cats can get under, but not the other animals?

I would imagine that most birds don't like to be under anything, and as long as it's not very tall, the raccoons possibly couldn't fit underneath it. (At least not OUR raccoons, which are huge). I just did a search online, and raccoons average 20-45 lbs. (vs. 7-14 for cats).

Obviously, you'd need to make a platform so the raccoons couldn't flip it over. There would be an added benefit in that it would keep the food dry.

I was thinking you could make a box with cat-sized holes for entrances, but maybe that would be too bulky and awkward.

But something like a low-to-the-ground table would still be very open.

You could even make wooden tubes, open on both ends (so the cats have two entrances, with the food in the middle. I guess the only concern with that would be the cats fighting.

Continued from my post on the last page....

Regarding the chicken thing, that would be tough. Maybe the doors would work, though.

I'm surprised the cats just don't eat the chickens.

Maybe that's your solution.