What Do You Put Your Wet Food On When Feeding Feral Colony?

Hi Feral Friends and Caretakers,

Wow have I been busy with my colony trying to keep up with expenses on a reduced income!

One of the expenses I have tried to find an alternate for is the feeding dishes I use to feed wet food.

I always feed wet and dry twice a day. The dry is easy, I have large platters for that, but for the wet I hate to have them sharing from the same dish as I think that can lead to arguments and I just don't think it is healthy to have them always sharing dishes.

So, I have always used the paper containers knowns as "trays". Some fast food places use them for french fries. They are great because there are "sides" all around so the cats have something that contains the food so they are not pushing the food off of the container and then eating food off the ground.

And, I get them rather cheaply at "Smart and Final" for about $4.50 for 250. Which is really a great price. I can't even get flimsy paper plates for that price. But, I would still like to reduce that cost, which adds up to about $90.00 each month (the colony has 50 cats.)

I've been doing the feeding for 18 years and I have yet to find a consistent, cheap, easy solution. I am figuring one of you genius caretakers has figured out a way to do it.

Would love any and all feedback.

 Thanks

For $90 you could buy some real dishes, unless you think they'd get broken. Gathering and washing them would be a job but still cheaper than paper and better for the environment.

We use Corelle bowls and plates for both our inside and outside guys. But I bet you could find something at Goodwill or Salvation Army or any thrift store.

Thank you so much for helping them all. It's a wonderful thing you are doing.

The shelter's resident feral colony (around 30 cats) gets dry food in large stainless steel or ceramic dog bowls and wet food on large plates or platters, with salad dishes put out for a few that are too timid to eat from the plates with the others. Big pizza plates are perfect, so people pick them up at flea markets, garage sales, etc..

I use reusable dishes and wash them in hot water and dish dtergent to remove any slime, germs.

Thanks,  everyone! I should have said disposable feeders!

I've been doing plastic plates, but scraping and washing 100 plates a day is such a huge job! Thank heaven I have a disposal, but the disposal can't always handle the water and gunk that goes through it. No back-ups yet, but each day I hold my breath.

I did get saucers at GoodWill but I have to carry the dishes a distance to five different feeding stations and then I can't put them in stacks cause the food gets squished and lands on the bottom of the plate above it.

Whew! I just wish there was an easy solution. The "trays" I use are the same ones most shelters use to feed wet and dry food.

When those of you feed on large platters for  a few do you think it leads to spreading illness? I have been so lucky during the 18 years without one outbreak of anything contagious. I thought it was partially due to feeding in separate dishes. But, maybe the separate dishes have nothing to do with keeping illness at bay.

Thoughts?

I know there are so many really important issues discussed here, and hate to take any time of anyone helping with those issues. But I appreciate thoughts from anyone who has a moment.

You are doing a fabulous job. Trays would definitely make it easier, although you make a good point about the possibility of disease. I have no experience with that, so hopefully someone with experience will chime in soon.

And every post is important. We are here to help

Thanks Ondine for your reply.

The little paper trays that most shelters use are really the best thing I can find at the best price.

And, because they have "rims' on all four sides, food stays in the dishes rather than ending up all around the dishes.

And, nothing is easier than just tossing them and knowing they are bio-degradable helps too.

I have been searching for an answer to this question for years and I always end up back at the trays.

Then I realized I had never asked here. And here, of course, is the place that would be most likely to have an answer since there are so many feral people here.

But, it seems that most here have the same answer...feed on a community large platter or dishes that have to be washed or the throwaway paper trays (which are much less expensive than paper plates or plastic ones.)

Right now I am using little white plastic ones, and how I miss the paper trays! Maybe someone will come forward who has a better solution.

FeLV is a concern when cats share food dishes, but can also be spread by shared water bowls, litter boxes/toileting areas, mutual grooming, etc., so you can reduce, but not eliminate the risk by using separate dishes. The cats also play "musical food bowls" just in case somebody is getting "better" food.

You are so right about the "musical plates"!

I know about that and have seen it for myself, so I don't know why I want to hang onto my thought that separate plates have kept them healthy! And, I do a lot of water bowls...10 in all...but they all drink from whichever one seems to be nearest.

Oh, and let's not get on the subject of drinking from dirty puddles of water when a bowl of fresh water is right next to it!!!!!!

I guess my "sanitary" feeding one plate idea has a big hole in it!!!!

It helps to see my own behavior.

Holy Cow, maybe I am just a masochist about feeding cats!!!

I could drop about $90 from my monthly budget just by letting go of those little trays and moving to platters.

Do I get a thumbs up on that idea?

Okay, I am going to figure out how many platters to use and start using them the day after tomorrow.

I will let you know how it goes.

I use reusable dishes, some are plastic containers Chinese food came in, some are round plastic platters with six depressions for apps with the center bowl for the dip from the dollar store. Some are Rubbermaid containers.

I wonder how it would work out to buy a number of the appetizer trays, let a few days worth soak in a large tub/sink/bathtub, then spend one or two days with a marathon dish washing?

Good luck, those little guys keep us busy, don't they!!

Karen  

Thanks Karen,

Platters for appetizers with little depressions is a good idea!  I had not thought of that before. I will check at the dollar store this week to see what I might find.

I guess the real problem is just that I have so many to feed and since there is so much else to do the dishes are a big problem.

I did start using plastic platters that I have used for dry food and then do individual ones for the really shy cats or finicky eaters. So far, so good. 

But it is still a huge job that really gets to me. I don't know why it bothers me so much. It is really the only thing about managing the whole colony that 

stresses me and makes me feel sorry for myself (I am such a baby sometimes). 

And then, since for 18 years I have used the throw-away paper food trays, changing means my whole routine is now jumbled up.

I used to be able to get out the 50 dishes for one feeding in about 1/2 hour without even having to think. Now I feel like the whole process of scrapping dishes and washing takes the whole day.

Now I have to count how many little puddles of food are on each platter. 

I just really want to go back to my old, easy, but expensive way.

Your idea is a good one though. I even thought maybe I could just cover each of the platters with some kind of cheap paper so I could just toss the paper and not have to wash each platter.

I really appreciate the time you took to write.

Sally

Supermax1943 said:

 
Hi Feral Friends and Caretakers,

Wow have I been busy with my colony trying to keep up with expenses on a reduced income!

One of the expenses I have tried to find an alternate for is the feeding dishes I use to feed wet food.

I always feed wet and dry twice a day. The dry is easy, I have large platters for that, but for the wet I hate to have them sharing from the same dish as I think that can lead to arguments and I just don't think it is healthy to have them always sharing dishes.

So, I have always used the paper containers knowns as "trays". Some fast food places use them for french fries. They are great because there are "sides" all around so the cats have something that contains the food so they are not pushing the food off of the container and then eating food off the ground.

And, I get them rather cheaply at "Smart and Final" for about $4.50 for 250. Which is really a great price. I can't even get flimsy paper plates for that price. But, I would still like to reduce that cost, which adds up to about $90.00 each month (the colony has 50 cats.)

I've been doing the feeding for 18 years and I have yet to find a consistent, cheap, easy solution. I am figuring one of you genius caretakers has figured out a way to do it.

Would love any and all feedback.

 Thanks

Click to expand...

Amazon sells 1,000 of them for $12.49 with free 2 day shipping if you are a Prime member. The reviews are mostly from people using them for cat food.


If you are not a Prime member you can get a free 30 day trial

Over the years, I have tried every source (including China) to try and find these trays at the lowest price possible.

I have actually tried the ones at Amazon that you, Kat, so kindly sent the information about (you are an angel to do that).

The 1/4 pound size soaks through after a while and the cats seem to push the food up over the side.

Between the soaking through and the food going out the sides, I was not happy with these.

The 1/2 pound size I like and get at Smart and Final doesn't soak through and is big enough so the food doesn't slosh over the sides.

I can get 1000 of the 1/2 pound for $18.00 at Smart and Final and the same size at Amazon is $20 for 1000.

You were so sweet to take the time to look at prices!!

I really should do a research paper on these bowls.

Maybe what I needed was to get advice from you all and then listen to what I am saying about the problem

If it bothers me that much, maybe I should just find a way to pay for them.

I have cut down a lot on the number of bowls since I started trying to find an answer.

If I use them only for wet food and use less of them while still giving the same amount of food,

I can cut the costs to almost $56.00 a month rather than the almost $90,00 I was doing before.

I am really close to having my rental room ready and it looks hopeful I will get a job.

I think if both of those happen I should do the bowls.

It has been so terrifying to me to think of not being able to feed the fur balls that I have just cut costs to the bone and I have been paying my personal bills bit by bit, just enough to keep from having the utilities turned off. Purchasing the paper trays was out of the question. But, now that I see how much it stresses me I think I must find a way to include them. Do you all agree?

I am so close to being out of financial hell I only have to hold on a little longer so that getting the trays won't mean a cat will go hungry. I think that is what I should do.  Until then I will work on using more of the large plastic platters so there will be less to wash.

I hope i haven't driven anyone nuts over this thing. It is such a minor problem compared to all of the big things that happen on this site. But I do know,  that a happy Sally means a happy colony and that means happy cats which is the most important part of everything.

Sally,

Would you consider feeding the cats just once a day?

In addition to cutting costs I wanted the ferals I care for to not be so dependent on me so I am going to feed them every other day now that the weather here in Pa has been getting warmer.

I have become concerned that they seem to wait for me. I will be having knee replacement surgery when I get around to scheduling it, also the fact I am now 70, has me thinking I should wean them from seemingly total dependence and encourage them to care a bit more for themselves to prepare for the time I can no longer care for them. Here's my thread on that:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/312652/thinking-of-feeding-ferals-fewer-days-per-week  

As far as using the trays, covering them with wax paper  sounds good, maybe a restaurant supply store would have large rolls at a fair price, hopefully much cheaper than what you are now spending.

Karen 

Thank you so much for your diligence in feeding so many cats.
I don't have much to add to the good advice you're received. But here are my two cents worth:
On the weekends I still feed a few cats in the condominium complex where I use to live. Even when I was feeding 10 cats three years ago, I usually didn't have a problem with food aggressive cats (and the cats tended to run off any new cats). Not everyone appreciates my feeding the cats, and I don't like to advertise my presence. I feed the cats behind or around a large dumpster. I can't leave anything durable, i.e., plates or trays: they would be thrown away or stolen (two of my own TNR traps were stolen and one winter shelter thrown away). So I dump the wet food on the ground, and put the dry food in the best place where water might not get to it.
I am concerned about the cats relying too heavily on food I give them, which is one reason I only feed on the weekends (plus, it's a 30 minute drive one way). They typically lose some weight during the winter, but gain it back during the summer. (And all survived two feet of snow.)
Another idea (again, don't know how practical) is to put all the wet food into a bowl, mix well, carry bowl and plates (or, what ever) to the cat colonies and divvy the food up that way.
Again, thanks for caring.