feeding feral cats.

[ondine]

They have these microwavable discs that are designed to put under straw for feral bedding. But I've seen people use them under their dishes as well. They don't get hot enough to hurt the cat but they may cause the food to get warm. Maybe you could try one and see what happens.

The idea of another dish inside the heated bowl is excellent, too. I do not have electricity where I feed, so that would work for me but it is an excellent idea.

 

[keyes]

I am lucky in that respect.  Due to fact that my feeding stations are up on my deck and porch and that I have outdoor electrical outlets in those areas.

 

[rachelinaz]

I meant to comment I do not leave plates out. Bc while our area is clean... very clean, there are tons of bugs... and spiders... so gross. I worry a cat might get hurt.

 

[buffy2011]

 
I do use a heated bowl for water and that's been a winner.  And actually I was wondering about a heated dish for the food also.  I love your idea about using another bowl inside the heated dish for the food!  That would make it much easier for cleanup.  Never thought about that.  Because I was just thinking that if I put the food straight into the heated dish what a mess it would be for cleanup in between feedings.  Thanks for the helpful tip.

The heated bowls I have are a 1 quart. I cut down a cool whip container to the height of the heated bowl. It fit right in there perfect and doesn't move around. Then I just grab the bowl and put a fresh one in. No clean up on the heated bowl, which was very hard to do and I ended up moving the cord and I had them all hidden so the cats didn't step on them. So this worked well. I had read some where that it said to give cats soft food also in the winter and I felt so bad because every morning the food was froze and they didn't get any. I even tried putting it out right before I went to bed and in no time because it was so cold it was froze. So these heated bowls were great to get after a long time of looking around. 

 

[buffy2011]

 
The heated bowls I have are a 1 quart. I cut down a cool whip container to the height of the heated bowl. It fit right in there perfect and doesn't move around. Then I just grab the bowl and put a fresh one in. No clean up on the heated bowl, which was very hard to do and I ended up moving the cord and I had them all hidden so the cats didn't step on them. So this worked well. I had read some where that it said to give cats soft food also in the winter and I felt so bad because every morning the food was froze and they didn't get any. I even tried putting it out right before I went to bed and in no time because it was so cold it was froze. So these heated bowls were great to get after a long time of looking around. 

I used the cool whip container because it was thin and the heat from the heated bowl worked great with it. Never us a metal dish in the winter, there tongues can stick to it. 

 

[keyes]

Actually what I did last winter was I used glass pie plates for the wet cat food.  Would fill one up and keep an eye on it and when I saw it was getting pretty stiff,  I'd grab that one and replace it with the other one and in the meantime I'd nuke the first one to thaw it out.  Would keep me pretty busy for awhile at their feeding time.  I think they loved the fact that the food was warmed up for them and their little bellies.

 

[buffy2011]

 
Actually what I did last winter was I used glass pie plates for the wet cat food.  Would fill one up and keep an eye on it and when I saw it was getting pretty stiff,  I'd grab that one and replace it with the other one and in the meantime I'd nuke the first one to thaw it out.  Would keep me pretty busy for awhile at their feeding time.  I think they loved the fact that the food was warmed up for them and their little bellies.

Funny you said that. I did the same thing but the winter was so bad it was almost every time I looked the food was froze. I couldn't stay up all night so thats when I started looking for the heated bowls. What a life saver that was for me and the cats.

 

[keyes]

Actually, what I did there was they got wet food in the morning and early evening otherwise I had a dog dish out there with dry cat food at all times.