Slugs & the Cats Bowl

changepartners

"My" cat lives outdoor and is fed outdoor. Lately I'm getting really disgusted with the amount of slugs in her bowl at night and crawling around her feeding area. I wonder if it could even be hygienic.

Any advice on solving the problem in a pet friendly way without leaving 20 dead slugs around each night?

Thanks!

kylith

You can get copper tape that slugs and snails apparently won't cross. Maybe attaching some of that to the bowl and around the area would help keep them out.

pawrick

Slugs/snails can carry parasites which can infect a cat or dog if eaten. Probably by accident if eaten as i dont think cats have a taste for escargot. Heard that copper wire works as mentioned as it gives a static shock to the slug. It has to be kept clean though not to allow a break or dirt to build up.
Try moving the food away from any shaded or grassy area the slugs might find shelter in during the day, it won't stop them but might reduce the amount making the trek to the food.also placing on gravel is meant to help as they don't like the surface to crawl on. No permanent cure I can think of more disincentives.

aonb

Slugs = yuk!
You could take in the cats food bowl when the cat has finished eating?
If you must leave the bowl outside you could get some sort of 'tray' bigger than the bowl. Put a layer of grit - sand/ashes from the fire/ground up eggshells in the tray. Put the cats food bowl in the centre - the slugs shouldnt (!) cross the layer. Alternatively, put the bowl on a pedestal of some sort that the slugs cant crawl up and in to the bowl?
Personally, I would just take the bowl in at night when the cat has eaten its food.

New Home

You could try with beer traps, the slugs and snails are attracted by the smell of the beer more than they would by the cat food, they go for a sip, get drunk, fall in and drown - it's a happy death for them, I guess... Beer traps are great because they aren't poisonous, so they wouldn't kill hedgehogs, birds or other visitors. They are disgusting to empty out, but you could pour the contents directly into the big composting bin.

Otherwise you could try putting the cat bowl into a much larger bowl filled with water, so that the snails can't reach the inner bowl from the edge of the outer one, and they don't swim.

changepartners

Thanks for the suggestions. Im going to try putting it far from the grass for starters to see if they travel.

New Home

changepartners wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions. Im going to try putting it far from the grass for starters to see if they travel.

Not to sound negative, but they would travel, especially if it's wet outside. This summer I found them half way up the wall of my house... :eek:

Pumpkinseeds

What about something like this?



It would weather proof the food as well as providing shelter and you could always raise it higher off the ground on bricks or something. I spray WD 40 on my plastic plant pots and the slugs slide off as it's so slippery, so a little bit on the lower plastic edges of a container like the ones above would stop them getting at the food. It needs respraying after rain.:)

New Home

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

What about something like this?



It would weather proof the food as well as providing shelter and you could always raise it higher off the ground on bricks or something. I spray WD 40 on my plastic plant pots and the slugs slide off as it's so slippery, so a little bit on the lower plastic edges of a container like the ones above would stop them getting at the food. It needs respraying after rain.:)

:D:D:D:D I knew there had to be yet another use for WD40...

Genius idea, btw, Pumpkinseed :pac:

Pumpkinseeds

New Home wrote: »

:D:D:D:D I knew there had to be yet another use for WD40...

Genius idea, btw, Pumpkinseed :pac:

Those plastic containers also make great big cheap litter trays, the lower longer ones that is.:)