Yuck yuck yuck yuck. Flys laying eggs on food.

[Jane]

Well I assume they were from flies..recently Meow (the cat on the allotment who lives on our plot) has had these little white things in her dish, think they're fly eggs or something now but we didn't realise and were just cleaning out her dish really well everyday. Just now Patch wanted feeding, I picked up his dish, got a spoon and tried to level out the food that was already in their...and their were little wriggly things. Oh my gosh. I nearly dropped his bowl on his head. Disgusting. Icky, yucky, ewwy. Now I am really itchy and feel ill. Yes I know I'm OTT, but what if he would have....eaten them. :mad: Yuck.

Now, assuming they were fly eggs or whatever how do we stop the eggs being layed on their? Patch has dry food and meat mixed together and Meow just has meat (she will not eat dry food). Any tips? Comments?

Yucky.

Jane

[Jac]

Sorry probably no help here but I would say dont leave food about. Cover it up or better stil just put out enough thats scoffed and clean out the dishes after every feed.

[Tanya]

To stop flies from getting on her cats food, my nan covers it up and when the cats ask for food she puts it down on the floor for them again.

[Kazz]

How about a cheap cool bag to keep the food in and/or a lid you fit on top of cat food tins or silver foil.
In this heat I don't think you will stop the flies getting to the food especially in the allotment, in the house I never leave food down once Cleo has finished eating the food is removed and dishes cleaned out. But you could try fly catchers you know those strips people hang down.

Karen

[Mags]

The safest way would be to give Patch a smaller amount of food so that he
will clear his dish in one go. Any food left in his dish after should immediately be thrown away and the dish washed as it will attract the flies if left.

Flies may carry diseases on their bodies and transmit them to the surfaces on which they land. Flies eggs can hatch in anything fron 8 hours to 3 days so it is very important not to leave any uncovered food around especially in hot weather.

[dandysmom]

Wise advice given above! Maggots in the food are enough to make anyone queasy...eeeew! :shock: My stray outside always cleans her plate completely so haven't had this problem,

[Jane]

Thanks everyone. Think we will start feeding him less but more regularly then. Might give him a bowl of dry food down all the time too? Would that attract flies?

Mags - 8 hours?? His dish was washed about dinner time, but that is about 8 hours I guess.

The thing with Meow on the allotment is we feed her once in the morning and once at night, she never ever eats it straight away....so now sure what to do with her?

Thanks everyone, that was really helpful :)

[dandysmom]

I may be wrong, but I don't believe dry food attracts flies the way wet does. But that won't help with Meow, as you said she won't eat dry? If she doesn't come and eat at once, that could be a problem...maybe feed her a little less so she'll be hungrier and come sooner? Once she's gotten into the habit of eating promptly you could increase the amount again...???/

[Jane]

I may be wrong, but I don't believe dry food attracts flies the way wet does. But that won't help with Meow, as you said she won't eat dry? If she doesn't come and eat at once, that could be a problem...maybe feed her a little less so she'll be hungrier and come sooner? Once she's gotten into the habit of eating promptly you could increase the amount again...???/


I'm not sure - we tried dry food before and she never ate it no matter what we did to it, we could try it again though, might take a bit down tomorrow night. Thanks for the tip, will tell dad.

[charliebubs]

Hi Jane, I had this same problem last year and it's starting again this year. I had maggots in the bin last year too :shock:

I bought an ultraviolet light that I have plugged in near the food to attract the flies.

Other than that I just feed smaller portions and then clean all the bowls.

Eileen is right though, dried food doesn't attract them - it's just the wet food. Some wet foods do seem to be more attractive to them than others as well :roll: They seem to like the gravy varieties!!! :)

[dandysmom]

Jane, I meant wet food for Meow; sorry if I wasn't clear! It just seems that if she were hungrier she'd come and eat sooner, eliminating the problem. Onyx, my stray, waits for me at feeding time and cleans her plate so promptly it looks as if it had been washed! Sometimes she sticks her face up to the plate while I'm still scraping it out of the tin!! Good luck!

[Kazz]

Maybe someone else is feeding Meow? there is a good chance that is the case as I imagine as Dm has said stray/ferals scoff their food once down leaving none. So I imagine Meow has another food source. Maybe a little less morning and evening may be the answer.

[Kim]

It's gross isn't it, I have seen plenty of flies eggs in the cats food in the past. Like someone else, I only feed small quantities of wet food now and then clean the bowl out. Dry food is left all day though, it doesn't attract the flies. You could try and experiment with different varieties of dry food to find one Meow likes? Mine love Royal Canin, sensible which they find very palatable! A lot of companies will send you samples if you ask.

[tilly]

I am having the same problem with flies laying there eggs on tilly's food:evil: . She has to have a special diet which cost 99p for a tuna can sized tin:shock: :shock: so I was mightly annoyed when I was having to throw away large amounts as the flies laid eggs on it:smt096 :smt096. I have started feeding tilly less and mixing it with dry food the as the flies don't like lay eggs on the dry stuff. But as she takes a while to eat and like to come back and finish it later I have to keep an eye on her an pick it up and cover it when she has had enough. i have also got several different types of fly repelent that I have put around the place as I have decieded to wage a war agaisnt the flies.:smt077 :smt077 But be careful that the fly replent you use is either out of reach or not harmful to cats.

Another thing you could try is getting a automatic feeder that will slowly turn and give her a little bit of food at a time. As you wouldn't havew to be there and she could eat it at er lesiure.

http://www.petutopia.co.uk/automatic_cat_feeders_7241.php#
Cat Mate C50 Pet Feeder Cat Mate C50 Pet Feeder
The Cat Mate C50 automatic pet feeder is the ideal weekend feeder. It will serve up to 5 fresh meals at the times you set up to 96 hours later. Comes with 2 ice packs to help keep food fresh for longer.

Requires 1 x AA/LR6 battery (not included)

Was £45.95
Now Only £39.95

http://www.seapets.co.uk/product-details/stkcode/675600/category/871.html
Not sure if teh above are any good but they might help out a bit.

Sally

[mable1718]

dont leave food about

feed them smaller portions

[dinahsmum]

All seems to have been covered. I'd go with the 'give a tiny bit of wet food that gets scoffed, ensure the dish is clean (cat tongue or water) then put in a little dry. If hungry enough the cat will eat it (or go elsewhere to try his luck!)
For non-allotment fly situations - have you used the Vapona 'flower' stickers you put on your window? Very good, the fly walks on the flower (which is attractive to it) then falls down dead. Not perilous to other creatures. Or the 'poison pen' you paint round light shades? That does for 'em too.
Flies! We don't like 'em. However, maggots actually do a very good job in cleaning up putrefying stuff.

[Jane]

Thanks everyone! Starting from this morning we have been feeding him smaller meals when he asks for them. If there is still quite a bit left we will cover it in tin foil and put it on the side/in the fridge (depending on whether) but if there's just a little bit left we will throw it away. We've also gave him a little plate full of dry food to see if he will eat it on his own - if he does we're going to get another dish for dry food. Does that sound okay?

dandysmom - Ooh okay, that makes sense - I think we will dry that, thank you.

Kazz - I'm not sure, I don't think she is. She doesn't go far and none of the people on our "path" of the allotment feed her, most of them don't like cats.

Kim - will have a look for Royal Canin, thank you.

tilly - that looks good, will tell my parents about them - could be handy for meow?? Thanks for all the tips ;)

Thank you everyone, all of the tips are really helpful and I've learnt alot :)

[Kazz]

In that case then have you any idea how old she is how long she's been around if she's eating less, she may have ttoth trouble especially if she's older - not sure how much you want to do but maybe the CPL could catch her spay her check her out then return her to you?

Karen

[Jane]

We reckon she's about 8 years old, she's been with us about 2-3 years I think...not sure about teeth trouble, it is a possibility but she does eat all of her food with no problems, I think if she stops eating anymore we will get her a checkup at the vets though. Apparently she is already spayed, before we were there they had a spay/neuter program for a colony of ferals on there or something (although she is the only one still hanging around....) and she was one of the ones to be spayed. Thanks ;)

[dandysmom]

Jane, good luck, and do let us how things are going with poor Meow!

[Jane]

Jane, good luck, and do let us how things are going with poor Meow!

Thanks for the good luck. We fed her a bit less than usual last night and this morning dad gave her the same amount as last night and apparently she ate it all straight away. We're going to take some dry food down tonight too, she wouldn't eat it before but she's worth trying for ;)