That looks the ticket. I made one myself once using the a solenoid, a hoze, and, for dramatic effect, twin PIR activated spotlights. I included the solenoid in the circuit so that it activated with the lights, which I fixed to a wooden board. It involved an 'extension lead' of about 10 metres of armoured cable if I recall correctly and I used to move it around the garden. Ironically the reason for building it was I decided to create a huge catmint bed for the cats, and had to protect it while the catmint got established before letting cats on it. So the mogs had this tantalising spliff the size of a table-tennis table and whenever they went near it they got drenched and blinded.
I don't know what it is about so many cat owners that they also seem to have immaculate gardens. It makes me laugh when people say "cats never crap in their own garden". Well mine bloody well do. I'd rather my cats crapped in my garden than someone elses, and I have areas of, er, set-aside where they seem to get on with it. But they usually stick to the herb garden which is a bit annoying as I like to garden organically and I don't suppose Whiskas supermeat is very organic.
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:27:47 +0100, Dougie Nisbet wrote (in article ):
I concur.
They certainly do close to home.
Canned products like Whiskas are far from organic or even suitable for cats. They are suitable for their owners to use and nothing more.
Take a look at the contents on the tin. A lot of it is cereals and other carbohydrates.
Do cats eat this in the wild? I don't think so.
If they are fed a natural diet including bone etc. none of the problems associated with preprocessed animal foods occur and the results are entirely suitable for organic growing.
I suppose it counts as organic once it's been through the cat :-)
According to Whiskas Canned Kitten (now that's an unfortunate page title for a search engine) ingredients are:
Meat and animal derivatives, vegetable protein extracts, minerals, derivatives of vegetable origin. Contains EEC permitted colourants.
Analysis % : Protein 8.0, Oil 4.0, Ash 2.7, Fibre 0.3, Moisture 83.5, Vitamin E 100mg/kg.
Whiskas Canned Adult likewise:
Meat and animal derivatives, fish and fish derivatives (eg Salmon and Tuna recipe, min. 4% salmon, min. 4% tuna), vegetable protein extracts, minerals, derivatives of vegetable origin. Contains EEC permitted colourants.
Admittedly not a lot of Salmon or Tuna, (by comparison a Ginsters Original Cornish Pasty 14% British Beef) but I don't see a great deal of cereal or carbohydrates in there either (unlike a Ginsters which is 19g carbohydrate and 17g fat per 100g product)
Turning now to Whiskas Organic, which according to the blurb "is made from the finest, highly nutritious ingredients from organic farms. Which means specially selected meat and vegetables bursting with nutrients and carefully prepared to lock in all the goodness she needs"
(Using Beef and Poultry in Gravy as an example: the ingredients will change for each specific variety)
Meat and animal derivates* (inc. beef min. 4%, poultry min.4%), cereals*, vegetable protein extracts*, minerals, various sugars. *from controlled organic farming
Analysis % Protein 8.0, Oil 4.5, Ash 2.5, Fibre 0.3, Moisture 82.0. Vitamin E: 8.0 mg/kg. Vitamin level guaranteed until best before date.
I wonder if the sugars makes the organic unsuitable for diabetic cats?
No, but in the wild they're more likely to be scrawny worm-ridden beasts
- as we would be.
A properly reared cat will be well able and encouraged to supplement the Whiskas with home-caught food.
Owain
[all ingredient info from whiskas.co.uk and ginsters.co.uk]
On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 22:53:05 +0100, Owain wrote (in article ):
Keep in mind that labelling for animal foods is not required to be the same as for human food, so the percentages as stated don't mean a lot.
I wasn't suggesting that they should live completely under wild conditions, i.e. of course they should get veterinary care, worming and all the rest of it. My point is about processed animal foods in the same way as it is processed foods for humans.
Therein lies the problem. The canned/prepared foods generally make animals lazy and they don't bother to supplement their diet with caught prey. They might kill but often don't eat.
We've switched to feeding a diet that is more directly equivalent to the content of wild caught food. For a cat, this consists of
75% raw meaty bones
15% offal
5% vegetable material Remainder as supplements.
It's very different to the content of a can of cat food.
Typically this involves raw (not cooked) meat mixed with added crushed bones in various forms. Chicken wings are a fairly good match for the meat content. This has proved effective for both of our cats - one from immediately after kitten stage and the other from mid life. The older one now has much better health and behaviour than previously for example. The younger one happily catches and eats small rodents and other prey that he finds (excluding frogs)
If you have very good continuous aeration, what about trout? I'd imagine they would be cheap in bulk from fish hatcheries, and what the heron doesn't eat, you could.
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