Cat food and maggots (gross sorry)

[Misericord]

Hello

Warning: somewhat gross post.

My cat will basically only eat Whiskas wet food. We have tried her on several different types, but as far as she is concerned, whiskas fish selection in jelly is the only acceptable dinner (which pains me as it's something like 4% fish...). She tends to nibble on it during the day, so there's usually some breakfast left when I get back from work around 7pm, and then she gets her dinner around 8.30.

Anyway. In the summer heat, I've noticed that when I get home there are little white bits on the food... it took a week or so but after a horrifying bin emptying experience (where her food remains go), I realised these are maggots....

I really hope there weren't flies eggs in the cat food - if not, I assume the flies have been lured by the stinky food and laid in the morning and ten hours later there are maggots. So gross.

Any ideas how to prevent this? Can she have only dry food / are there wet foods that don't attract flies / anyone use anything to cover or protect the food?

:(

Thanks

Cat feeder with voice recorder www.amazon.co.uk/Automatic-Feeder-Voice-Recorder-Dogs/dp/B073P8BY6V?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I got mine for much less on Ebay, that is just to show you what I mean.

@norsksun - little specks in the food straight away - are you putting it down next to the dry? Dry cat food often has little grain bugs in it and they might be transferring over. This is very likely if you buy in large amounts.

That sounds logical - however, I buy the smallest bag of dry food - and it isn't always placed near the wet food plate. I will recheck my dry food, tho - this does make sense. This is such a mystery to me. It happened again this summer for just a few times - I called the cat food manufacturer and they don't know either. It isn't maggots either because we don't even have any flies in our house. We're OK at the moment - but, it does reoccur every once in awhile during the summer months.

Zombie thread, but in case anyone is reading, we've been using a motion activated feeder (Surefeed?) which is fabulous. OldCat learned very quickly how to use it.

Thank you - I think that has to be the case - the fly eggs are already in the food. Only possible answer. I think we all have decided to not leave uneaten food out - mine goes in a sealed bag as soon as our cats walk away. Thank you everyone.

I always empty any leftover cat food in the toilet - flies can and do get inside bins and those fly eggs turn into maggots within hours (I think within 6 hours).

Ive gone on to those little packets of shredded chicken/tuna from Sainsburys finest. They are small so i dont feel bad that they had any wet food. I leave the dry all day.

I’ve just bought the ‘Surefeed’, motion activated feeder for my cat & I agree - it’s absolutely brilliant & she took to it straightaway. I’d previously bought her a ‘Pedaldish’ (£15) but she wouldn’t walk up the ramp, which activated the lid ; despite much encouragement, she’d, frustratingly, just sit at the bottom! I was, therefore, nervous about spending considerably more (£50), in case she wouldn’t use it. Thankfully, my concerns were unfounded!

Here's your best (SNJ/East Coast) Spring & Summer solutions to flies, maggots, ants and most other crawling pests, such as; snails, slugs, worms & larger crawling predatory insects.
First your gonna need a decent feeder. I built a rectangler open-faced wooden box w/ a wooden divider placed directly w/in the center of. Ultimately, creating 2 separate, equally sized compartment spaces. 1 for water, 1 for dry food only. Image of build attached below.
Next, find a decent glass, hard plastic or livestock grade rubber bowl for their daily fresh water per 1/of 2 of these created compartments.
For the other, you want 1 shallow squared piece of lidless Tupperware and a dry food cat bowl that will be able to fit directly w/in the center of said Tupperware w/out touching either of it's 4 interior perimeter walls. You then simply add water, about ⅛-¼ way full, to the square Tupperware (so interior flooring of Tupperware is fully submerged) then add your bowl of dry cat food directly w/in the centermost positioned area of the submerged Tupperwares interior... creating an island effect, or "MOAT" as this system of feeding commonly goes by. This will keep ants & most other crawlers away. & being flies rarely lay eggs in dry cat/dog food, you'll have a minimum risk of maggots you'll have to deal w/, just so you change out dry food every 24-48 hours. For added fly prevention... Go to $1 store & grab a cheap thin rubber or durable cloth floor mat. Cut each mat to size per #2 open faced compartments. Drape, from top to bottom, each mat ⅔-¾ the way down & staple along top wooden plate... ultimately creating your own food/water protection flaps. Be sure to cut 1 or 2 5-6" slits, from the bottom of flap & upward, so your cat(s) can poke their heads inside to eat & drink w/out much added strain or issues.
Wet food. Keep separate. 2 plastic bowls, 1 able to fit inside the other. The larger bowl will hold the water, the smaller the food and float w/in the larger. Be sure to place on level ground so inside bowl doesn't rest along any interior perimeter of larger bowl holding water that it's resting in... Once again, the "MOAT" feeding system. Only way to avoid flies though, even when using this or any other # of feeding strategies is:
1.) Feed in the evening hours, after dusk and up till 30 minutes b4 dawn.
2 ) Pull the food after 20-30 mins regardless. Once they've eaten, had their fill & walk off, discarding any uneaten contents which may still remain in bowl(s). Discard leftovers 💯%, never mix used & unused foods... This will avoid any unwanted crosscontamination in the long run.
Good luck.