How do you deal with ants and pet food?
September 22nd, 2009
We have one of the worst houses for ant invasion… it’s older, surrounded by trees, and air-conditioned. We just got a kitty, and we can’t keep the ants out of his food. Any tips? Are there pesticides out there that are safe for pets?
Put the cat food bowl on top of a deep plate, like a pie plate, and fill the plate with water. It’ll be like a moat, the ants can’t get across the water to the food. Make sure he cat food bowl is centered. If one side is touching, it’s a bridge.
Mazz
Put the cat food bowl on top of a deep plate, like a pie plate, and fill the plate with water. It’ll be like a moat, the ants can’t get across the water to the food. Make sure he cat food bowl is centered. If one side is touching, it’s a bridge.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 AMReferences :
frozenloc2
Mazz had a excellent idea! If you are feeding outside you can also put seven dust down around the bowl. Thats also works too but the water is a excellent idea for indoor problems.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:22 AMReferences :
Patrick M
I don’t think there is such a thing as a pet safe insecticide. You can try to nest two bowls together. Fill the outer, larger bowl with water, and the inner bowl with the food. This will at least slow down the ants from getting to the food.
You should wipe the area around the food bowls with dilute bleach solution. This destroys the pheromone trails the ants leave behind to get back to the food once they find it. I’m sure your cat won’t like the smell of chlorine too much, so you’ll have to avoid any time near feeding time to clean.
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:02 AMReferences :
shrebee
we have same problem,so i feed the pets and then remove the bowls .i dont leave food out at all now,but i find ants in the bath soap and heading towards the toothpaste or toothbrushes,they are in the carpet and coming out the tiles.i try use ant rid but it doesnt always work,iv tried ant sand and it seemed ok.but its a huge job.iv put a large pizza out at nite and its almost demolished by midday.so i try keep food put away as best as possible.iv tried the water mote trick and it was ok for awhile,so try them all and see wots best at the time,just shuffle.
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 AMReferences :
Bored.
I don’t know about any pet-friendly pesticides, unless you plan on simply getting your whole house sprayed. You would still need to have the dog outside during that time, and follow whatever other directions that the person that you hire gives you.
But I do know that you can buy bags of dog and cat food that have zip lock openings on it. For double security you could buy a sealable box for storing the food, or even a large rubbermaid bin.
For food that’s actually in the animal’s bowl, there are several different types of dishes that are intended for preventing ants and other buggies into the food.
If you don’t want to go out and buy a new dish, than I completely agree with putting the food bowl into a large dish with water in it. You can actually buy dishes that have rims around them for exactly that purpose.
Or you could simply have set feeding times at which you give your cat food. Put the dish away when not in use.
Good luck!
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 AMReferences :