Ants + dry cat food = trouble city. Setting dry cat food outside here in Arizona is an ant magnet (troops of them). To keep them out of kitty's food, I take a pie tin, set kitty cats bowl in center, then fill tin with water. Ants don't want to cross over, and the few that do don't make it - sorry guys! Now if you've got slugs and snails, well you know this wouldn't work -boy howdy- but, copper wire surrounding will.
By Pamela Rochelle Woodworth from Sun Lakes, AZ
This page contains the following solutions.
I was getting ants around their food dishes. I read somewhere to put vinegar on cotton balls and place them around the food bowls (under food mat edges, etc.). Bingo no ants and pet safe!
If you get ants in your pet's food bowls, try this. Set your pet's food bowl in a larger shallow bowl, like a pie pan. Fill half full with water (like a mote ), no more ants. It is simple, but it works. I have been doing this for 40yrs +. I change the mote water every day.
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Does anyone know how to get rid of the small ants? We have a cat and her food dish is in on the floor. Someone suggested you draw a chalk line around the dish and the ants won't cross it and get in the food. I put a piece of wood down and the bowl on top of it and drew a chalk line on the wood. It seemed to work for awhile, but now the ants are back in her food. How else can I stop them from getting in her food? I want to use a homemade remedy that really works. Thank you.
Hardiness Zone: 5a
By Linda Delcamp from Brighton, MI
Yesterday there was a post here on thrifty fun about uses for used coffee grinds. One of the tips may work for your question.
I put water in a container then put the dog dish in that.
Thanks for all the answers but the question was how to get rid of ants in my cat's food bowl. I did try the one where you put water in a container and put the dish on top of it.
Sweet 'n low and Nutra Sweet really worked to eliminate my ants. They apparently carry it back to the nest.
Sprinkle a circle around the bowl of talcum powder. Ants will not cross it.
If the chalk line around the bowl worked the first time, try it again. Keep re-newing the chalk line. Possibly what ever is keeping the ants away from it is drying out or disappearing is some way.
I have cats and dogs. My house was built on what used to be orange groves and I was told that I would always have an ant problem. I put the food bowls inside a container of water, such as a container lid or a large tray. This works great. While I still have an ant problem, the pets don't.
I put my dogs food in a ice cream container it worked
Sprinkle baby powder around dish
They won't walk thru powder
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We get ants when we leave our cat food on the floor. Since the food is in the laundry room, I put a non-skid rug on the dryer and put the cat food on the dryer.
I used to have problems with ants in the dog bowl until I tried this. Wash the area where the bowl was with soapy water. This destroys the ant trail scent.
A few days ago, we had to move our dryer to another room - thus, we had to drill a hole in the outside wall for the vent.
