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Thread: Ants in the cat food

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    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Ants in the cat food

    We keep a bowl of food for our cats in the kitchen, and we have another bowl outside where they can eat when they go out and where strays can stop in for a free meal.

    This morning I went out and the ourside food dish was crawling with ants. The stray cat who has taken up permanent residence was looking at the food bowl, but he would not eat from it. I got another bowl and put it down several feet away, and he immediately went to it and began eating.

    How do I get rid of these ants? I can't spray a bowl of cat food with ant spray. Can I take the bowls away and spray that area, then return them, or would the dried spray be dangerous to the cats?

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    Default Re: Ants in the cat food

    Cinnamon. Seriously...I had this problem with my bird cages...I sprinkle cinnamon in the bottom of the dish now before I fill it every day and no ants since! Put the dish inside a bigger one with water too..so there is a moat around the cat bowl...any ants that crawl over will drown.

    Dont substitute nutmeg though for cinnamon...it can be toxic to cats.

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    Default Re: Ants in the cat food

    Baby powder works, too. It gets into the ants' joints and dries them out, thus killing them. I sprinkle it across my threshold in the summer to keep them out of my house.

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    Default Re: Ants in the cat food

    Stripperweb is the bet kept secret in cyberspace. There is NO question that you can ask where you will not get an intelligent answer. (Well, except, "How can I date a stripper?")

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    Default Re: Ants in the cat food

    ...aaaaaannd this is why i can't leave despite not being a dancer...




    /end drama-ish threadjack....sry. love you guys....






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    Default Re: Ants in the cat food

    We've done this by using the moat method mentioned by CKXXX above, so I can vouch for that. Put the cat dish in a bigger dish or plate with water in it (they even sell one-piece moat dishes on some pet sites). Ants can't really swim.

    Clean up dropped food because the ants will go for that and stick around, and make sure that the inner bowl doesn't touch the edge of the moat bowl.

    I don't know about the cinnamon for our cats though - they're so finicky I don't think they would like the smell. Maybe we'll try sprinkling it around other places the ants like to go.

    Thanks for helping out the stray.

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