feed the ants!

[RICHARD]

does your cat have a symbiotic relationship with the ants in your home?


I am at my wits end with the friggin ants that get into the cat's food! the heat is driving the ants into the house by the millions. Since ant poison is out of the question, i have tried putting the food/snack bowls in a plate with water, a kind of "ant moat" (not to be confused with AUNT MOAT, who passes out in YOUR favorite chair after Thanksgiving dinner....) but, the cat pushes the bowl to one side, defeating the moat's purpose, spills food on the floor, drinks the water in the plate or the heat just plain evaporates the water...

i have a spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol and that seems to work, for a while.......the ants sober up and get back to the attack....

i have tried everything....i need help. i have ants in my pants....

[popcornbird]

I feel your pain. We have ants in our house too, for the past 4 months, and we just can't seem to get rid of them! They aren't coming for food, they aren't touching any food, just walking around all over the place! I absolutely HATE it when we go to the bathroom and have ants crawling all over us! Yuck! We sent the birds to the neighbor's house for the day and sprayed. It killed them fo 2 days only. 2 days later, they were back! They reside in the bathroom. There's not too many now, but they're still here. I HATE ANTS!

[lbaker]

Eddy will probably get a catatude about this but just for "ant season" simply let Eddy eat what he wants at one sitting then take up the food and tightly cover it until the next time he wants food.

[K & L]

We use this and it's great. Not harmful to pets, people or environment. You can even mix a little in the pets food. Plus it's good for fleas.

http://www2.yardiac.com/long.asp?ite...promo=overture

[Edwina's Secretary]

Supposedly, ants won't cross a chalk line. Draw one around the cat dish???

[shais_mom]

I am having a major bee problem and someone told me to pour ammonia around. They won't come back. Maybe soak some cotton balls in ammonia and put them where the ants are coming in. I wouldn't put it around the food dish b/c this person pours ammonia all around her garden to keep away the critters and it might succeed in keeping Eddy away from his food dish.
Maybe buy a bunch of gallons of ammonia and pour around the house?

[K & L]

Originally posted by shais_mom
I am having a major bee problem and someone told me to pour ammonia around. They won't come back. Maybe soak some cotton balls in ammonia and put them where the ants are coming in. I wouldn't put it around the food dish b/c this person pours ammonia all around her garden to keep away the critters and it might succeed in keeping Eddy away from his food dish.
Maybe buy a bunch of gallons of ammonia and pour around the house?

I wouldn't use ammonia, this could cause the cats to start spraying.

[AmberLee]

Sara, great! I forgot about chalk! I'll draw a line around the kid's food tonight, that should help.

I'm using OrangeGuard spray and it's helping. (It's an extract from oranges that's safe around pets and food. A little strong orange scent in my opinion but the cats are okay with it surprisingly and it kills ants on contact.)

Livvy will attack ants on a onesie-twosie basis, but freaks out when they outnumber her paws. Since she takes about 5 minutes from her first pounce to her killing stroke (for an ant???) there is usually enough time for them to freak her out before her grand finale.

When the fur-kids go sit side-by-side studying the wall or floor together this time of year it's usually a sign we are getting a new ant attack started. I guess they are a good early warning system.

[RICHARD]

K&L
i checked the link and i did a little sleuthing...

dimatomaceous earth is made up of tiny fossilized sea shells and when it's ground up the microscopic
sharp edges slice up the shells on the insects causing them to 'dehydrate'....i think that chalk is the same thing! tiny seashells!!


thanks for the ideas everyone!

[K & L]

Originally posted by RICHARD
K&L
i checked the link and i did a little sleuthing...

dimatomaceous earth is made up of tiny fossilized sea shells and when it's ground up the microscopic
sharp edges slice up the shells on the insects causing them to 'dehydrate'....i think that chalk is the same thing! tiny seashells!!


thanks for the ideas everyone!

Yes that's exactly what it does, and what makes it safe. It's a wonderful product and a little goes a long way. We use it for the ferals at the park. We sprinkle a circle and then put the food inside of that. We never have an ant on their food. Plus we sprinkle it in ant hills and they're gone in no time. You can also mix a little in the food. I highly recommend it if your problem persists! It's worth the money!

[Uabassoon]

Cinammon works great. At my old house then I fed the porch kitties we would sprinkle some cinammon around the cats dish and the ants would go away.

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

LOL I have "ant moats" at my house, too!

[Fox-Gal]

I think I'm going to give that Diatomaceous Earth a try also. We have ants bad around here ever year during the rainy weather, I guess they come in to get to higher ground/dry ground

I been just using those ant baits, they work good, it's just I have to glue them into a open end box so the cats cant get to them. Looks real pretty when company come over, little cardboard boxs sitting around your floor.

[gini]

Richard, Sara and others have given you good advice. I too, in the spring, went through a nighmare with ants. They were everywhere.

What worked with the cat dishes is the chalk line around their bowls. The chalk gets on their little legs and that's it.............

Is it me, or does this seem to be an unusual year for ants..........I have had a problem since the first of the year?

Do you have a pyrex baking dish - one of those 9 X 12 jobbies.....
when all else failed, I put the food dishes in that with water in it.

[NoahsMommy]

Salt works just like the chalk.

In the summer, we line the bottom part of our door frame with salt and they don't get in. (At least...not from that enterance!! )