My mother and I swear by Ant Terro............but you DO have to be careful
to put it in spots the cats can't get to.
We have found it very effective for those itty bitty ants.......sugar ants
to you but pi** ants where I come from :)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.........their web page says not harmful to pets but I wouldn't
take a chance anyway!
http://www.terro.com/antcontrolfaq2.php#toxic

Lorna (Chessie & Nikki)

You could try finding their entrances to the home and spraying generously
with peppermint smell. It won't kill the ants, but ants are suposed to
absolutely hate the smell of peppermint and therefore won't cross an area
that is strongly peopperminty.

The peppermint won't be toxic to the kitties, its cheap, it will smell nice,
and won't stop you trying harsher methods later on.

Yowie

Hi Karen--regular 20-Mule-Team borax laundry additive will kill ants,
is much less toxic than pesticides. It still is bad for cats, but
they'd have to ingest in in quantity for it to hurt them, so you'd have
to put it where they won't track it with their paws.

Sherry

You've actually touched on a medium-gun soluton: drowning.  For example,
if your table legs are water-resistant, lift the table and put the legs
in some fairly flat containers -- plastic sandwich boxes are good. If
the legs are wooden, protect them with plastic bags.

Then, fill the containers with water, with maybe a pinch of sugar. Watch
the ants do their impression of lemmings.

I would need to check the labeling for their ant product, but there's a
bait product line that uses a reproductive inhibitor, Combat, which was
extremely effective against roaches. They've modified the roach formula
so the baits last for a year.  

The actual bait is sealed in a plastic covering with a roach- or
ant-sized hole, so there's no danger of a cat getting into it. The only
concern would be the level of hazard if the cat ate the bug.

Orange oil.

We've had decent success spraying their trails (and them) with vinegar
and water, then wiping down their trails afterwards. It may take several
weeks though.  This is something that your apartment complex should deal
with also, check with the landlord if they will spray.  Most sprays are
ok once they've dried, I think.

-Caroline S.

If you'd settle for simply persuading them to go elsewhere,
try sprinkling cinnamon on their trails and around any food
they're on.  True, the cleanup is a bit messy, and you have
to leave it down for a while for it to do any good, but it's
guaranteed harmless to cats and other living creatures.  It
won't kill the ants, but they don't like it, so after a few
hours, they disappear.