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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2006Ant Invasion!!!! Target: Cat Dish
Hi There has been a recent invasion of small red ants at my place and for some strange reason they have developed a liking for Bubba's Royal Canin Maine Coon kibble. In the past, he has shown no signs of being a picky eater, but he seems to have drawn the line at consuming ants, which probably aren't a necessary part of a healthy diet for cats anyway. I've considered putting out a separate dish for the ants, but they probably would not restrict themselves to "their" dish. I *did* put out a few ant baits in the area where they would be in the ant's path in and out but not where they would be interesting to Bubba. I also have put out a few chipotle sauce barriers, but the ants seem to either find a way around or they enjoy the extra seasoning. My question of the day is: Does anyone know of a reliable way to discourage/kill off the ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or to me, for that matter? Thanks in advance... Claude Hi Claude, When I had this problem from time to time, I'd put the dish of food in the middle a pan of water (water deters the ants). It's not an ideal solution, because you have to change the water a lot because it gets gungy, but it does work. Marcie > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Claude >Hi Claude, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Marcie Great suggestion. I'll give that a go until I can get rid of the ants... Thanks much. Claude >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >> >> Claude > In article > <1151956685.798255.68050@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>, Marcie [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks much. I had an ant problem until I found out I also had a termite problem. The ants were getting in the same way the termites were - around the water main pipe. The termite treatment is also an ant deterent, but even if you don't have a termite problem it might be worth looking at where the water main enters your house. In the meantime, here's a picture of an ant-proof pet dish to give you an idea of the small size bowl you'd need to make your own - a shallow stainless steel bowl with a ceramic bowl in the center of it would work well. Also, try putting a drop or two of liquid dish detergent in the water (Dawn is safe even if your kitty laps a little of it until tasting the soap and goes "blech!") because that breaks up the tension and they drown without being able to float to the edge. http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=8411  SignatureCheryl >> In article >> <1151956685.798255.68050@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>, Marcie [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >deterent, but even if you don't have a termite problem it might be >worth looking at where the water main enters your house. I'm pretty sure that I don't have termites. I live in the desert and it's the time of year that ants seem to come up out of the ground to avoid being flooded by the summer rains. I hope its a sign that we are going to get some water this year. >In the meantime, here's a picture of an ant-proof pet dish to give >you an idea of the small size bowl you'd need to make your own - a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=8411 Excellent. I was going to put Bubba's food dish inside a cake pan and fill it with water. That's pretty much the same deal, I think. I'll add a bit of dish soap to the water too. I doubt if he'll drink it. He's not much of a soap lover. :^) thanks much Claude On Mon 03 Jul 2006 08:34:06p, Claude V. Lucas wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:44a9b77e$0$34510 $742ec2ed@news.sonic.net): > I was going to put Bubba's food dish inside a cake pan and > fill it with water. That's pretty much the same deal, I think. > > I'll add a bit of dish soap to the water too. I doubt if he'll > drink it. He's not much of a soap lover. :^) One last thing: Since ants leave a scent trail, thoroughly clean the floor around the bowls and any other spot you noticed ants. Why your cat won't go eat ants is because they have a strong odor themselves, and especially if they're crushed. We can't smell it, but cats sure can. SignatureCheryl >On Mon 03 Jul 2006 08:34:06p, Claude V. Lucas wrote in >rec.pets.cats.health+behav (news:44a9b77e$0$34510 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >One last thing: Since ants leave a scent trail, thoroughly clean the >floor around the bowls and any other spot you noticed ants. Yeah. It helps keep them from finding their way back too. >Why your cat won't go eat ants is because they have a strong odor >themselves, and especially if they're crushed. We can't smell it, but >cats sure can. Yep. Plus they bite. He got a couple on him last night and absolutely freaked out until I found them all and got them off. In retrospect, I wish I had a camcorder at hand. It was "Planet's Funniest Animals" material for sure. Not to Bubba, though. > Hi Claude, > > When I had this problem from time to time, I'd put the dish of food in > the middle a pan of water (water deters the ants). It's not an ideal > solution, because you have to change the water a lot because it gets > gungy, but it does work. It doesn't need to be a pan. Kitty will think the staff are playing tricks again... trying to get kitty wet. Tsk tsk tsk... :-D > Marcie > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >> >> Claude : Does anyone know of a reliable way to discourage/kill off the : ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or : to me, for that matter? Have you tried raising the bowl 6-8 feet? Otherwise the water solution suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the water once a day. >: Does anyone know of a reliable way to discourage/kill off the >: ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the >water once a day. There's really no place to do that in the place I live. At 25 lbs, Bubba is pretty much a ground kitty by his choice. He's never shown any inclination to visit the higher spots. He's never even jumped up on the kitchen counters... There's a couple of less than 6-8 foot spots in the house that he visits that I could put his food on but I'm reluctant to invite the ants into other parts that they don't as yet seem to be interested in. I'm gonna try the pan of water trick too... thanks, though Claude : >Have you tried raising the bowl 6-8 feet? Otherwise the water solution : >suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the : >water once a day. : : There's really no place to do that in the place I live. : At 25 lbs, Bubba is pretty much a ground kitty by his choice. That was pretty stupid mistake on my oart. I meant 6-8 inches of course. Not sure if it would deter the ants. > : >Have you tried raising the bowl 6-8 feet? Otherwise the water solution > : >suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > That was pretty stupid mistake on my oart. I meant 6-8 inches of > course. Not sure if it would deter the ants. Ants climb walls... not sure even 6 - 8 FEET would work. :-D >> : >Have you tried raising the bowl 6-8 feet? Otherwise the water solution >> : >suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Ants climb walls... not sure even 6 - 8 FEET would work. :-D It wouldn't. Ants (outdoors, fortunately) would climb the tall poles to get to my pole-mounted bird feeders until I started to hang them from those little ant moats filled with water. MaryL >: >Have you tried raising the bowl 6-8 feet? Otherwise the water solution >: >suggested in the other post will work for sure. You need to change the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >That was pretty stupid mistake on my oart. I meant 6-8 inches of >course. Not sure if it would deter the ants. I doubt if raising the dish a few inches will keep the pesty little critters away. Feet, maybe... > Does anyone know of a reliable way to discourage/kill off the > ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Claude I use stainless steel pet food bowls on a 4 legged rack. I put each leg in a cap full of diatomaceous earth. It usually works. SignatureJohn Kimmel guyxnoir@spirextech.com remove x "He's dead, Jim." >> Does anyone know of a reliable way to discourage/kill off the >> ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >I use stainless steel pet food bowls on a 4 legged rack. I put each leg >in a cap full of diatomaceous earth. It usually works. That's something I'll consider too, if I can't find a way to get rid of the ants.... thanks Claude > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Claude Until you figure out the ultimate method of ant murder, create a moat for your cat dish so the ants will stay out of the cat food. Do this by placing the cat food dish inside a larger dish. Fill the larger dish with water, but not so full that it spills over into the smaller dish... otherwise you end up with soggy kibble. Actually, soggy kibble isn't a bad idea since your cat will ingest more moisture which is a good thing... but I ramble. >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >Actually, soggy kibble isn't a bad idea since your cat will ingest more >moisture which is a good thing... but I ramble. A prior poster kindly added a URL for a neat moated food dish. I'm gonna use a small cake pan I already have to do a similar construction. http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=8411 Bubba seems to be pretty good about drinking plenty of water. I usually refill his water dispenser every other day and there's always a lot gone. He has one of these, or something similar... http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=8246 Oddly enough, the ants seem to be leaving his water alone. I somehow got the impression that this time of year in our area they were either seeking moisture or fleeing the pending summer desert monsoons. Hopefully the ant invasion is a sign of some upcoming rain. We need it. > Hi > > There has been a recent invasion of small red ants at my place > and for some strange reason they have developed a liking for > Bubba's Royal Canin Maine Coon kibble. They are fat ants aka oil ants. They are seeking oil to eat. > In the past, he has shown > no signs of being a picky eater, but he seems to have drawn the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > ants that would not pose any sort of toxic hazard to Bubba or > to me, for that matter? You can kill the ants with a combination of dish detergent and water. Flood the area and then sop it up - ants and all. You may have to squish them in the process. You then need to find the opening from which the ants are coming in, and block it. In our old house, they came in around a window sill and I just caulked it better so they had no entry. -L. If you use the dish in a dish method, make sure the outside dish with the water has sloping sides so if the inner food dish gets pushed to the side, no part of the dish touches above the water where the ants can get across. I like glass pie plates for the outer dishes. >If you use the dish in a dish method, make sure the outside dish with >the water has sloping sides so if the inner food dish gets pushed to >the side, no part of the dish touches above the water where the ants >can get across. I like glass pie plates for the outer dishes. I'm gonna dose the water with dish soap too... thanks Claude >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >came in around a window sill and I just caulked it better so they had >no entry. Good thought. I've been doing that with a shot of Clorox chaser. They're coming in from somewhere underneath the house and since it's Black Widow (and worse) season I'm not going under there to see where the ants are coming in.... All the neighbors are having ant problems too, FWIW. :^) Thanks Claude > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Claude I've had this happen several times--usually in the spring. We also tried the dish in the moat idea which helped but we also ended up cleaning the floor around the cat dish a lot and I'd remove the bowl right away after Clover ate and not put it back down until we fed him again. That way there were no food particles around long enough to attract them. It's harder if you free feed. The strange thing is that I feed him separately from my other cats because he's fairly aggressive and the ants never seem to find the other cat dishes. I would also feed him in a different area for a little if they got too bad. Clover doesn't like ants either and will back away from his dish! Probably tastes the formic acid! Bonnie >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >they got too bad. Clover doesn't like ants either and will back away from >his dish! Probably tastes the formic acid! I've been picking up the dish when Bubba's done eating too. I don't free feed him. He'd be 30 or 35 pounds by now if I did that... There's a lot less ants since I washed his feeding area down with dish soap and bleach too. Bubba hates the things. He's never had so much as a flea on him before and was not at all happy when a couple of ants jumped on his face from the bowl when they first showed up. >>> Hi >>> [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] > him before and was not at all happy when a couple of ants > jumped on his face from the bowl when they first showed up. Youch!! Clover is petrified of them and doesn't want to be in the same room!! He's very suspicious of the moat around the dish, too. Sometimes it's just easier to move the dish to another area. I'm lucky the ants just seem to be in that one area. Bonnie >>>> Hi >>>> [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] >it's just easier to move the dish to another area. I'm lucky the ants just >seem to be in that one area. Yeah. I'm glad they're only in one spot at my place so far. That's one reason I'm reluctant to put food in other areas. They're creepy. I've found a couple real ones crawling on me and about a hundred that weren't really there. :^) Today the ant count is way down so hopefully the ant army is headed elsewhere. > Yeah. I'm glad they're only in one spot at my place so far. > > That's one reason I'm reluctant to put food in other areas. > > They're creepy. I've found a couple real ones crawling on me and > about a hundred that weren't really there. :^) LOL--I know how that is! I live in tick country and every time I find one crawling on me I feel creepy crawly until I can't stand it and take a shower! > Today the ant count is way down so hopefully the ant army > is headed elsewher Good!! I found that if I kept the area clean, the ants would move on pretty quickly. They'd come back periodically to check things but if there's no food around they go hunting for more promising locales. Have fun! Bonnie I have had problems with ants around the kitty dish too. I found that if you sprinkle diatomaceous earth around on the floor and where you think the ants might be coming in they will stay away. Looks like soft harmless stuff to us but is sharp and jagged to ants.. I think it is the same stuff used in pool filters. > > Yeah. I'm glad they're only in one spot at my place so far. > > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Bonnie >I have had problems with ants around the kitty dish too. I found that >if you sprinkle diatomaceous earth around on the floor and where you >think the ants might be coming in they will stay away. Looks like soft >harmless stuff to us but is sharp and jagged to ants.. I think it is >the same stuff used in pool filters. Fortuately, the ant army seems to have moved on to easier pickings before I needed to deploy any complicated countermeasures. thanks to all, though. Claude >> > Yeah. I'm glad they're only in one spot at my place so far. >> > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >> >> Bonnie > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Claude The water bowl trick that several people mentioned seems to be the trick that is most workable. I have also read (but have never tried it -- so, no guarantees) that ants avoid an area that has been sprayed with vinegar. It certainly can't hurt to try. MaryL >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > >MaryL A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. Good idea. The ants seem to have gone elsewhere except for a few scouts here and there, anyway... Thanks Claude > A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Claude I thought cats liked to eat ants and moths and bugs and crickets >> A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > I thought cats liked to eat ants and moths and bugs and crickets My cats act like they're afraid of ants--don't if it's the taste or if they're being bit by them. They hunt the others with gleeful abandon, including spiders and they crunch them down like potato chips--you can't eat just one! Bonnie > >> A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. > >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Bonnie my former cat loved ants, he looked like an ant-eater dobbing them up with his tongue, his tongue would leave a little dime size wet spot on the floor after each take >> >> A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. >> >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > with his tongue, his tongue would leave a little dime size wet spot on > the floor after each take That's hilarious!! I fear mine are a bit more cautious! It would certainly help control any ant problems if they'd only try! >> >> A shot or two of vinegar in the water can't hurt anything. >> >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >with his tongue, his tongue would leave a little dime size wet spot on >the floor after each take If Bubba would do that then I would have a self-solving problem. :^) Hi Claude! We also had this problem and no matter where I put the dishes, the darn ants found the food. We finally bought some outdoor ant killer in a pellet-like form and put it right up against the outside of the house on all sides. It worked like a charm and we never had the problem again. I prefer the bagged stuff to the spray because if there is even the slightest wind, it can blow into your face if not careful. I cannot remember the name of it but it is in a red foil bag and we bought it at either Home Depot or Lowe's. Now, though, we have Wayne's Environmental come out and spray for several pests quarterly. > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Claude >Hi Claude! >We also had this problem and no matter where I put the dishes, the darn [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >bought it at either Home Depot or Lowe's. Now, though, we have Wayne's >Environmental come out and spray for several pests quarterly. Hi Fortunately the ants apparently have decided to go elsewhere before I had to resort to chemical warfare... Claude >> Hi >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >> >> Claude > Fortunately the ants apparently have decided to go elsewhere > before I had to resort to chemical warfare... haha one time, out of interest (and mild boredom) I put a nice size mound of sugar outside, then added water to make it gooey WOW! every ant within a mile was on that sugar pile amazing! their buts swell up and turn clear, this is how they tote booty I didn't kill them (I had thought about setting them on fire w/magnifying glass) but my objective was to lewer them back outside, worked like a charm |
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