Need ideas on how to bug proof food bowls

Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to keep ants etc from getting into food bowls? I'm more concerned with the dry kibble. Is a raised bowl worth the investment? There's a history of ants and some kind of beetle in the room I feed Robin in. In the past, I've set his kibble bowl in a plate filled with water, but I've never really trusted that set up. What do you guys do? I don't free feed like I used to, but his bowl always has at least a few pieces of dry in it. Thanks!

Set the bowl in a shallow plastic tray or something similar and fill with water to keep the ants away. A raised feeder would also work and you could set the feeder in a tray of water as extra precaution. I've seen ants climb on walls and ceilings so they may be able to just climb up a feeder if you don't set the feeder in a tray of water.

I agree with the moat idea.  I use a peppermint spray that is pet safe once it is dry.  I put the cats in my bedroom and remove their food and water from my powder room until the floor is dry. I  spray down my entire floor in my front hall and bathroom once every three months.  I have found that I have no ants in my house once I spray the area.  I have bad ant problems at certain times of the year and this method has completely stopped my problems.  I also spray down the cracks in the area around the inside of my doors in my front hall.  My cats do not go out so I spray outdoor ant spray in my garage and front porch area.  I spray those on my days off on separate areas so that they have time to dry and nothing gets tracked back into my house.  I hope this helps you.

misterwhiskers said:

Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to keep ants etc from getting into food bowls? I'm more concerned with the dry kibble. Is a raised bowl worth the investment? There's a history of ants and some kind of beetle in the room I feed Robin in. In the past, I've set his kibble bowl in a plate filled with water, but I've never really trusted that set up. What do you guys do? I don't free feed like I used to, but his bowl always has at least a few pieces of dry in it. Thanks!

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I had the same problem. My foster kitty Henry is still in his safe room. For some reason, the ants are drawn like magnets to his room and food dish. His dish is kept on a large rolltop desk that is in the room because the dog will get into it if it's on the floor. The ants were relentless. I tried the moat thing too and while it does work, it's messy and if anything causes the dish to lean up against anything, the ants will get in. I looked on Amazon and found nothing worth buying. Someone here turned me on to the Antser. It's available  through Ebay. I bought 2 of them. They are the best. They work on the moat idea but make it better and easier. basically, the water goes in the bottom half through a bunch of channels. there is a flat top that sits over this. The ants cannot get though the channels so they cannot get up to the top part. The dishes sit on the top. Once the ants realize that they aren't getting in, they leave and they do not come back. If something happens to fall on or next to the platform, they might be able to use it as a ladder and get into the dish. They are $27 each and shipping is about 5 bucks regardless of how many you get. It works. It really does. Ants were the bane of my existence for a while and now they aren't. These things are worth every cent. They are big, too. I have one in the kitchen that the girls' dishes sit on and one in Henry's room. It's big enough to put a standard kitchen trash can on. According to reviews I've seen and what members here have said, it works just as well outside as it does inside. I can't tell you how many dishes of food had to get dumped because of ants. No more. Henry has knocked bits of food onto the top platform and they really can't get to it. 

If it's possible to put "RICE" where the ants can eat it but not your kitty, the uncooked rice will kill the ants.

I want to thank everyone for their reply! I already have a professional strength pesticide that is safe after a 4 hour wait. I might do a perimeter spraying in the apartment after a thorough vacuuming. The Antser looks great, but seems pricey. I will look into it a little later on, same with he peppermint spray. I had used a lemongrass spray that actually worked, but the smell was unreal after a day or two. Phew!!

I had never considered putting soap in the water. That is a great idea! As for the rice, thanks but nope. I want to keep ants away not invite them in. Besides, that would only attract other bugs, like pantry beetles and cockroaches.

misterwhiskers said:

I want to thank everyone for their reply! I already have a professional strength pesticide that is safe after a 4 hour wait. I might do a perimeter spraying in the apartment after a thorough vacuuming. The Antser looks great, but seems pricey. I will look into it a little later on, same with he peppermint spray. I had used a lemongrass spray that actually worked, but the smell was unreal after a day or two. Phew!!

I had never considered putting soap in the water. That is a great idea! As for the rice, thanks but nope. I want to keep ants away not invite them in. Besides, that would only attract other bugs, like pantry beetles and cockroaches.

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The Antser is kinda pricey but it's worth every cent. My Henry lost too many meals because of those stupid ants. One meal would have been too many.  Setting up a moat was such a huge pain and then sometimes it didn't work. You have to have just the right amount of water or it won't work. I had to go out of town for a couple of days before I got the Antser and the setup I had to create for the automatic food dispensers was ridiculous and messy. He managed to knock part of the dispenser into the water. Fortunately, the food was OK and the ants didn't get in but I got lucky. Also, there was the anxiety that I had during that time worrying about whether or not they knocked the dispensers over and if they did knock them down, would I come back to dispensers full of ants and 3 cats that hadn't eaten in almost 2 days. It was a lot to deal with. It wasn't worth it. I ordered the Antsers not long after that and I really wish I had them all along. The peace of mind they bring is well worth it. There's also no chemicals to deal with. I'd buy them again in a second.