ANTS!!! They are everywhere!

Ok, random question...I seem to have ants infesting in Angel's wet food bowl. Any suggestions on how to get them away? I have tried moving the bowl to different places, but the ants keep finding it! I didnt know if there was a cat friendly pest spray out there or something else? Thanks
Erica

I had this problem last summer. I got some antpowder, put it on the floor and stuck the plastic catfood mat on top with tape, then carefully cleaned off the powder all round. The ants vanished. But I have parquet floors and they were coming up the cracks in the wood. Otherwise I guess you have to find out where their entry point is and attack that in some cat-friendly way.

The only thing I'd say is remove and clean the bowls as soon as she's eaten. I'd find the source and douse it with vinegar! (I always hope that a rogue survivor will manage to limp back to the anthill and warn the others that it's not worth it to invade my house. So far, this hasn't happened. I keep hoping though...)

Check outside the house and see if there is something attracting the ants your way such as a wood pile or other groovey place they might feed or enjoy hanging out. When it gets warm out they start invading this room sometimes as well, apparently our neighboor has a nice woodpile they love and somehow they found their way all the way up into our second story computer room from there.

If you can find this product, I found it of use last summer. I sprayed around the walls and cracks of the house, then I put the ant traps underneath the fridge which is next to the cat food dishes, as well as another near the entry point I found for the ants, also placing the trap in a location that the cats couldn't reach. (I did have one cat try to lick the ant trap and when I called poison control they advised me that the poison is on the inside and not accessible and what the cat might have licked was the 'lure' on the outside, which is harmless. Just for information's sake. . . .)

So, the product which is supposed to be safe around children and pets is "Bioganic Organic Insect Control concentrate" by Green Light ( www.greenlightco.com). It still isn't something that you want to have your pets traipsing around in as it can be a bit of an irritant when first applied, but it isn't poisonous or toxic and can be used safely in doors and even on food plants in the garden. It uses plant oils that block specific neural pathways in insects that don't exist in mammals or birds. Ingredients are thyme oil (4%) clove oil (4%) and sesame oil (4%) with the remainder being made up of soybean oil, water, wintergreen oil and lecithin. It actually smells quite nice, although it can be overpowering in stronger concentrations.

Kathryn

You can just use plain cinnamon. Ants will not cross a line of cinnamon. I know of a special feeder for feral cats that repels ants and bugs just by the way it is built. It has some sort of moat around the feeder, and the water keeps the ants out of the food. I can't find the email about it though. I'll keep looking and see if I can find a link

They don't seem to like to cross salt either. Last year, I ended up with the bowl on a tray on an overturned litter box (empty, of course), with a ring of salt around the bowl. The ants finally left it alone. They are back now, though (darn warm winter) but they have yet to find the cat food, which is now in the bedrooms upstairs. They are sticking to the kitchen for the moment. Last year, though, they managed to climb upstairs and up my dresser to get into my cats' water cup.

We have a huge ant problem, and although I use ant dust outside, don't like to use anything harmful indoors (will try the cinnamon) but what I do is I have two small litter trays (really large plastic containers) with a bit of water in them, and then put the boys food sitting in that. It works really well.

i tried putting the dish in a saucer of water but the cats drank the water . i then tried light mineral oil and that did the trick. its unscented and unflavored so both the ants and cats wouldnt be interested in it. i also treated the outside of the house so i wouldnt have to spray anything indoors

We get ants in the house here several times a year, anytime the weather turns bad...too cold, hot or rainy. I have tried the cinamon and chalk lines with limited success, but the first recipe below is what works best here, so I guess my ants are "classic". I use the caps off of 2 litre soda bottles inside and jar lids out of the house. It takes about 3-4 days before the ants go away.

Classic Ant Recipe

3 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. boric acid powder (available at the pharmacy)

Bring water and sugar just to boil and stir in boric acid.
Place mixture in small jar lids and place in ant paths.
Remaining mixture can be stored in a tight, well marked container in cupboard.
Keep jar lids filled and out of reach of children and pets. You can place it under mesh or another can, so ants can get in but animals can't.

Grease Ant Recipe

1 lb. Bacon
4 tbs. baking powder
4 packages yeast
Corn meal

Fry the bacon and collect all the grease. Save the bacon for something else!
Add some corn meal to make a paste (not too much)
Add the baking powder and yeast and blend everything together.
Place the mixture in jar lids
Place the lids in ant paths (under the refrigerator is a good place if you have animals)

I've used this tray for my ant problem and it hasn't let me down yet...

ANTSTER

I checked the site out. Antster IS nice.

Originally Posted by lakeriedog

Grease Ant Recipe

1 lb. Bacon
4 tbs. baking powder
4 packages yeast
Corn meal

Fry the bacon and collect all the grease. Save the bacon for something else!
Add some corn meal to make a paste (not too much)
Add the baking powder and yeast and blend everything together.
Place the mixture in jar lids
Place the lids in ant paths (under the refrigerator is a good place if you have animals)

Click to expand...

are they suposed to eat it then die? what kills them?

The yeast
insects have an exo skeleton, which will explode because their bodies will try to expand.

Thanks for answering that Turtlecat! I didn't know that....

oh the carnage!