Ant 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


Claude V. Lucas wrote:
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

Claude V. Lucas wrote:

: 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.

Claude V. Lucas wrote:

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



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.

--
John Kimmel

remove x

"He's dead, Jim."

In article om,
Marcie wrote:
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

Great suggestion.

I'll give that a go until I can get rid of the ants...

Thanks much.



Claude


Claude V. Lucas wrote:
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

In article , Kiran Nobody wrote:
Claude V. Lucas wrote:

: 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.

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

In article ,
John Kimmel wrote:
Claude V. Lucas wrote:

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



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

On Mon 03 Jul 2006 05:20:02p, Claude V. Lucas wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

In article
om, Marcie
wrote:
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

Great suggestion.

I'll give that a go until I can get rid of the ants...

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



--
Cheryl

In article ,
Cheryl wrote:
On Mon 03 Jul 2006 05:20:02p, Claude V. Lucas wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
) :

In article
om, Marcie
wrote:
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

Great suggestion.

I'll give that a go until I can get rid of the ants...

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.

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
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


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

Claude V. Lucas wrote:

: 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.