Need advice from pet owning friends

[elizilla]

Ant season has arrived. Last night they found all the cat food dishes, including the bowl on top of the file cabinet. Thousands of ants were in each bowl this morning.

Mac is old and doesn't eat quickly, especially since he no longer has Elizabeth to compete with. It takes him all day to eat a very small dab of wet cat food. He's also a messy eater. He picks up each individual piece of dry kibble, carefully drops it on the floor next to the dish, and then bites it in half, eating one half and leaving the rest on the floor, before going back to take another piece out of the dish. Any area with a food dish will quickly grow a ring of crumbs on the floor.

Does anyone have a suggested way to keep cat food available, 24 hours a day, without it becoming an ant farm, and without poisoning Mac?


In other pet-related news, thank you rikhei for the link to the Furminator. Mac barfed up several hairballs the day you posted that. We went out and bought one, and Mac has not thrown up a hairball since. Yay!

Comments

[encorecrazay.livejournal.com]

Put out some of the Combat Source Kill things, inepesnive and I haven't had any ant problems since. Got mine at a local grocery store
http://www.amazon.com/Insecticide-Combat-Source-Kill-Stations/dp/B000QRAXRC

[annaoj.livejournal.com]

What I did when I had an ant problem with my cats' wet food is that I bought two large, deep plates at a Goodwill, and then filled them with water and put the cat food dishes in the middle of each. That 2" moat was enough to keep the ants out of the food.

[fuzzyjelly.livejournal.com]

Rig it up so the bowls sit in/over a tray of water. The ants can't cross it. It's even better if you have one of those metal racks that holds the food bowls so they don't sit right in the water.

[rikhei.livejournal.com]

You might want to research diatomaceous earth. A quick google search seems to suggest it might be effective against ants, and as I recall, it's not supposed to be harmful to animals. I remember reading about it a few years ago when we (I was living with my parents at the time) had an earwig infestation. (We ended finding a commercial spray that worked before we had a chance to try it.)

[(Anonymous)]

we can't get out cat to sit still for brushing. twice a year we go and get it a lion cut. it's helps a lot with hair balls and shedding.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Hi -- not a pet owner, but the discussion of how he eats makes me wonder if he has pain in his mouth -- one person I cat-sit for has me add some water to the dry cat-food which makes it easier for her to eat.