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

[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.

[elizilla]

Well, he has always eaten this way, even when he was much younger. He's had a few dentals over the years, and the vets check his mouth when he goes in for his shots. I think it's just his style.