ants + cats

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

i think the ant overlord army has arrived in davis^2!!

they have established a command post near where I feed my cat in the pantry and since cats (or at least my cat) like to snack rather than clear their plates she doesn't understand why i am not leaving her food out.

i bought those little ant traps and put them around but i can't tell if they are working: the ants still come out if i forget to immediately pick up my cat's dish after feeding her.


anyone have a good idea for a counter assualt? i thought of making an insecticide moat around the cat dish but there may be a few issues with that... i thought of feeding her on a chair but those suckers can probably climb and i don't want to give them ideas.

Comments

[tenshikurai9.livejournal.com]

Draw a chalk circle around the cat's dish. Never tried it so I can't tell you how well it works, but I've heard ants don't like to crawl over a chalk line.

chalk or soap

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Ants travel in a line because they're following a scent trail left by the scouts. A chalk line might disrupt the scent, I've never tried it. I have tried soap, however. If you just wipe some soap (either a bar or liquid soap) where a line of ants is walking, all the ants will mill around behind the line and not know where to go.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

This happens to us two or three times each summer. I usually move the cat food to the other side of the kitchen and give the floor a good cleaning. After a few days, I can move the cat food back to the regular place. Then we're usually good for a few weeks before they find it again.

[allthefishies.livejournal.com]

Very seriously? A moat. Put the bowl in the middle of a larger dinner plate filled with water. You'll still have ants, but they won't be in the food.

As for getting rid of them permanently? I have no answers, unfortunately. :-(

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Yes, the moat worked well for us when we had a first floor apartment.

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

Moats work like a charm, seriously. And swipe all the surrounding floor and nearby walls with Lysol spritzed on a paper towel, which will get rid of all the ant scent trails. They'll try exploring again, but at least they won't have a handy superhighway with off-ramps for the cat food....

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Put her food in a small dish, then that dish in a pie plate or similar filled with water. Leave at least 1" between dish and plate edge. Ants will only swim so far, then perish.

Believe me, I have been dealing with this allll summer.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

The moat idea works, just with water and not pesticide. You can actually buy such things: Sani-Moat (http://www.sani-moat.com/)!

If you do something like the plate-on-the-moat they suggest, you could put something like detergent, vinegar, rubbing alcohol in there to kill the ants if they go in the water...as long as the smell doesn't keep your cat away, too!

[veek.livejournal.com]

Grab some peppermint oil. Put a drop or two on each of several cotton balls. Stick cotton balls in various spaces where the ants tend to go.

I have not used it on ants, but have successfully used it on mice; and the internets tell me that ants don't like peppermint either. Be ready for your place to smell minty fresh for a while. :)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

If they were in the cupboard I'd say boric acid (commercially known as Borax), which creates hard, abrasive crystals. It'll wipe out cockroaches no problem, that's for sure.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Boric acid does work for ants too and is non toxic to mammals so is safe to use on floors around cats. Even babies, I'm told. I once accidentally ingested some and called poison control and they said I'd need to drink a full cup before things got dangerous. It's used to bathe inflamed mucous membranes, so, yo, it can't be too toxic.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Really? Because it basically kills by being abrasive, I just assumed it wasn't any more safe than your average cleaning chemical.

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

Boric acid, in its pharmaceutical grade can be made into suppositories that work wonders on yeast infections. It's not abrasive when dissolved. Apparently it works on bugs in the ways that their breathing systems are different than ours and destroys their ability to breathe. But very very safe for mammals.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

What I heard was it gets under their shells and inside them and grinds 'em to death.

But, hey, if it's safe enough for genitals, then it's safe enough for cats.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how Borax kills, but a great inert bug killer (that works through abrasive action) is diatomaceous earth, or diotomite. Accroding to Wikipedia "Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the cuticle, the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. Beekeepers are apparently experimenting with it, to keep small hive beetles from breeding. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and humans. It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation."

[ifotismeni]

holy cow, really? haha, i always use boraxo like lava soap -- just super abrasive to get paint off my hands. had no idea it actually had pest control benefits.

*the more you know star goes here*

[kochansky.livejournal.com]

See if you can find Terro; it's a sugar/borax solution. The indoor/outdoor traps work well. It takes a couple days, but it does help.

Cinnamon is also good for repelling ants. I think anything pungent enough to disrupt their smell trails can help.

I have the exact problem with my cat's food. Maybe the chalk line would work, but I always find one or two ants brave enough to venture across it.

Good luck!

[ms-info.livejournal.com]

the one caveat with regards to terro (which is fantastic and kills sugar ants like nobody's business) is that because it is a combo of karo syrup and borax it is toxic to pets as well. i wouldn't put it anywhere that your cat might decide to give it a taste.

[natef.livejournal.com]

Cinnamon has worked for me in the past. If you know how they're getting in, you can barricade it with cinnamon and they won't cross.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

The ant traps work well with the small ants. Find where they're coming from and put one right in front of the entry/exit hole -- cleared up the tiny ant problem permanently in a matter of days. The bigger carpenter ants seem to ignore those traps.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

When we had kitchen ants I used a combo of being super super clean in the area they'd infested (counter/sink) and blocking any points of ant access with little piles of cayenne pepper. I'd try moving the cat food to another area and maybe using the moat thing, a thorough cleaning of the pantry, and borax/poison/something to scare them off.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Ants leave pheromone trails for other ants to follow. Every time you see an ant, clean the floor. ( I'm using a "Swiffer" so it's not as much of a chore as it sounds ).

Also, I've had far fewer ants simply from keeping the kitchen windows closed.

who knew??

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

hey thanks for all the comments! I've been getting utterly phobic about looking at the floor the last couple of days for fear I'd see another scout patrol of the little beasts. Also wondering if I am that lousy a housekeeper.

Trying the moat idea now, along with cinnamon and cayenne (if different spots to see the difference). Will work my way through the other suggestions.