How To Keep Ants Out Of Outdoor Cat Food
Ants! Ugh! They can get into anything, and annoyingly, they seem to love your cat's food. If y'all see i ant, there'due south going to be more than, and the last matter your cat wants to practise is eat her food with ants crawling on it. Yous obviously can't spray a pesticide all over her eating area, then what are your options?
We'll accept a await at some steps yous can accept to help stop ants from going after your cat's nutrient. All of our suggestions are condom for your cat and everyone in your household.
i. Storage
This is an obvious one. Any opened bags of cat food that y'all take should be stored in a plastic container with a lid. You can either empty the food directly into the bin or place the unabridged pocketbook inside, just either manner, you'll protect the food from ants with this method.
2. Clean Up
Ants are drawn to crumbs of food (given their tiny size, this seems simply natural), and then if y'all take a problem with ants, you'll need to continue your true cat's nutrient basin and the expanse around information technology clean. Wash the bowls with detergent and water at least every other day and vacuum (or sweep up) around the bowls after your cat eats. Particularly if she's a messy eater.
Ants leave pheromones for other ants to let them know when in that location'due south a food source nearby. This is why when you come across a few ants, you lot will offset to encounter more than after a brusque period of time. Oft cleaning the bowls will help to launder away not just the crumbs of nutrient but the pheromones.
You lot can utilize lemon, bleach, or vinegar every bit part of the cleaning process, which can help deter ants and remove the pheromone trails. When your cat has finished the food in the bowl, you could also remove it from the floor.
3. Create a Border
Certain kinds of material can be placed around your true cat's food bowl that will forestall ants from crossing the line.
Chalk:You can draw a circumvolve around your cat's food basin with chalk, and crazily enough, ants won't want to walk across it. Only use non-toxic chalk that does not contain whatsoever pigments. If chalk has any extra minerals or chemicals added, it could testify toxic for your true cat.
Food-form diatomaceous earth:This is a kind of sand or pulverisation fabricated upwardly of fossilized algae and consists of about 80% to 90% silica. It's pretty effective at killing insects past essentially drying them out but is generally quite prophylactic for humans and pets. Merely be sure to purchase the food-grade kind. It has the added reward of working on all insects, including fleas.
Proceed in mind that you tin can put a number of other materials around your cat's bowl that will deter ants, such as coffee grounds, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. All the same, these substances volition too put off your true cat from her food as they are also commonly used by people trying to forestall devious cats from coming into their gardens and yards.
4. Build a Moat
Building a moat around your cat's basin is an easy and guaranteed safety method to preclude ants from reaching her food.
one. Start by finding a container that is large enough to agree your true cat's food bowls. This could be a cake pan (or two cake pans if that's all you have, and you have 2 separate cat food bowls) or fifty-fifty a roasting tray. Aluminum roasting pans are inexpensive and easy to notice, probably fifty-fifty in your local dollar shop.
- Of course, you tin e'er buy one particularly designed for just this purpose, like this i (this tray says information technology'southward for dogs but can just equally easily be used for cats).
- The food bowls should fit inside the tray with at least 1 inch between the border of the bowl and tray. Nonetheless, it shouldn't be much larger than this—your cat won't appreciate needing to stretch or putting her feet in the water to get to her food.
2. Fill the container or tray with water. The water level needs to exist simply high enough to deter the ants but not so high every bit to swamp your cat's nutrient. Ants aren't strong swimmers, so they won't exist able to brand it to the food basin.
3. Now you can place the bowls in the water container. Retrieve, if the container is on the big side, movement the bowl so it is about 1 inch from the container's edge and so your true cat tin can easily reach it.
- If the bowl is too brusk for the water container, identify it on some kind of platform or block to raise it upwards to above the edge of the container.
4. Proceed an eye on the h2o. Empty it and refresh it every now and then to remove any expressionless ants and spilled food. It will as well need occasional refilling due to evaporation.
5. The longer you lot go along this procedure going (if it works for you and your cat), the less the ants will start going later on your true cat'due south food.
v. Ultrasonic
These ultrasonic pest repellers ordinarily have mixed reviews. They emit a sound that is at a loftier frequency that just pests tin can hear. They are designed to work for mice, ants, cockroaches, and spiders and don't involve unsafe chemicals or unpleasant scents. They seem to be hit or miss for many users.
A Few Warnings
Many articles out in that location on this topic discuss using essential oils around or on your cat's food basin as a fashion to deter ants. This is really very dangerous for your true cat! If a cat were to accidentally lick up some essential oil, information technology could cause a serious and fatal reaction. Since this is around the location where your cat eats, the chances of her accidentally ingesting the essential oil increases.Cats and essential oils exercise not mix!
Many essential oils as well take a scent that is non only off-putting to ants but to your cat also, so you may actually prevent your true cat from eating.
Before you really place any kind of material or substance well-nigh your true cat'due south bowl, try researching information technology first so yous will feel comfortable using it. You lot certainly don't want to accidentally harm your cat trying to protect her food from ants.
Removing the Ants
When you lot do remove ants from your home, be sure to dispose of the ants and any contaminated food and exist certain to remove the bag from the house. This fashion, the ants will be less probable to crawl out and get dorsum at your cat'due south nutrient.
Ensure that your cat nutrient, too as all uncovered food, is placed in airtight containers. If you ever notice ants marching beyond your flooring in a long line, utilise bleach, lemon, or vinegar and wipe across that surface to disrupt the pheromones.
Attempt to seal up whatever crevices and cracks in your walls and place insecticidal baits in cardinal spots in areas where yous see the ants. If you opt for some kind of insecticide, make sure your pets tin't go at it and that it is meant specifically for ants.
Conclusion
Recall, stiff scents that are designed to repel ants might also repel cats, so do your homework earlier resorting to this method. While having ants crawling on our cat's food is an unwelcome infestation, nosotros also want to proceed our cats safe.
We hope our suggestions and ideas will help clear up all ants from your cat's food as well as out of your kitchen and domicile.
Featured Image Credit: Pee Poti, Shutterstock
Source: https://excitedcats.com/keep-ants-out-of-cat-food/
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