Unwanted Diners: Ants In Your Cat’s Food

By: Zara Willmott

Unwanted Diners: Ants in your cat’s food is a more common problem than you would think. No one likes ants in their home, they can be quite the menace. Unfortunately, ants are part of nature and show up even in the cleanest of homes. Ants love cat food! The dishes are almost always located closer to the floor making them easy pickings. Ants also have impeccable scent receptors and let’s face it some cat foods have strong smells for us. Those smells must be like a beacon to any ant nearby. Ants are truly a scientific marvel and scientists are fascinated by them. Does that mean we have to endure their presence in our homes? No. Here are some great tips for ant control.

What can you do?

Obviously, no one wants ants in their home but especially not in your cat’s food.  Ants can bite which can deter your cat from eating their meal.  Luckily there are some proven methods to help with this problem.

1. Ant Poison: when using any ant baits or poison be sure to take into account that these are often poisonous to your pets as well and only use them in areas your pet can’t access
2. Move the feeding area: simply moving the feeding area won’t get rid of the ants but it will give you time to treat the problem while providing your kitty with an ant-free meal
3. Using pet-safe natural methods: If you google pet safe natural methods to rid ants, a number of options come up. I found this website to be very helpful. One tip I loved from this website is Coffee Grounds. Though coffee grounds don’t kill the ants it does break down their scent trail and prevents them from finding the food dish. Who doesn’t have coffee at home?
4. Moat the food dish: A moat is essentially a water barrier that the ants won’t cross. Check out our youtube video here

Ants can be persistent and really tough to get rid of.  Please share your tips and tricks in our comments!