Is it STS to kill an ant?

[vervex]

Related thread:

Bring4th Forums One > Olio > Killing Cockroaches and Other Creepy Crawlies

---

Very helpful post, vervex!

Ants will only come en masse in your home if you have a food and/or water source available to them.

But what if we have dogs and cats so we can't completely get rid of the food and water source? That is my problem. I have an elderly cat for whom I need to leave out food all the time, and it's a constant challenge to avoid ants getting in his food.

Challenge accepted!

Gemini's answer is pretty good actually. I didn't know such bowls existed! However in a situation where you do not have such bowl available for X reason, there are a few ways to avoid ants going into your pet's food.

My situation: We have two (amazing) cats at home and the answers went not so much into their food, but into their water. Because we use metal plates with slippery borders however, the ants simply slid in the water and were left to die. Some would survive for a while by climbing over a temporary raft made out of the dead ants' bodies. Very grim indeed, for the drowning ants and for the cats who had to drink that, yuck!

So here's what I did: I moved the food and water to another place, and cleaned the previous spot with water and then with repellent. I waited 2 days for the repellent's smell to ware off a bit (cats have sensitive noses) and then put back the food in its original place. On average, at the beginning, it took 3-4 weeks before the ants rediscovered the spot again. When they did, I repeated the same operation. After a few months, they pretty much abandoned. Occasionally I'll see an ant or two, and if that's the case, I clean the area again. Last time I had to do it must have been a month ago, and before that... over 2 months for sure. I consider this a problem solved.


... Or you could just buy a bowl that will keep ants away and avoid the occasional cleaning