I am having a problem with small ants around the cat food bowls. I'm over a crawl space and have ants each spring. In the past I just used the Raid ant traps. I didn't get my first cat until July last year so by then the ants were gone. Are these traps a danger to the cats? I try to pick up their wet food bowl before I go to work, but sometimes they're not finished so I leave it. I have caught the cats stalking an ant, what a sight to watch. They are both mighty hunters.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Ant traps and cats
- Thread starter deljo
- Start Date
I use ant traps with no problem. I think the main danger would be if your cats ate an ant that had been feeding on the poison. I'd also make sure the food bowls are cleared away as soon as possible so that the ants can't crawl around in them and leave traces of poison in them.
If you use a borax based ant poison, the danger to vertebrates in the house is minimal. We get tiny ants (sometimes called "sweet ants" or "pharoah ants") I use terro liquid ant traps and aside from making a keen kitty toy (they do skid across the floor in the most amusing fashion) they haven't hurt the kits and the opening is too small for kitties to get into --just fine for ants, though.
Also, a very old school way of keeping ants out of the pet bowls is to place the pet bowl inside a larger bowl with a little water in it. The ants don't swim
Of course if you have kits that like to have a water party, this could get more complicated
Also, a very old school way of keeping ants out of the pet bowls is to place the pet bowl inside a larger bowl with a little water in it. The ants don't swim
- Joined
- May 8, 2005
- Messages
- 9,234
- Purraise
- 254
Ants generally won't walk over chalk, so if you make a chalk outline around the food bowls that should keep them out.
Ants also don't like bay leaves. So buy some good quality bay leaves and lay them anywhere that you see ants.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
My cat loves to have water parties. I need to keep the bowl on a cookie sheet with a lip on it just to keep the water off the floor. I'll try chalk & bay leaves. Also going to put the traps against the wall, I'll see what happens.
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2015
- Messages
- 1
- Purraise
- 1
If your cat eats a ant after it has eaten ant poison from a ant motel. It won't harm your cat. If your cat eats poison from the ant trap it will poison your cat.
Hi and welcome to TCS!
This thread is a few years old now; so the original poster may not see your response. But it sure seems like ant season is in full swing; so this thread might be helpful to others right now too!
