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How Does One Deal With Ants In The House With A Kitty In Residence?
- Thread starter david23
- Start Date
Hi! This probably only partly answers your question, but in case it helps;
How To Keep Ants Out Of Cat Food
How To Keep Ants Out Of Cat Food
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Try ground cinnamon and whole clove near entry points, or lemon, even lemon peel will help deter them.
Never saw an ant in my house that posed an issue for Feeby, unless they were in her food bowl. In any case, following the ants to their point of entry and possibly beyond to their nest is the key. It is a long, tedious process.
I do still occasionally have an ant or two in my house, but I spray the inside perimeter of the outer walls of my house with Ortho Defense once or twice a year. It dries pretty fast, and I just make sure that Feeby is not in the area when I do it. I've done it for all her life, and there has been no issue with it or her.
I do still occasionally have an ant or two in my house, but I spray the inside perimeter of the outer walls of my house with Ortho Defense once or twice a year. It dries pretty fast, and I just make sure that Feeby is not in the area when I do it. I've done it for all her life, and there has been no issue with it or her.
Link loves playing with ants. They are super fun to roll in, bat at and lick up according to him. He does end up with bites for all his effort but I also know anywhere an ant trail is forming.
I like Terro Ant Baits personally. You just put them down in the path of the ants and clean up the trail past that point. It takes a few days but the ants won't come back and it isn't dangerous to cats. You can put the trap under a plastic container with a hole cut in it to make it extra cat safe. The exterminator my office hires said to clean ant trails with clorex wipes to get rid of the scent trail too.
I like Terro Ant Baits personally. You just put them down in the path of the ants and clean up the trail past that point. It takes a few days but the ants won't come back and it isn't dangerous to cats. You can put the trap under a plastic container with a hole cut in it to make it extra cat safe. The exterminator my office hires said to clean ant trails with clorex wipes to get rid of the scent trail too.
Sometimes you can't find the point of entry. Our last batch seemed to be coming in through the light switch and outlet near the sink. Ant bait behind the faucet with a barrier of empty coffee jars weighted with pellets - cat litter will do. I suggest you put masking tape down, sticky side down then put whatever bait you use on top of that. Before it hardens remove unused portion and repeat. The masking tape makes it easier to get the unused part up and there will always be an unused part.
I have had a major ant-in-the-cat-food-dish problem this year and followed one article's suggestion to put the cat food plate on a larger plate or something that can contain a small amount of water. Ants can't swim. This actually worked great. The only caveat is that probably there are cats out there who won't eat from their plate on another plate because, god forbid, it is different 
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LOL
We just had some tiny sugar ants in our new rental. We used some ant traps (I think Raid was the brand?) and they work by providing poisoned food to the colony and killing it. A bit brutal, I suppose, but they crossed the line forst by entering my kitchen.
We placed the traps where we saw them most and avoided places the cats would go. So under the fridge, in cabinets and behind the garbage. The ants were gone in a day! It worked great and the cats mainly left them alone.
We placed the traps where we saw them most and avoided places the cats would go. So under the fridge, in cabinets and behind the garbage. The ants were gone in a day! It worked great and the cats mainly left them alone.
The best ant killer? The Orkin man coming to your place and placing poison in your walls!
Honestly it was weird but when my condo replaced the upstairs balcony beams that were ridden with termites, the ants just disappeared!
Honestly it was weird but when my condo replaced the upstairs balcony beams that were ridden with termites, the ants just disappeared!
I copied my reply from a thread that I just replied to :-
ants-in-kitchen.397026
If you see lots of ants, first you must see which way they are heading. After gathering food they'll head back to the nest. Follow the trail and see where they disappear into. It could be cracks on the wall, gaps in window sills, joints of cupboard doors or even they can come in from the outdoors.
Once you track them to down to the place hey disappear into, get some cat safe product and bombard the entrance and plugged it up. Then kill off the rest that are crawling around. If you don't get to the nest, how much you kill on the surface they'll still return.
Also if you see one or two or three individual ants, kill them fast as these are the recce or scout ants that are sent out to look for food and report back when they find food and the whole army will be activated. If you kill them first, they can't report back and probably others will be sent out elsewhere.
If there are no food scraps lying around, there'll be no ants.
I use a 50/50 vinegar and water to wipe counter tops and surfaces. Vinegar gets rid of ant's scent trail.
Remember, whatever you use to get rid of ants, it must be cat safe
If the nest is outdoors, best is to pour in hot water and flood the nest, just as long as your cat is not near you. Hot water is non toxic.
If indoors, you can try using steam cleaner and use a nozzle to to shoot the hot steam in.
ants-in-kitchen.397026
If you see lots of ants, first you must see which way they are heading. After gathering food they'll head back to the nest. Follow the trail and see where they disappear into. It could be cracks on the wall, gaps in window sills, joints of cupboard doors or even they can come in from the outdoors.
Once you track them to down to the place hey disappear into, get some cat safe product and bombard the entrance and plugged it up. Then kill off the rest that are crawling around. If you don't get to the nest, how much you kill on the surface they'll still return.
Also if you see one or two or three individual ants, kill them fast as these are the recce or scout ants that are sent out to look for food and report back when they find food and the whole army will be activated. If you kill them first, they can't report back and probably others will be sent out elsewhere.
If there are no food scraps lying around, there'll be no ants.
I use a 50/50 vinegar and water to wipe counter tops and surfaces. Vinegar gets rid of ant's scent trail.
Remember, whatever you use to get rid of ants, it must be cat safe
If the nest is outdoors, best is to pour in hot water and flood the nest, just as long as your cat is not near you. Hot water is non toxic.
If indoors, you can try using steam cleaner and use a nozzle to to shoot the hot steam in.
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Also my ants followed water but ignored the cat food. The stupid ants followed my coffee maker around!
I like the vinegar/water idea!
Different ants respond better to different types of poison. It would be why if your house is being invaded, then an exterminator might be the way to go.
I like the vinegar/water idea!
Different ants respond better to different types of poison. It would be why if your house is being invaded, then an exterminator might be the way to go.
If the nest is outdoors, best is to pour in hot water and flood the nest, just as long as your cat is not near you. Hot water is non toxic.
If indoors, you can try using steam cleaner and use a nozzle to to shoot the hot steam into the cracks.
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Anybody use diatomaceous earth for ants? I have a bag of food grade that I have used before for various bugs and it worked for what I used it for. I am very comfortable with it because it isn't poison at all for cats or people. Some people actually eat it. I just don't have a great place to put it where the food bowl is, but I would use it if I knew it would work.
Well I googled diatomaceous earth and it says it will kill ants. I’m not sure how much or where to apply. With Orkin they used a pet safe spray outside and I would remove all my outlet covers where they would apply the poison for the ants, then screw the covers back on (the cats can not get into the walls.) I think the earth might be a great idea inside your walls (where ants live to create highways.)
Love to create highways.
just a quick note, look next to the little black flag in the lower lefthand corner of your post, you should see an additional option of edit 
One of termites biggest enemies is ants. But not all ants, there are specific ones that have wars with and attack termite colonies.
Termites usually loose. There are lots of articles on it.
Expert Pest Control | Ants vs Termites war: Who Wins the Battle? | Expert Pest Control
