This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

How to keep ants out of cat food

Last updated on November 26, 2021

Ants can be a nuisance and make themselves at home in your cat's food bowl. The secret to how to keep ants out of the cat's food is really quite simple, start by keeping them away before they start! Having had this problem myself, I will be sharing 5 ways to keep those annoying creatures away from your cat's food bowl.

Dan Cantero

My name is Dan Cantero and I am the creator of healthywhiskers.com I am a working photographer which means that I'm always taking photos of my cat. My family and I are crazy about cats! I hope you enjoy browsing and exploring the site.

In this article I’m going to show you how to keep ants out of cat food. Firstly, let me say that you don’t need to spend lots of money on a special ant-proof bowl. There are some great products that work really well at keeping ants away, but, everything I will be sharing with you today use simple household items you should already own.

All the methods I’m going to show you work differently for everyone. It depends on the type of area your cat eats, your climate, the type of ants, etc. I would recommend you try each one and settle on the one that works best for you.

One thing to remember before we get started is to only put down as much food as your cat will eat. If there is no food in the bowl, the ants won’t be tempted. Also, try to keep the bowl area as clean as possible by wiping it down often.

How to keep ants out of cat food

Method #1 – The Moat

Out of all the methods, this is the one that I use because it has completely fixed the problem for me.

Start by placing a shallow saucer on the floor with some water in it. You will be placing the food bowl on this saucer so that it is surrounded by water. Because of this, the saucer will need to be slighting larger than the bowl. You won’t need too much water but make sure you have enough so that it doesn’t evaporate too quickly.

Keep in mind that if the saucer is too large, some of the food may fall in the water and make a bit of a mess so, try to get one that fits well.

Method #2 – Petroleum jelly

By applying a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the outside of the bowl, ants won’t be able to climb over it. Make sure that you don’t over-do it as your cat may rub up against it. Petroleum jelly is not toxic to cats so they will just lick it off but can still make a mess.

Method #3 – Make a barrier

Making a barrier around the cat bowl can be an effective way of keeping ants away. There are a few common ingredients that ants are not very fond of so any of the following things can work.

Coffee grounds
Cinnamon
Chilli powder
Ash

Although this works well, it can be a little messy so I recommend leaving this one as a last resort of any of the other methods don’t work. Additionally, cats don’t really like the smell of these ingredients also which may result in your cat staying away from the food bowl.

Method #4 – Meal time

Just like the rest of your family, you can have a set time for your cat to eat. That is, place the food down and collect the bowl a couple of minutes later. Not having any food down for an extended period of time is the best way to prevent ant from being attracted to the cat food.

Roundup

How you end up fixing this problem may need a combination of things. You can try a couple of these methods and see how it goes. Whichever solution you end up using will also depend on your cat. Some cats are going to be put off by these solutions. We are only trying to get rid of the ants and not upset your cat.

These are by no means the only solutions out there. If you have any other fix that you have had success with, leave them in the comment section below.