How to Prevent Ants from Crawling into Your Pet's Food

Keep food in airtight containers. Coffee cans, plastic containers, and resealable plastic bags are perfect for keeping ants out. You can even place another container around it to create an extra barrier. Storing food in a resealable bag inside a sealed container forms a sturdy defense against ants.

Create a Water Barrier Around the Food. Place a clean food dish into a shallow water pan (such as a cake tin). The water acts like a moat, keeping ants outside. Alternatively, you can use two stainless steel pet food dishes, one slightly larger than the other, and glue small pieces of tile or flat stones under the smaller dish. Once the adhesive dries, add water to the larger dish. Place the smaller dish with the glued tiles or stones into the larger dish filled with water. The water serves as a moat, preventing ants from reaching the food, and the tiles or stones help keep the dish stable when lifted above the water's surface.

• Place the water-filled dish in various locations around the house for 2 days or more. The ants will no longer frequent areas where food is usually found.

Buy Ant-proof Pet Food Dishes. Many pet food dishes are available on the market specifically designed to prevent ants from crawling into the food. Some are meant for indoor pets, while others are enhanced for outdoor animals. Choose the dish that works best for your pet, whether they are indoor or outdoor, dogs, cats, or other pets.

• There are also single-moat designs that allow you to place the food dish into the moat to protect the food from ants.

Keep the Area Around the Dish Clean. Place the food dish on a movable surface, such as a placemat, and move it to another location for cleaning after your pet eats. Ants often follow pheromone trails left behind, guiding them back to the food source. Clean the floor around the dish with soap and water to remove the pheromone trail and prevent ants from returning.

Use Peppermint Essential Oil. Mix 15 ml of 100% peppermint essential oil into a cup of water and shake it in a spray bottle. Spray near vents in your home to repel pests. The scent will drive insects away, preventing them from returning after peppermint oil is applied. A more effective method for keeping ants out of your pet's food is to apply a drop of peppermint oil to a cotton ball and wipe the baseboards and other surfaces where ants may enter. You can also wipe around the area where pet food is stored or near the food dish with the essential oil.

Freeze Food Infested by Ants. If ants have crawled into the food dish, cover it tightly and place it in the freezer. Leave the food in the freezer until it is frozen solid and the ants are dead. You can then remove the ants from the food when you feed it to your pet again.

Remove Dry Food from the Freezer. Now that the ants are dead, pour the food into a strainer and shake it vigorously until all the ant remains are gone. This method helps avoid wasting your pet’s food, as you can reuse it once the ants are removed.

Store Pet Food Again. After the ants have been removed from your pet's food, place it in an airtight container to prevent ants from getting into it again. Use the methods outlined earlier to try to stop the ants from returning. You may need to repeat some steps several times to completely eliminate the ants, so keep going if the first attempt doesn't work.

Use Petroleum Jelly. To protect bird feeders mounted on windows, cut a large circle or heart shape out of newspaper and stick it inside the window to form a mold. Then, use your finger to create a petroleum jelly barrier around the outer edge of the window. Place the bird feeder in the center. This method is most effective in shaded areas. When the weather warms up, petroleum jelly may start to melt or slide off.

Create a Petroleum Jelly Barrier for Hanging Food Containers. For hanging feeders, drill a hole in the center of the lid and thread a string or cord through it. Secure the string by tying a knot if needed. Coat the lid or other parts of the feeder with petroleum jelly. Ants may reach the lid, but they won't be able to enter the feeder, and other ants will turn away.

Use Flypaper Strips. Wrap a strip of flypaper around the top of the feeder or place it on a window or doorframe. The flypaper is sticky on both sides, so ants won’t be able to crawl past it. Avoid attaching the flypaper directly to the feeder as birds could get stuck. If the flypaper falls off due to heat, secure it with double-sided tape so ants can’t crawl through.

• Ants will return to the food source within a few days. Move the food as far away as possible. Avoid placing the food in the same spot for 2 days or more.
• Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) works best at around 24°C (75°F) outdoors. If it’s too cold, ants might still climb over it. If it’s too hot, it could melt and make a mess on the window.
• Be creative. No matter how troublesome the ant issue is, you need to find a way to create a barrier that ants can’t cross. Water, oil, Vaseline, butter, or soap bars (applied like chalk) are eco-friendly solutions but should only be seen as temporary fixes.
• Place your pet’s food dish in the center of a towel or cloth, leaving at least 5 cm of fabric around the plate.
• Whenever hanging food for hummingbirds, be careful not to spill any nectar. Even a single drop can attract ants. If you think any nectar has fallen, spray the ground or patio with water.

• Avoid spraying insecticides directly onto your pet’s food.
• Always follow the instructions carefully, even for insect repellents.
• Keep all chemicals out of reach of children.