D.O.P.-T.

[weofodthignen]

The heat today brought out a plague of ants on the porch; I had to bin the catfood (in plastic bags in the food waste side of our split trashcan). And hose off the porch. In the afternoon Mama Violet turned up; I tried to put out food for her but she was too wary to tuck in and eat it before the ants returned.

Meanwhile Monty was again lurking in the side yard. Once it got a bit cooler, while I was getting my dinner, he appeared on the fence opposite the kitchen window, lying languidly. I put out food for him but he barely looked at it, and eventually walked off along the fence, presumably to lie in the nasturtium patch. However, when I took out the recycling after dinner, he was there and headed down from the fence to sit in front of me. So I moved the food across to near him and he started eating it. Silly cat. So at least somebody got fed.

The dog got a nice little walkies; I took her out after drinking half my first coffee, before breakfast. She chose to poop on the pavement / sidewalk, so it can't have been that hot yet.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

If you fill a shallow tray, something like a cookie tray, with slightly soapy water and place the food bowls in that so they're surrounded by a moat, that'll keep the ants away. I've also heard just wiping dish soap around the outside of the food bowl works, but I've not tested that so I can't say for sure.

[weofodthignen]

I had tried with plain water in the kibble bowl, floating the plastic dishes for the wet food (oldstyle microwave meal dishes, from before they mostly went to paper) in there, but the inside dish touched the edge and the ants were able to avoid the moat.

So today I tried soapy water, but all the containers I was able to find are too large. I filled a large plastic jar that had had nuts in it with water, stuck it in the middle of a baby bath full of suds, and perched the food dish on top of it, but came back from my walk to find Mama Violet sitting staring at me; clearly she couldn't reach the food, or was unwilling to stretch that far for it. So I put the dish in front of her on the porch floor. But she didn't eat it.

I need to find an old tray. I may have one in the cellar but I'm dreading going down there with my leg not fully recovered. And if I don't find one, I think I'll have to use the plastic dishes as the "moat" and a smaller size of microwavable dish as the wet food container; I have some from zappable white rice, though the 2 wet food cakes will be crowded in there.

Bugger. I haven't seen Prudence at all since this started, hopefully just a coincidence...