Ants are pests — they climb all over your cat’s food and put your feline off their meal. Unfortunately, this means our wallets suffer too, especially when our cats can’t eat the food that we set out for them. Most ant species bite and can make cleaning up difficult if they leave itchy bumps on you and your feline.
Water-filled trenches and elevated food bowls are the main choices for ant-proofing your cat’s food. These reviews will introduce you to both options and a few others, so you can make the best choice to fend off your persistent ant frustrations and enable your feline to eat in peace.
If you are searching for an effective way to eliminate ants from crawling your cat’s bowl, look no further than the Hepper NomNom Cat Bowl! This bowl was created with a small tray barrier around the removable, stainless steel dishes, effectively deterring ants from finding their way in. We recommend adding a little bit of water into the barrier so it can act as a moat against the ants. This means you may need to empty the moat and the bowl frequently to keep it clean and ant-free, but with the whole bowl being dishwasher safe, it’s an easy task to handle.
This innovative bowl not only ensures the utmost protection against ants but also features an optimal dish depth, safeguarding your feline’s whiskers from getting pushed back, wet or soiled while they happily enjoy their pest-free meal. Additionally, the slightly raised design promotes comfortable, level eating, while the overall construction guarantees durability and effortless cleaning.
Although it comes at a slightly higher price point compared to generic alternatives, when considering the design advantages, it’s clear that this ant-proof cat bowl proves to be an outstanding investment!
Pros
Ant-proof design
Whisker-friendly depth
Elevated, sleek design
Durable, dishwasher safe construction
Cons
Need to clean it frequently to keep it ant-free
2. Frisco Double Stainless Steel Pet Bowl With Silicone Mat – Budget Buy
Dishwasher safe and BPA free, the Frisco Double Stainless Steel Pet Bowl With Silicone Mat is our budget buy pick. This product has two stainless-steel bowls that you can remove to fill or clean, and the silicone base collects spills and has a shallow basin that you can fill with water to prevent ant infestations.
You can choose from gray or teal, and there are two sizes available. The dual design saves space and enables you to feed and give your cat water in the same place.
Some owners have complained that their feeder shipped without the stainless-steel bowl inserts. Also, the lightweight structure makes this design easy to tip over.
Pros
You can put water in the silicone tray to reduce ants
Constructed with a heavy-duty non-slip base, the Frisco Heavy Duty Non-skid Silicone Diner is a two-in-one water and food dish. You can fill the silicone base with water to protect against ants, and the included stainless-steel bowls are removable and dishwasher safe. The silicone base is also easy to clean and protects your floor from food or water spills.
Available in two sizes — 3.5-cup or 6.5-cup capacity — small and large cat breeds and their canine family members can all benefit from this option.
The heavy-duty, sturdy design does make this choice more expensive than some other two-in-one options.
Made from ceramic that’s free of both cadmium and lead, the AHX Cat Bowl for Food and Water has two bowls and an ergonomic, elevated stand. Unlike some other products, the heavy material used for the bowls ensures that this option is sturdy enough to withstand even the most eager of hungry kittens.
Along with the high splash barrier to protect your furniture from messy felines, the elevated tray has a shallow well that you can fill with water to prevent ants from reaching the food.
While the ceramic bowls are dishwasher and microwave safe, the plastic stand isn’t and needs to be hand-washed. Ceramic is also expensive and fragile.
Pros
Elevated
Includes two ceramic bowls
Bowls are dishwasher and microwave safe
Splash barrier
The tray can be filled with water to prevent ants from reaching the food
The SUHEEUS Raised Pet Food Bowl is sold in packs of two. By filling the surrounding trench with water, you can keep your feline’s food safe from ants both inside and outside the house, and the non-slip base prevents spills and knocks. Therefore, this option is suitable for your pet cat or for neighborhood strays and feral felines.
With the pack of two bowls, you can keep your kitty’s water dish or your multi-cat household free of ant infestations.
Although the SUHEEUS food bowl is suitable for outside use, there’s nothing to stop the water from evaporating and leaving the ant-proof trench useless.
Dishwasher safe and able to hold two 8.5-inch pet bowls, the Pet Parade Non-skid Bowl Tray is another great ant-proof cat bowl. Made from BPA-free, durable plastic, this tray has a non-slip base and a splash guard to protect your floor and walls from food or water spills. The built-in trench can be filled with water to stop ants from reaching your cat’s food.
Both available bowl areas give you plenty of space for a food and water dish or two food bowls for multi-cat households.
Due to this option being a tray rather than a dish, you’ll need to purchase cat bowls separately. It can also be difficult to remove the stickers.
The WDD Design and Co. 3-in-1 Ant Free Pet Dish has three parts to keep ants away from your cat’s meal: a water bowl, an elevated food dish, and a hidden water reservoir. Removable for cleaning, the elevated food dish design also makes it easy to prevent ants without using chemicals or gels.
This option is available in five colors: black, blue, pink, green, and red.
Although the WDD Design and Co. can be bought in two sizes, both are on the small side and are lightweight enough for your cat to push around as they eat. The gap between the base and the elevated food dish isn’t large enough to be effective against big ant species.
Pros
Hidden water reservoir for protection against ants
Elevated and removable food bowl
Water dish
Available in five colors
Cons
Ineffective against large ant species
Lightweight
Cats can push it around
Small
8. Iconic Pet Anti Ant Stainless Steel Pet Food/Water Bowl
With a durable stainless-steel construction, the Iconic Pet Anti Ant Stainless Steel Pet Food/Water Bowl is easy to clean. Sturdy enough for both food and water, the bowl’s mushroom-like structure is what fends off ants instead of a trench that you have to keep filling with liquid. The non-slip base means the Iconic Pet doesn’t rattle against the floor and scare nervous felines or move while they eat.
This design works by forcing ants to climb underneath the bowl and up the inside of the base. As a result, it’s ineffective if it’s accidentally pushed against a wall or something else that gives the insects a route to the outer bowl. The sticker on the inside of the bowl can also be difficult to move.
The Ants Away Food Water Bowls saves space in smaller households by giving you two bowls in one ant-proof design. This dual food and water bowl enables you to keep ants away by utilizing a wide and deep trench to drown the ants before they can reach the food. Made from baby bottles, this food bowl is durable and dishwasher safe.
Kittens that struggle to reach the main bowls may drink from the lower trench. The trench design also only works against ants when it’s filled with water. Although the bowl comes in blue or green, you don’t get to choose the color that you receive.
Pros
Two-in-one food and water bowl
Space-saving design
Water trench
Dishwasher safe
Cons
Can’t choose the color
Only works if you keep the trench filled with water
Cats might drink the water in the ant-proof trench
Available in pink, blue, or green, the MXCELL Double Stainless Steel Pet Bowls are designed to be for both water and food. The stainless-steel bowls are removable for easy cleaning and filling, while the plastic base has a raised lip to reduce food and water spills.
For locations with ant problems or if you’re feeding stray and feral cats, the base can be filled with water to prevent ants from stealing the food.
Cats might drink the water in the surrounding trench, making the ant defense useless. There are also no handles to easily remove the steel bowl inserts, and their design might make it difficult to take them out to clean.
Pros
The surrounding trench can be filled with water
Available in three colors
Removable stainless-steel bowls
Two-in-one design
Raised lip reduces food and water spills
Cons
Cats might drink the water in the trench
There is no handle to ease the removal of bowls
Buyer’s Guide: Picking the Best Ant-Proof Cat Bowl
Ant-proof cat bowls enable you to keep your cat’s food away from ants and other insects without having to spray your feline’s eating area with chemicals or use gels that they might ingest. With the variety of styles available, though, choosing the right ant-proof cat bowl for you and your cat can be a challenge.
This guide will show you the pros and cons of each option, so you can make an informed choice for your kitty’s new food bowl.
Which Ant-Proof Cat Bowl Should You Choose?
There are several styles of ant-proof cat bowls.
Image Credit: Pixel-Shot, Shutterstock
Elevated
Cat bowls raised off the ground have a much higher chance of being safe from ants, although it does depend on the style of the elevated cat bowl that you choose. If the stand has legs, the ants can still climb up to reach the food.
Choose a bowl with a stand on the inside, with an outer bowl. This style will force the ants to crawl underneath the rim to reach a place that they can climb up, only to fall off when they try to traverse the distance between their starting point and the outer rim.
The downside to this design is that it’s ineffective when the bowl is pushed up against a wall or piece of furniture. Even if it’s accidental — done by your cat or your foot as you walk past — if you don’t notice in time, ants can use the wall to reach the food.
Surrounding Trench
Many ant-proof designs rely on a simple water moat to fend off ant attackers. The bowls themselves — either a single or dual design — are surrounded by either a thin groove or a wide tray with a lip. You can fill the space with water, drowning the ants before they can reach your cat’s food.
Depending on the size of the trench, how deep the water is, and whether your cat drinks the water defending their dinner, this bowl design can have varying degrees of success. While a deep trench might work against ants, larger bugs, like roaches, might find it simple to reach across the gap and avoid the water completely, rendering the defense useless. Likewise, if your cat drinks the contents of the moat, all the ants have to do is crawl through the dry groove and up the other side.
Some people use dish soap to help kill the ants, and while this can work, remember to consider how easy it is for your cat to ingest the soapy liquid too.
Image Credit: Elizabett, Shutterstock
Hybrid
Combining two easy solutions, hybrid food bowls use a mixture of elevation and a trench to fend off ant invaders. This design has a hidden reservoir beneath the food dish. This tricks the ants into plummeting into the water as they try to find a way to climb up to the food.
Better still, while your cat has access to fresh water in the second ground-floor bowl, they can’t reach the ant-trap beneath the food dish. This enables you to use dish soap to kill the ants if you deem it necessary.
Ant-Proof Trays
If you already have a bowl and don’t want to buy another one, many ant-proof trays enable you to keep your existing bowl and still benefit from ant-proofing technology. Some trays are a simple stand design. They often have a raised splash barrier at the back and a shallow lip in front to protect your floor from spills and when filled with water, fend off ants.
Another design uses a maze-like system to confuse the ants. Constructed with layers, the ants are directed inside the tray rather than on top where you keep the food dish. When they can’t find the food, the ants eventually move on to easier targets. This option doesn’t require chemicals or water, but it doesn’t get rid of the ants either; it only stops them from getting to your pet’s food.
Image Credit: fantom_rd, Shutterstock
Stainless Steel, Plastic, or Ceramic?
Along with the style of ant proofing that you prefer, you should consider the material that the dish is made of. Both stainless steel and ceramic are often dishwasher safe, and plastic is less so. However, while steel and most plastic bowls can take a few knocks or a drop from a countertop, ceramic tends to be more fragile.
However, ceramic has the benefit of stability. It’s weighty and will be less likely to be shoved under furniture or carried around if your cat — or canine — gets overexcited as they eat or decides that it’s their new toy.
Final Thoughts
Cat owners can use the Hepper NomNom Cat Bowl to keep ants away from their current food bowls. With space for two bowls and a shallow basin to fill with water, the moat protects your feline’s meal. Similar in design, the Frisco Double Stainless Steel Pet Bowl With Silicone Mat has the added benefit of affordability and includes two easy-to-clean bowls.
Our reviews include several options for the best ant-proof cat bowl. Whether you’re looking for a trench design or an elevated maze to confuse the ants, hopefully, this list has helped you learn more about your options.
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