Yeah, I know they sell commercial versions, but this seemed like an easy DIY project and so it was. The idea came from my hummingbird feeder which has a water moat to keep ants out. I figured I could rig up a similar thing for a cat food bowl. Initially, I used a sour cream container and just glued the lid onto the bottom and filled the lid with water. Worked pretty well, but the cat didn’t seem to like sticking his head into the deep cup.
I headed over to the local 99 cent store to see if I could come up with something better. I ended up just getting a ceramic bowl for the top. For the bottom I’m not sure if it’s a deep saucer or shallow dish, but in any case, the bowl just sits in it. The important part is that the bowl lip is beyond the saucer edge so that food doesn’t fall into the water and get all gross.
When I went to swap out the sour scream container version, I was heartened to see an ant wandering on the edge trying to get at the food =) Incidentally, I’m doing all this for a freakin street cat that I claim I don’t even like.
Incidentally, besides the bowl and saucer, I also got a hot glue gun, extra glue sticks, 3 fluorescent light bulbs, and a sink strainer, all for 9 bucks! I loving going there.