The problem is ants! We want to be kind to them, but then they go marching in the cat food bowl on the floor, ruining the food for the cat and resulting in an ant armageddon, there seems to be no other choice. But there is! Here is a compassionate answer: a disc that has a labyrinth inside (that lies underneath your cat food bowl shown here in black porcelain). The ants smell the cat food, climb in the lip gap to get to it, but then get lost in the maze, and never find their way to the food. It actually works! I have one and it has made it so that I no longer have to flush cat food or ants down the toilet. I wish I could say that I was the one to invent this concept but others came up with this idea long ago, I don't know who to credit. However for the Thangs DIY contest (#custom) I did create this design on Fusion 360, inspired by one a friend gifted to me but instead with the goal being to make it easy to 3D print one on a standard print bed size, with no supports required, and in two parts that can be printed separately. In this file I also have included a cat bowl in case you need one. I hope you enjoy it. And may the ants find some other food elsewhere. :)

UPDATE 12/14/21: I am totally flattered that people have liked this and downloaded it! I want to note that this design could be SO MUCH BETTER with a little work - I just don't have time to revisit it right now. Some of the most obvious improvements I would make - 1) It takes so much time to print and is wasteful - the walls could be much thinner with no detriment to the functionality. 2) A snap-fit between the two halves would be better. 3)It could be so much more artistic and creative! 

Anyway thank you for your interest in saving the ants!

Keep Ants Away From Cat Food

The problem is ants! We love them, but we do not want them in the cat food on the floor. SO here is the compassionate answer: a disc that has a labyrinth inside - the ants smell the cat food, but get lost in the maze, and never find their way to the food. It actually works! I have one and it has made it so I no longer have to flush cat food or ants down the toilet. I wish I could say that I was the one to invent this concept but others came up with this idea long ago, I don't know who to credit. However for the Thangs DIY contest (#custom) I did create this design from the ground up on Fusion 360, with the goal being to make it easy to 3D print one on a standard printbed size, with no supports required, and in two parts that can snap-fit together. I hope you enjoy it. And may the ants find some other food elsewhere. :)

ant-cat-harmony v9.3mf

Model originally uploaded to Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4750509.

Recreated from a photo of an old discontinued product called "Toasty Tongs". The JPG cover shows the colors - body orange/brown, egg faces white (2) to be glued on afterwards. An extra version with the whole thing in one single STL is included as well in case 2 colors not possible.

UPDATE 01/04/22: This is an old file from when I was learning Fusion. I don't have time to re-design this, but it can be so much better! Things I would do differently: 1) Make the egg faces snap fit into the tong body, 2) Re-do altogether the eyes and mouth for printing cleanly. If tapered properly they could be easily glued in. Anyway, no more time for this! Sorry! 

Toasty Tong

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Keep Ants Away From Cat Food

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