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!