Ant-proof pet feeding plate base

One day I found that the ants found their way to my cats food plate. Obviously I didn't like it, but apparently the ants found the cats' food quite tasty and came for more another day.

Then I decide to design a simple unit to protect from the ants attacking my cats' food. Getting rid of ants living outside is not easy and in fact can't be done for long, eventually they will re-occupy the space. So the only real way to deal with them is not to leave food where they can find it.

So basically the result is a kind of a bowl where you just pour the water. The food is separated from the floor by the water surface. Given that ants can't swim, as long as there is water is still in the bowl, they can't get to the food. The bowl is designed in such a way that it has a (relatively) minimal evaporation, it has to have openings on all sides to be effective (no dry path for ants), but the opening is rather minimal. I assume that the center is always covered with a food plate. The diameter of the base is 20 cms.

I used it with great success for years now, so decided to share the model with everybody.

I also designed a very similar model for the automatic cat feeder, that ha s a different size and shape. You can check it out as well: https://www.printables.com/model/774951-ant-proof-automatic-pet-feeder-base-15x25-cm