Help, There Are Bugs In My Kitty Litter!
Dawn is freaked out because when she got up this morning, she found bugs in her cat's litter box. She called the company that makes the litter to ask them what to do, and they offered coupons but no real explanation. "Maybe some of your readers have had the same experience and could help me figure out what to do," she writes. "Thanks!"
Here are the details:
I decided to go to a grain-based litter to avoid the environmental effects of clay based litter. Everything has been fine for the the longest time, until this morning. I saw a white dust covering the litter box when I woke up. I went to get my glasses and went I put them on I saw that the dust was MOVING. The thing was covered in bugs. I had no idea what to do. I googled cat litter bugs and found that I was not the first to have an infestation from a grain based kitty litter. I did the only thing I could think of, putting on gloves and throwing the entire kitty litter box in the garbage. One problem remained, the bugs had migrated to the nearby table where I had my laptop, cell phone and wallet. And of course, it was moving too. I put it all in a plastic garbage bag, sealed it up and put the bag outside.
I called the company as soon as they opened at 8am and the woman who answered did not seem concerned at all. She offered to send me some coupons. I told her I didn't want any coupons I wanted to find out what to do...I had bugs in my home! She said I could put some of the bugs in a container and send them to her. So, in a week or two, they will tell me what to do? Seriously, the customer service representative offered no help.
So my laptop and cell phone and wallet are sealed up in a garbage bag outside. And I have coupons in the mail. And bugs infesting my home.
The few pages we could find online regarding the topic all suggest that this is a recurring (but maybe not common) issue if you go with grain-based cat litter. World's Best is made from corn, while Swheat is made from wheat; both can become infested with bugs—possibly meal moths or pantry beetles—but they aren't lethal to cats or anything. Just gross.
This page at moderncat compares four different natural cat litter products, including the one Dawn is using, and it's filled with comments from cat owners talking about their own experiences—including occasional bug infestations. It's worth a read if you're considering switching brands.
(Photo: Br0m)
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Comments:
All the cats I've ever had LIKE eating bugs.
Solution.
1. Toss out the infested litter.
2. Replace
3. bug spray.
I would put the wallet, at least, in the freezer, in plastic. If she thinks the electronics could take it, put them in there as well.
This might sound like a really eewwwy suggestion but, do you have a large enough freezer? I'm thinking of freezing the potential critters before they get a chance to hatch..sort of like what folks do to boxes of pasta. Who wants weevils in their Ziti? ewwwww or critters in the litter?
Try using wood stove pellets for cat litter. Cheap, easy to find (in winter months at least--we stock up in the fall for the whole year), and when the cats do their business, it smells nice and piney!
Bugs like grains. As someone that enjoys baking, this is the occassional loss I risk with flours if I don't seal up things well. I have 5-gallon glass jars with rubber-seal lids and tightly-sealing plastic containers for grain-based stuff that I'm not going to use super fast.
What you want to get is a nice plastic garbage can with a lid that snaps tight on it - and store the cat litter in it. It will stay dry and bugs don't have the upper body strength to lift up the lid.
@Stephmo: Oh - and for the cat litter already in the pan, I'd suggest adding baking soda and crushed bay leaves. Bugs don't like those and your cats will be fine.
We tried around a dozen brands/types of litter before settling on wheatgrass litter. No insects. The downside though is that one of our two cats refuses to use it unless there are absolutely no alternatives (read: lock her in the kitty condo until she does her business).
I'm not sure which is grosser -- bugs in kitty litter or all the poop that accumulates.
First of all, harvested grains almost always contain some insect eggs. That's why you sometimes open a box of flour and find bugs sealed inside the packaging. The only way to avoid it completely is to use nasty pesticides (not worth it, definitely) or irradiation (a better option, but are a few contaminated bags of litter really such a problem?).
Second, why would anyone think it's more environmentally friendly to make cat litter from something that required land, fertilizer and pesticides to produce? What in the world is wrong with plain old clay? Clay is natural, abundant, non-toxic, and cheap. I don't get it.
@catskyfire: Heat may hurt electronics, but freezer temperatures are fine. Good way to breath life into seemingly dead hard drives, actually. Defrosting and condensation would be your primary concern. I would advise against it if you live in a very humid climate. If you want to try to use it while frozen, read the owner's manual to check for operating temperatures before you try. Moving parts may be damaged by the extreme cold, and it may be damaged by sudden temperature changes if it produces a lot of heat.
Hmm, well, it is a grain after all... are you really that surprised? Haven't you had a bag of flour go south in a similar way?
I'd just try different brands until you find one that bugs aren't fond of. Or spray down the litter with something that bugs aren't fond of, like an alcohol and water mixture.
That's rather disconcerting. I just bought a bag of Swheat because I wanted a compost-friendly cat litter. I'm already having bug problems, some sort of gnats, with my previous clay-based brand but I'm also battling a dampness problem in my basement and I assume it is related. No sign of bugs yet in the new litter, but I guess I'll need to keep my eye on it.
A few commentators have suggested freezing the wallet & electronics to kill the bugs.
Why not do that with the unused litter too? Freeze the stuff to kill the bugs/eggs. If you're worried about condensation ruining it, throw it in a chest cooler with a brick of dry-ice.
When I was a kid we'd use news paper shredded in strips for the cats. It only stunk like hell when you didn't change it (which is the same for all litter), and it's WAY more eco-friendly than 100% of manufactured litters. (Recycled, no packaging, no additional greenhouse emissions from shipping, manufacturing, advertising, etc).
Or just don't worry about how eco-friendly your cat's shit-box is.
I guarantee you the cat isn't.
If you see more of the bugs, call an exterminator. Capture a few samples (use tape, perhaps) and let them see what you are up against. Obviously, finding a reliable exterminator isn't easy, but if you can get an honest one, they'll charge you to come out and eradicate what you've got. They may even have suggestions for the laptop, wallet, etc.
I'd go with freezer for the wallet for sure (then vacuum it) and I'd probably try the freezer for the electronics as well (not the batteries, though, and don't try to power up cold!).
That would top one of my worst nightmares! I hate bugs!! Makes me glad I have gerbils!
I mix red cedar shavings into my cat litter, and with three cats, I change litter maybe every three weeks, with no scooping. IIRC, Cedar repels MANY insects. maybe mix some in.
Keeping the laptop sealed up in a garbage bag with the bugs seems like it might be a bad idea... wouldn't they infest the area more and move inside the laptop in large numbers?
I'm a pest control technician.
Any time you purchase anything from any pet store, check the seams of the product for signs of insect activity. That might be insects, larvae, webbing or holes in the bag.
If it has activity, try a different bag.
If you get home and notice it, bag the product and return it to the store or dispose of it. Most of the time when you remove the source of infestation the problem will disappear. If it doesn't you've spilled something somewhere and haven't cleaned it up (you slobs). Before you claim that you're not a slob, check under your refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, microwave and kitchen sink. Vacuum out your cupboards and start checking any dry stock in the house (cereal, grains, pasta, etc.) for signs of infestation and remove the product.
Half the battle with grain insects is finding the source of the infestation, the other half is sanitation. If you're having to store product in the freezer all of the time to avoid insect infestations you're doing something wrong.
@catskyfire: I work at an entomological research facility. One of the methods we use to kill bugs on an item before we remove it from quarantine is to place the item in an airtight bag and spray some rubbing alcohol inside, then let it sit for a few hours. It is relatively safe, better than freezing anyways, for sensitive electronics as long as you don't overdo it and works rather well as exterminating pests.
Grain attracts pests. That is why we domesticated cats in the first place, remember?
I admit I'm puzzled by the "not biodegradable" thing. Clay is dirt, after all.
All grain based products have some amount bug larvae in them. That's why if you leave even processed flour sitting in the bag long enough, it will have bugs in it (I've seen them in unopened bags that sat around too long). The reason it's considered acceptable from a food safety perspective is because (1) the bugs (larvae) are effectively sterilized in the process, and (2) its nearly impossible to remove them anyway.
@StarkRavingMan: The clay in kitty litter (and other things) is obtained through strip mining, most of the time. Silica particles found in clay-type litters can also be harmful to the respiratory systems of living things.
Kinda damned if you do, damned if you don't, no matter which product you buy, but it can be argued that grain-based kitty litter is less environmentally damaging than clay-based.
@Storm Songs: Depends on the bug. They may just go dormant and revive when the temperatures better suit them.
@Serenefengshui: I tried that. I had an old cat (20+ years) that wouldn't go near it. So, he went elsewhere!
Old cats are the same as old dogs.
My cat will spend hours meowing at a moth on the ceiling. She seems completely uninterested in the ants that seem to infest my kitchen every summer, though.
@bennilynn: Especially since a lot of it is grain byproducts like ground up corn cobs, so it's not like they're growing the grain specifically for this.
Being cheap, I would have placed the kitty litter in a garbage bag and just sprayed most of a can of (probably expired--I'm CHEAP) Raid into it. Seal up the bag, place it in the trash can for a while, and *BAM*, bugs are all dead and the litter is good to go.
Of course, being cheap, bugs can't eat my kitty litter. I actually believe they'd find it rather deadly if there's any borax in it (probably not, but I can dream).
I think the easiest solution is to get a dog........sorry, mine is looking at me, I had to.
@StarkRavingMan: I've never had a bug problem with clay though. Its not like they are doing the strip mining for the clay either - the clay is a byproduct. I'll take the dust over bugs anyday. Sounds like the bugs aren't the manufacturer's fault - anymore than bugs in flour are.
@formatc: Uh...except when the *liquid* in the liquid crystal display freezes and the screen cracks, which is physical damage which will not be covered by the warranty.
Technically, if you freeze it, then move it to the coolest part of the house and let it slowly come up to room temp (24 hours) it should be OK, but not always.
Awesome.
@fantomesq: I've used one of these grain-base litter brands for years, and I've never had a bug problem, either. And it smells a lot better than most clay-based litter, too (which mainly either don't cover up odors at all, or have a nasty heavy deodorant smell).
I've used Swheatscoop for years. It is the only product on the market that does not give my cat urinary tract infections from the dust and/or chemicals. Last week I had bugs from Swheatscoop that had been stored in plastic containers once used for cat litter. I closed the lid, moved the container outdoors to release the bugs, then brought the container inside after stirring to make sure all bugs were gone. Newspaper has formaldehyde, a substance to which I became poisoned from overexposure. Cats are more sensitive to chemicals than other animals so products should be screened carefully. As to the environment, like our bodies, we can only take care of it once. After that it is too late.
I had this problem with some baking supplies. To get rid of the bugs I had to freeze all the things from the same cabinet and started using closed containers for everything. Lots of sites will tell you vinegar, bay leaves, or hot pepper will keep them away. The thing that worked was Terro ant killer placed in the cabinet corners (away from cat).
I'd get a bug bomb, make sure everyone (including the cat) was out of the house for the day, and let it fog the place. That should kill whatever is still there. No reason not to leave your laptop, etc. on the table. Make sure there are no food products exposed and, when you come back, air the place out. A fan in the window would be a good idea. Follow the instructions on the can. There are probably a half dozen brands available and they're all pretty much the same.
@fantomesq: But at least the grain will decompose once you're done with it. I can put it in the compost heap in the summer, or flush the scoops in the winter.
@kateblack: Those aren't bugs - I contend that those things I saw in Florida are rejects from Jurassic Park.
Those will eat your cat. You're on you own with those.
aww, my roomies just started using swheat for their cats. it totally smells better, but now i will be living in fear of a bug infestation! can't have it all, i guess.
Why is everyone so surprised? Its grain, people. Common sense says that the chances are very good that there will be a bug problem. Unless that grain was heated before packaging to kill eggs and any larva then its only a matter of time before they become a problem.
Ever seen what happens if you leave flour in a non air tight container?
I don't care how environmentally friendly this kitty litter is, there's no way I'd be dealing with bugs.