Please help! Our kitten eats Iams food for kittens and it seems that there are little gnats coming out of his litter box. Does anyone know what causes this? - Ana
From what I've read, the gnats (possibly called fungus gnats) are probably laying eggs in the kitty litter.
These are, more then likely, not gnats. I am willing to bet these are what most people would call fruit flies. I know what you are thinking...however, fruit flies are related to dung flies. So these could be the cousins, that have invaded kitty's box. I would empty the box. Scrub it with bleach water and let it air dry in the sun. Move any box you have for the cat, to another part of the home. If you put a clean box back, the bugs will still come. If the bugs have nothing to eat, then they will die. You can also try spraying them with bug spray.
I have from time to time seen a spider or 2 in the dirty box, I will clean it, replace it. Then recently I spotted an unidentifyable bug. Is this normal???
We had this same problem last year. My husband tells me that these insects also like urinals. I accidently found a solution to this problem when I decided to put a bowl of vinegar near the catbox for odor control.
Had this problem and it got so bad today that I had to go to Home Depot and get fly paper coils. The pop open and then are hung on the walls or wherever and capture the flying adults. I also got some spray and fumigated the cats litter box area (which we keep under the stairwell downstairs, with it's own door fortunately). I cleaned the box with bleach and scrubbed it clean.
So far, seems like they are gone for now. Will see if it lasts. Thanks for the info everyone. Very helpful.
gnats are really bad last year and this year. the best thing for it them is fly paper strips all over your house. and especially above the litter box. they are cheap and they work....
Help! They are living in my refrigerator. What is causing this and what can I do about it?
I have found red pill bugs in my cats litter box. Do I need to take my cat to the vet?
Hi Lisa,
If these are pill bugs, the color means they are dying so probably aren't any risk to your cat. Here's a link that shows some pictures and give some information:
www.whatsthatbug.com/
You can see if this is the same type of pest you are dealing with.
Susan from ThriftyFun
Great...I have this same problem now. From what I've seen, there are a combination of both gnats and what look to be fruitflies. After I couldn't find a food source in the kitchen that may have been giving life to these annoying pests, I looked in the cat litter box and noticed quite a few. I couldn't even drink anything without using a lid on the glass, for if I waited awhile one of the gnats would land in it and drown. I also found a substantial amount of dead gnats in both the refrigerator and freezer. Guess I will try cleaning out the litter box, using the flypaper strips around it, and maybe the bowl of vinegar idea that someone else posted. My concern is that once one of my cats has another nature call, the gnats will infest the litter box all over again.
man, it's like they appeared in a week and have totally taken over my house! i'm being dive bombed! they are in my trash and litter, so i'm constantly picking up trash, changing the litter box and taking out the trash.
I have also had these, they are especially bad in the bathrooms, kitchen, & litter. I refer to them as "kamikaze gnats" because they will fly right into your mouth, nose, or even into hot food. They are fruit flies. They like the litter, and they LOVE bananas. If your gnats have stripes on them, this is probably what they are. Here is a better link to decscribe them: www.ca.uky.edu/
I have been struggling with the same issues. I did initially clean out the box but my down fall was that I placed the clean box back in the same spot. Yes, it got reinfested. This litter box was in the bathroom, in a dark corner.
SOLUTION: My problem started a short time after I started using a "crystals" type litter. After reading a post here that said they used Fresh Step Scoopable and never had a problem, I decided to give it a try. I emptied the litter box, washed it out, and refilled it with Fresh Step Scoopable. I left my dish with "apple cider vinegar with a dab of liquid dish soap" on the counter to catch the last of the renegade gnats, for a day, but it has been two days now, and no more gnats. Hurray!
Does anyone know what the egg of a gnat looks like?
Would these bugs be biting the cat? I think we have them and I think they are biting our cat!
Are they coming from worms in the cat poops in the litter box? Do we need to treat the cats for worms?
Not sure if this is the problem. These bugs fly around only one at a time, they are black with white wings, very very small in size. But seem to like the garbage can as well.
For some reason all of a sudden gnats have been spotted n my bathroom around my plants. I don't know where they could have come from. It can't be my plants because they were here before i even started to plant my plants. They showed up in my bathroom one day. It was about 5 of them and I killed them but they just kept showing up. Are they coming inside my house just because it is getting cold outside?
In my kitchen they just started to show up. I noticed them about a week 2 weeks ago. How do i get rid of them. I need to know before thanksgiving comes because i don't want them to be all over my food. The problem started off in my bathroom and has spread. Those little bugs are such annoying pests.I need remedies now! Quick. Please.
The vinegar trick seems to be working. what are some other tricks.
I have been having the same problem with my litter box I clean it and they reinfest. They get into my compost, kitchen sink etc like fruit flies but they seem to be too big to be fruit flies as some people have suggested,are much more annoying and I really think they are biting my cats and dog also. I havent found a definite solution yet but since it is winter here I have been opening the windows and freezing them out which is helping but so far not a solution. I put my cats litter outside today and hope that will kill off any remaining ones. I did not have this problem when I used different litter but since switching back to regular cat litter they have appeared. I will try changing the kind of litter, putting the kitchen compost outside and write back with any results.
I recently found a stray cat and DO NOT have a litter box, it uses the tub in the bathroom and there are ALWAYS gnats. I have to believe that it is coming from within it's feces and has absolutely NOTHING to do with kitty litter.
I have them every where..! Started in the kitchen, now in bathroom & living room. Everyone has them in my city..! I used the vinagar trick in a bowl with plastic wrap. I got alot, but not good enough. Now just put apple slices in a bottle, made a cone out of paper at the top. It should work, they seem to love anything with a strong smell. Going to check in the morning, I keep trying. Those little bugs creep me out..!
They look like little brown grains of rice, and when they hatch, they look like white little worms/maggots
Fruit flies will often reproduce in sink drains and garbage disposal. These provide the perfect environment for them to reproduce. Fruit flies/ gnats will burrow into top two inches of soil, including indoor potted plants. If even one snuck in house or came from drain, there's always a chance it settled down into your plants and went dormant and emerged again during warmer months. Try hanging traps near plants. Hope this helps.
They go anywhere where there is moisture,and the litter has moisture from the urine and feces
I have mixed in with the litter, food grade Diatomaceous Earth - you can get it at any home and garden shop - it is safe for pets and humans, but dehydrates insects including ants, spiders, gnats, fleas...and have placed a jar vinegar/water/dishsoap near the litter box - this seems to have remedied my problem with litterbox gnats
Will the cat drink the vinegar from bowl? If so, is it bad for them?
I have the same problem too with the gnats. And tonight, I just realized this didn't start happening until I changed their litter. It's the Arm and Hammer "Slide" . Time to switch back and see what happens.
you ave to check your sink they are most likely coming fromthere then clean out the whole fridge with bleach
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have 3 cats and 2 large litter boxes for them and I am having a huge gnat or fruit fly problem. I keep the litters clean and get rid of everything the bugs would like, but they are still here. I want to get rid of the bugs, but not the cats. The bugs have been here since the last summer began and no doubt will be twice as bad when summer comes again. Please help! They are so annoying.
Put 1 cup of apple cider vinegar in a plastic cup, then two drops of dish washing liquid (cheap is fine, too) to break up the surface adhesion. The bugs will dive in and drown. This is the cheapest and easiest way to keep them at bay.
Chances are you aren't cleaning the litter box often enough. What kind of litter are you using? I suggest the clumping kind. If you aren't currently using that you will be happier using the clumping so you can scoop both the urine and the poopie once or twice a day and put in a used veggie bag or grocery bag to dispose of. It's so much easier and will keep those bugs away. If you buy store brand clumping litter it's a lot cheaper than name brand. Even then you might think the cost is outrageous but it's really not because you're not having to throw out all of the urine soaked regular litter, only the clumps. Be sure to clean and dry the litter box thoroughly before putting the new litter in.
I have always used balsamic vinegar in a small bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and with a fork poke little holes in plastic wrap. The little buggers will get in and drown. I use this when fruit flies come out. Works wonders. Jenwa
I had 2 cats and one lived to be 18 years old. I never ever had your problem. I am guessing it's either in the cat's diet (bugs must be liking something in there), or else it's something in the litter. I only used Scoop Away. Loved it.
I do this and I clean the litter out every day at least once.
I hate the clumping stuff but use it.
the little bitty fruit flies are still there, thanks anyway.
I have two cats. They both eat the same brand of food and use the same brand of litter. One cat is 19 and chooses spend all its time in my master suite. The other is 4 and has full run of the house. They eat in separate rooms and each have their own litter box on opposite sides of the house which are both cleaned at least twice daily. The 4 year old's litter box attracts the flies, the elderly cat's litter box does not. This leads me to believe that it has nothing to do with the litter, the diet or the age of the cats themselves. The only difference I can report is that the 4 year old's poop stinks to high heaven and the 19 year old's does not. This leaves me to believe that the flies are attracted to the odor.
Its not anything youre doing wrong with the litter box. You need to find where the flies are laying their eggs. Until you get rid of the larvae, you cant get rid of the flies. The Apple cider vinegar will work to catch them, but they will keep coming back as long as they have a place to lay eggs.
I have two cats, both are females (one white and one black) and they have their own litter boxes. Both boxes are about two feet from each other. I clean each litter box once a week with bleach. I recently started doing this because fruit flies have been coming out of only one litter box, and it's the white cat's litter box.
They both eat the same type of food. Why are they only coming out of hers and not the other's?First, are you sure that only one cat uses that litter box? If so, you might want to take her to the vet. Believe it or not, this might be a sign of diabetes or kidney troubles. When insects start being attracted to something in the urine, this is not a good sign. It can mean excess sugar in the urine.
You can hang fly strips by the litter box
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I have a gnat problem in my litter box. I just recently bought a litter maid. The waste bin is filled with gnats. I did not have this problem before I got the new box.
