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
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From what I've read, the gnats (possibly called fungus gnats) are probably laying eggs in the kitty litter.
The vinaigrette idea sounds like a good one.
I am a camper and have an electric bug zapping racquet. These gnats are slow, and show up easy on my white walls. It may be crazy visualizing me doing this, but I can kill 20 of them in 2-3 minutes.
So tired of these gnats I got out my rainbow vacuum the water kills them instantly they dive bomb at me apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dawn dish soap works well as well
I use the apple cider vinegar and dish soap all over my house, it works great. BUT it does NOT work with the litter box. I keep a tall small glass right beside the liter box, and that is the only one in my house they WILL NOT get in.
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.
Won't bug spray harm the cat or kitten's paws if you spray the cat litter????
I have thought about spraying with bug spray, but I as scared it will hurt my baby when goes to use it
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.
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?
What type of vinegar, White or Cider?
yes I keep apple cedar vinegar in a jar an put a drop of dish detergent in it, everywhere else in my house it works, I get thousands of gnats everyday, but at the litter box, no they pay no attention to it, they cover my cats litter box everyday
apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish detergent. It works all over my house, I kill hundreds a day but for the litter box it does not seem to help
apple cider and a drop of dish detergent. they get in and drink the apple cider vinegar and the dish detergent drowns them
That sounds great but you didnt tell me what kind of vinegar white vinegar? Wine vinegar? Red wine vinegar? Have a little help
Any kind of vinegar would work but generally people use distilled white or apple cider. Just any cheap kind as you don't care what it tastes like.
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?
you ave to check your sink they are most likely coming fromthere then clean out the whole fridge with bleach
you have fruit or veggies from the grocery that you put in the fridge. i have had the same issue.
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.
Put a small bowl of vinegar near litter box,they will drown
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. nothing is working. those little buggers are determined to ruin my life! i guess i'll try the fly paper thingys cause i got pets and i don't want to harm them.
Mine Too. I couldn't believe how many were in my litter box. They are Annoying and get in everything. Can Anyone ReAssure me they Won't Hurt my cat? He Scratches but more like he's Annoyed
try putting a cup of vinegar near it
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. It seems that these "gnats" tend to like dark areas a lot. Thanks for all the suggestions and info, even from 2004.
The bathroom is a terrible place for a litter box. Its a damp area with water sources and human feces and drains. I didnt realize its very important to run enzyme drain cleaner thru all drains especially the disposal and shower drains. Do one big 3-5 day clean out then once a month to destroy the gelatinous stuff gnats/ flies breed in. Get it into drain overflow areas too. And u can do ur toilet. Helped me destroy complete infestation. Also, dont use hooded boxes. They trap dampness n odors. The litter will dry better when high sided open box is used. FYI best wishes!!
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!
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.
Not true! I use fresh step and we have horrible fruit flies! I have had a cat for 10 years and never had this issue.
Hi I know this post is VERY old 2007, it's now 2021 :). But are you still having success with no Gnats? If so can you tell me what you are using as cat litter formulas have bound to have changed over these years. Thank you so m uch
Does anyone know what the egg of a gnat looks like?
They look like little brown grains of rice, and when they hatch, they look like white little worms/maggots
Would these bugs be biting the cat? I think we have them and I think they are biting our cat!
Yes they bite my cat too. We just bought another litter box. Im gonna try the Fresh Step Scoopable. I also took a white bowl, brown vinegar (4tbls of vinegar and 2 drops of Dawn liquid and put it on a shelf above the litter box. I closed the door and left the light on and the next morning had 4-6 drowned gnats. We use Tidy Cat scoopable litter, does the different litter work?
Gnats don't bite them but get in there fur and make them itch. You can brush them out to help your cat feel better.
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.
they also fly to the light like any bug, and like food. Can't seem to see anything coming out of the litter box per say. They are almost the size of a flea. They could be fruit flies, could someone find a solution and a product to kill whatever is infesting the house?
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.
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.
The vinegar trick seems to be working. what are some other tricks.
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..!
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.
They go anywhere where there is moisture,and the litter has moisture from the urine and feces
Partial solution ...add ½ to ¼ cup of table salt; especially during summer!! Your cats litter pan should be just a basic open box, if its concealed, it would be equivalent for us people to use port-o-potties. Plus, air freshener that smells minty eucalyptus, woody amber or cheap perfume scent to keep them away; sweet scents will attract the flies. During summer, Ill have a plug-in air freshener in every other room. And, its best if you can clean their litter pan as often as you can. Also, best to buy the table salt w/iodine in 25lb bag at a bulk food store. Although pool or water softening salt might be much more inexpensive it isnt as effective as table salt, because of its size. When your cat paws the litter w/table salt around, it will kill more flies than the larger crystals or pellet size salts. The down sides about adding salt to the litter ...the clumping effectiveness is substantially diminished, so you have to scoop out extra litter around the poop & pee. Inspect your cats litter for other foreign stuff ...like dead black fly eggs. The other down sides, the gnat flies will most likely move into your cats fur. You need to use a baby wipe around their private areas, especially around their butt opening. My cat has already wised up & realizes that vinegar baths [1-cup vinegar for every 2-3 gallons of water] equals substantial itchy RELIEF, so he really enjoys baths after we sit in front of his bath tub for 5 mins to get over his water fear. In between baths, Ill wipe his private areas & give him vinegar sprays. And, I dont recommend everyone to try this ...gently clean the insides of their ears. Itll be uncomfortable for them at first, then theyll like having their ears swabbed. I have found that fleas, flies & yeast take shelter in your pets ear. Like all species, theyll take whatever means to survive.
Oh!! If you use apple cider vinegar to catch the flies ...I find that adding salt to the vinegar is more effective than using dish soap. Salt is odorless. Yes, the fly ribbons are also effective, so hang one over or around the litter box. I also recommend having 2-swats in the rooms that you notice the flies are originating, so you can swat the gnats if you see them flying around. And, be aggressive in swatting as many flies as you can, their life cycle should end within 2-3 weeks as long as they cant lay anymore eggs.
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