black flying bugs in my house and in my cat's litter box

[nichole ladd]

I have noticed for several months now that there are these tiny black flying bugs in my house they are the worst in the cat's litter box. But one day I left a pizza box with some pizza still in the box and I opened the box to my horror these little buggers were crawling all over the leftover pizza and now they are in the litter box. We have three cat's and they use the same box but I am constantly scooping I try and do it every time they use it but when I am at work I normally scoop every morning and bag the poop up and when I get home and before I go to bed. I am a very clean person and we have even had terminex out to spray two different times and still these things are here. Please I need help on how to get rid of them. Is it my cat's? Or the type of litter I'm using? Please tell me how to get these things out of my house they are driving me crazy!!

 

[kittymommy3]

Sounds like gnats to me. Try getting more than one litterbox, scooping as often as possible and changing the litter regularly. Gnats are also attracted to garbage, old/left out food and anything that can really cause a bad smell. If its possible, try moving the litterbox outside or to an attached garage or placing all cat messes in an outside garbage bin. That can usually help curb the problem. Good luck, gnats can be annoying little suckers and can actually be very hard to get rid of at times

 

[nichole ladd]

I have a litter geni and a regular litter box and I use the tidy cats scoopable litter and I am constantly scooping and even if there is no poop in the box there is still these little black gnats everywhere its driving me crazy. Is there a home remedy on how to get rid of these things or am I going to have to have my house bombed?

 

[kittymommy3]

Unless you are actually scrubbing the boxes and even the garbage cans, gnats will still hang around as even the slightest of odors will attract them once they have set up house. This is the guide we used when we got gnats last summer, just be sure to use a pet friendly repellent on the last step. 

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Gnats

 

[nichole ladd]

oh my gosh thank you so much that is very helpful

 

[kittymommy3]

Glad I could help

 

[john c]

have seen the bugs in a new bag of Sweet Scoop

going to get rid of the bag and start over with new litter

also to try to use vinegar to catch them  

 

[misty8723]

I used to use Swheat Scoop, but it attacks bugs and I got sick of it. 

 

[misterwhiskers]

Might be gnats or some kind of larder moth or carpet beetle. Do you see larva or just the bug?

Either way, you might do well with a trip to a good hardware store etc

You can buy sticky traps for the larder moths and flypaper if they are gnats. If they are carpet beetles (I doubt) the beetles themselves eat pollen but they lay eggs that will eat natural fibers etc

I also discovered accidentally that putting up colorful gel clings like for Halloweeen etc in a sunny window will attract and trap gnats. (Ew).

By the way, I put one of the larder moth glue traps in my bedroom and it's catching more darn bugs than in the kitchen, so it may work if you put in where the litterbox is. I bet it's the same kind of bug anyway.

I know the original post is ancient but thought this might help.

 

[catlady1953]

Been using the same electric self cleaning litter box and same brand of litter for years. Today for the first time I found dozens of little hopping bugs in the litter pan. I assumed they were fleas but either of my cats show signs of infestation. What bugs other than fleas hop around like crazy?

 

[linda 2 cats]

They are called phorids. Check google.

 

[linda 2 cats]

I have noticed for several months now that there are these tiny black flying bugs in my house they are the worst in the cat's litter box. But one day I left a pizza box with some pizza still in the box and I opened the box to my horror these little buggers were crawling all over the leftover pizza and now they are in the litter box. We have three cat's and they use the same box but I am constantly scooping I try and do it every time they use it but when I am at work I normally scoop every morning and bag the poop up and when I get home and before I go to bed. I am a very clean person and we have even had terminex out to spray two different times and still these things are here. Please I need help on how to get rid of them. Is it my cat's? Or the type of litter I'm using? Please tell me how to get these things out of my house they are driving me crazy!!

 

[linda 2 cats]

They are called phorids.

 

[PoppyCA]

I recently had the same prob. Not a lot, in fact I rarely saw them, but my cat loved chasing them. I put up sticky gnat strips for 48 hours and caught about 8-10 gnats (or whatever they are). I then got a new cat box (I find that easier than disinfecting) and, of course, fresh litter. I also ditched the litter mat for fear that they could be breeding there as well (and I have yet to find a mat that is worth the trouble). So far, it seems to have solved the problem - fingers crossed.