My Cat Ate A Bug (gross!) Should I Be Worried?

[PMousse]

Hi y'all!

This morning, instead of greeting me after I came out of the bedroom, my cat stared intently at the living room curtain. Turned out that there was a bug crawling on it (After some google image search that made my stomach turn, I think it's a silverfish - one of those with an oval body shape and likes humidity?) And then she ate it.

I was pretty grossed out but she seemed okay with it. Should I be worried? Or should I be happy now that I have a little helper who can help me kill bugs?

 

[Kieka]

Praise the Might Hunter!

The only bugs that would be of any concern for me would be bees, wasps and some spiders. Basically anything that the bite/sting would hurt your cat if the bug wasn't dead when swallowed. My cats have probably eaten more bugs then I would like to know over the years without any negative effect. Most bugs are a good source of protein (albeit on a small scale). The worst bug issue we have had is from Link rolling in an ant trail, then falling asleep in the same trail, and getting ant bites all over as a result.

 

[orange&white]

Yes, be happy. She'll keep you from ever needing an exterminator.

I love to watch my backyard feral stalk and catch bugs. Some she eats (like crickets) and some she just kills (like dragonflies). They probably know (for the most part) which insects are edible. Insects are high in protein, calcium and taurine...they make good treats.

 

[ailish]

Ailish loves bugs. You haven't seen fun until you watch a cat go after a moth in an almost dark room. I did kill a big brown spider that she was after the other day, it just looked mean and I didn't want her bit.

 

[PMousse]

Oh good, thanks for the confirmations, everyone! haha

Actually my cat wasn't the brightest. The bug started crawling upwards but she was still staring at the bottom of the curtain where the bug had been. I had to point it out to her where it was, because it was either gonna be her doing something about it (at that point I didn't know that she would eventually eat it) or I'd have to do something about it. I'm glad it worked out for both of us in the end. lol

 

[amethyst]

So long as the bug isn't poisonous (silverfish are not) or as others have said, could bite or sting, it's not an issue. My cats eat bugs all the time, I actually have a couple that will eat bees, I try to catch the bees that end up in the house before a cat does but that doesn't always happen.

 

[Yanaka]

My cats killed a roach the other day--not eating it, but since I think roaches are the grossest things ever, I imagined they would be sick, have an allergy or whatnot. I think the only risk with bugs is that they ingested poison and the cats eat them with the poison.