Toxic?

[Jem]

I just found that I have a carpenter ant nest in the house. We will be calling an exterminator.
The nest is in the crawl space area where the cats don't have access to.
I won't let them use toxic products in the "cat friendly" parts of the house, so there won't be any way for them to come into direct contact with the pesticides. They also never go outside, so no risk of direct contact there either.
I know there exists pet friendly pesticides, but depending on where the nest is situated (how far into the wall) and due to the risk of structural damage to the home, the exterminator may need to use other things. We need to eradicate this fast. It seems from all the checking I've done, they put some sort of powder in the walls, and will leave bait for them to carry back to the queen/nest and will usually spray something around the exterior of the house.

I've e-mailed my vet and am just waiting for an answer, but thought I'd ask here in case anyone has had experience.

IF one of the kitties happens to eat an ant that meanders into the house - after it's consumed or walked thru whatever pesticide the exterminator used in the walls or whatever, will that be enough to hurt them?
I have heard of cats dying from eating poisoned mice and rats, but an ant?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't really have any experience with this, but I would liken the situation to a cat who is being treated for fleas and eats some of the fleas while grooming. That's my ! Let us know what the vet says and good luck with getting rid of those ants!

 

[IndyJones]

The powder is usually diatomacious earth which is actually safe enough for use around food it kills insects because it is abrasive it is too fine to hurt anything larger though. But ask them just in case.

Damp or rotting wood is what attracts these ants so you may need to replace some boards if these ants are hanging around.

 

[Jem]

IndyJones - Do you know anything about the bait stuff?
I would assume if an ant had eaten/crawled thru the bait, it would go immediately back to the nest to bring "the food" back right? So no reason to go thru the house where one of the cats could eat it? (where they will probably put the bait in relation to where the nest is, is not where the cats can access)

The vet still hasn't gotten back to me...But anytime I've sent an e-mail where I had to wait for her, the e-mail usually got sent in the evening, at the end of the day.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Boric acid (also a powder) is often used for carpenter ants. Find out from the companies you are getting estimates from for the job, what exactly they would be using. They should also tell you the toxicity level for other animals/pets in the vicinity. Until you know this, and how much damage has been done, you can't make an assessment on the effect to your cats.

 

[fionasmom]

I use Orkin for all pest issues, although I am not telling you to call them. They disclose everything that they will use and as I recall, none of it is poisonous to kids or pets. Any decent pest company should disclose what they use and if it could be a hazard. If it is a poisonous compound BUT your cats SHOULD not be able to get to it I would see that as a red flag.

Your cats are well protected and it is really on the company to address any concerns that you have.

 

[kittenmittens84]

If they use regular boric acid/borax like most ant baits, the amount of active ingredient in one ant or even a bunch of ants would be too small to hurt a cat. On top of ants being tiny themselves, usually the bait is more than 95% sugar with a small amount of the actual active ingredient.

Definitely do talk to the pest control people about what type of bait/poison they’ll be using though, borax isn’t the only one out there and obviously you want to make sure the cats can’t get at the actual traps. Where I live ants show up every summer like clockwork and I usually put Terro ant baits (the best kind!) inside of cabinets or I use Velcro command strips to put them out of reach high up on walls/the sides of cabinets.

 

[Jem]

Well, my vet got back to me, this was part of her response (the rest was just niceties)...

"Good question, I'm not sure. Ant baits are poisonous if the animal eats them but I'm not aware of there being enough poison in the ant to then poison the cat. The best thing I can suggest is to get the name of the product the exterminator is using (the active and inactive ingredients and its strength). We could research it but if we can't find it by searching the poison control website and our books, you can call poison control for animals to find out. The first step though is we need to know what is going to be used. You definitely want to get carpenter ants under control. They can do a lot of damage. I've had a few fence posts really eaten up by those things."

Seems like I might be overthinking this if my vet with over 30 years experience hasn't heard of a "poisoned by ant" scenario.
I'm just "one of those", where if it's going to happen to someone....it will be me, so I worry.

 

[IndyJones]

If it's any help, I've had a dog eat an ant trap and the plastic trap itself was what caused more issues (he threw it up) than the stuff inside.

 

[Jem]

fionasmom - I have an appointment tomorrow at 2 with the exterminator. We went with Orkin, because they were able to see us the soonest. I was wondering if there was anything you had to do to prepare? I forgot to ask them when I booked, and they didn't say. Do I have to pull all my furniture away from the walls? Most of the activity is in the crawl space/storage area, do I have to take all my stuff off the shelving and away from the walls and completely empty it out? I re-organized the storage so he would have clear access of the main nest and path they take, but I have built in shelving and it's all full - but not in the areas where I found the ants.

 

[fionasmom]

If your problem is in a crawl space, I don't think that you have to do anything. Orkin goes into my crawl space and attic with no prep from us. If they need access behind something like a bookcase you probably need to provide that for them. I have them for termite and pest control and even with the termite inspection they have never been that demanding about having the house rearranged. I like them because they have always sent professional people with a company vehicle with a lot of identification....all have been polite and respectful. Since you already organized the storage area for access I would wait and see if they need you to do anything else.