Your cat comes with affection, purrs, and silky hair and poops a lot, drawing swarms of bugs at times, which you can kill in various ways.
Mother nature provided the Venus Fly Trap to aid in the management of the fly population. You may set your traps and take other steps to reduce the number of unpleasant flies that enter your home to smell your cat’s excrement.
In this post, I’ll guide you through what causes bugs in the litter box and where they may come from, the most common types of bugs found in the litter box, and some incredible ways to get rid of bugs in the cat litter box. So, without ado, let’s plunge in.
What Causes Bugs in the Litter Box?
The most frequent pests found in cat litter boxes are; fungus gnats, phorid flies, maggots, house flies, and fruit flies. You’re probably wondering how these bugs got into your cat’s litter box.
Gnats are the most frequent pathogens and insects that can be attracted to your cat’s litter box. These insects can become so unpleasant that your cats may stop using their litter boxes entirely and instead spread germs around the home.
This is because these bugs grow and infest moist areas with dead or rotting organic materials. As a result, your cat’s litter box is the best alternative they have within your house.
To get rid of these gnats, you need to determine what attracts them and what kills them and to maintain your pet’s litter box pest-free, and allow your cats to defecate in peace.
The flies will perch on the litter, and the dirt and excrement will stick to their bodies. However, if they patch on your food after visiting such filthy places, pathogens may be deposited, spreading bacterial disease.
Cats are extremely clean pets, and they don’t even like to poop in filth places within the house. This means that if there were a swarm of bugs crawling on the litter, they would abandon the box.
Besides, most of these bugs are black and tiny black, so they often fly around the cat’s litter box—except for maggots. Maggots are the larvae of these beetles. So, if you don’t get rid of these bugs, they’ll live and breed in your cat’s litter box for long without noticing.
7+ Amazing Ways To Get Rid of Bugs in the Cat Litter Box
1. Clean Your Litter Box
The most obvious approach to keep gnats away from your litter box is to keep it clean and neat. Don’t allow the cat excrement to accumulate and attract more gnats to your cat litter box.
Once some gnats have found a haven, it only takes a few days for them to reproduce and begin a new generation. You should, therefore, clean the litter box thoroughly and entirely daily.
This is essential because you don’t have to disrupt their life cycle by throwing out any eggs that the gnats may have placed in the litter or along the edges of the litter box.
You should also use fewer scoops of kitty litter than usual because you don’t want to squander too much of it at this time. Reduce the amount by half and observe if it still deodorizes the litter.
You need to clear the litter box up as soon as possible. Gnats are drawn to cat urine and the excess moisture it causes in the litter. So getting rid of it and keeping it dry will keep gnats and other moisture-seeking bugs at bay.
2. Try Vinegar
Vinegar disinfects everything, and it’s a very remarkable product. This product can also be used to repel and kill gnats. Just clean your cat litter box with vinegar and apply a layer of it before adding new litter.
When cleaning up the litter bin, uniformly dilute the vinegar with water and spray it with the solution. The layer of vinegar at the bottom and sides acts as a natural repellent, keeping gnats away from the litter box’s border.
3. DIY Bug Killer
You can use vinegar to kill gnats in the same way you may use it to repel them. This mixture will disinfect as well as kill any remaining bacteria. Because of its strong acidity, spraying gnats with vinegar can be an effective gnat killer.
In a spray bottle, you need to combine equal parts vinegar and water. Swirl in a few drops of dish soap until it begins to foam on the surface of the mixture. When the flying gnats land on the solution’s surface, they drown because of the surface tension on the detergent dish.
4. Avoid Your Litter Box Getting Damp
Flies and fungus gnats are drawn to wet litter because the accumulation of damp litter will eventually provide breeding grounds for fleas, gnats, and even moths. So by keeping it dry, you can keep them at bay.
Some flea eggs hatch in just one day, and allowing them to continue with their life will lead to heavy infestation. When the litter box gets wet, pour the contents into a secure plastic bag or container, thoroughly clean it with soap, and rinse with running water.
5. Make Sure Litter Boxes are Away from the Windows
Ensure that the litter boxes are far from open windows as bugs tend to use these windows as entry points to your house. Fungus gnats and phorid flies are attracted to artificial light from your home.
6. Make Some Beer Trap or Even Wine
You can use wine or beer as it functions the same way as vinegar. Gnats are irritating pests, but they can be readily enticed into a trap using any fermented beverage like wine. Just put a mixture of beer or wine with water in a small container and add a few amounts of soapy solution to it.
Put it near your cat’s litter box as this will assist in enticing the gnat away from the bin and into the trap. Don’t rely solely on these traps to eliminate the gnat problem. If you wish to eradicate them permanently, you must clear the litter while traps are set up.
7. Diy Gnat Trap
You can make a trap out of saran wrap and bait. This one can work much better when keeping gnats at bay. Combine equal parts liquor and apple cider vinegar in a mixing bowl.
Fill a mason jar halfway with the mixture and cover the top with cling film. Make a few holes in it and wrap it around the jar’s neck with a rubber band.
You should then place the trap next to your litter box, where pets cannot reach it. Additionally, utilize a live candle flame in a mason jar filled with a moat of water.
As a result, the candle will sit above the water level and then burn at the jar’s bottom. The gnats will fly to the candle and land in the jar with heat killing the gnats when they patch on it.
Some people put dish soap in the water to make it more difficult for them to escape. However, you should only do this if you have complete control over the area, but be cautious of youngsters and other people.
The gnats are drawn to the ACV aroma and fly through the holes into the jar, but they can’t get back out. You can destroy them by filling them with dish soap and water before typing them out.
To avoid bacterial accumulation, you can reuse the container after a thorough cleaning.
8. Try Sticky Tape
This sticky tape can be available at any hardware near you, and it’s an option of getting rid of grants. Simply wrap it around the areas where you frequently see gnats then you’ll apply it to both the outside and inside of the litter bin.
Gnats will get stuck when they fly or walk on the tape. Replace as needed and use according to the product label. The advantage of sticky tape is that a single roll lasts a long time.
Furthermore, you can use double-sided, non-damaging tape around the house. You can use it to cover window sills, doors, walls, and even the ceiling.
Some individuals hang one end of the string from the ceiling and let the other end hang down. Gnats will fly into the tape and become entangled.
You don’t need to do anything else as long as they’re firmly and safely put. The best thing about sticky tape is that the strips can be used as a barometer to determine how well you’re doing with gnat removal.
You should notice fewer gnats stuck to the sticky strips over time. And if you see this, it means that everything you’re doing is working, and if you don’t, try a different home cure to get rid of the gnats in your cat’s litter bin.
Do Litter Boxes Attract Roaches?
Yes, litter boxes attract cockroaches because they usually like filthy places. Although cats enjoy hunting cockroaches, these tiny pests may infest the cat litter box.
You can make the biodegradable litter box from recycled paper or plant-based materials like pine, wheat, corn, beet pulp, and soybean. This type of litter could provide a food source for cockroaches because of the materials used.
The best thing to do is to select a cat litter that will not attract roaches. Cat litters are classified into three types: biodegradable, clay-based, and silica-based. The latter two are the best for avoiding cockroaches and other bugs.
There could be other things in your home attracting cockroaches that you haven’t considered as cockroach magnets. Similarly, cockroaches may be drawn to cat litter as well as their poop. You can alleviate these problems by taking them litter boxes outside and cleaning them regularly.
Can Fleas Live in Cat Litter?
Yes, fleas thrive in humid environments such as your cat’s litter box. To check your cat for fleas, use a flea comb to separate their fur so you can see their skin and look for small, dark dots on your cat’s skin.
The good news is that a flea family will not randomly decide to settle in the litter box. If your cat has fleas, they will begin to multiply within that space. Fleas are always brought into the home from the outside environment. If your cat does not have fleas, they should not be found in the litter box.
Litter boxes provide an excellent environment for gnats eggs to hatch and pupae to develop into adults. Adult fleas can live in the litter box for up to five days before joining the party on your cat’s skin.
Get Rid of Bugs Today
If you use the required remedies regularly, you should get rid of the infestation relatively quickly. Once all of the gnats have been caught, you can remove the traps but keep proper hygiene in and around the litter box to prevent them from returning.
Once all of the bugs have been removed, your pets can resume using their litter box without being bothered by flying bugs. It is essential to remember that before you get involved in any solutions, you must first determine whether the bugs around the litter box are gnats.
Flies—such as the fruit fly—have been observed to exhibit similar behavior, and it is common for the two to be confused. If you can’t figure it out on your own, then hire a professional. But don’t skip this step because your remedies may not work if you’re targeting the wrong insect.