Black flying insects in faeces

diego

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First off I'd like to start by saying I've had a number of cats in my time, so I do have a lot of knowledge, however when I post here its something I've never encountered before. Also with this being a new country, different things can arise and its kinda putting me back to square one, like these are the first cats I've ever owned. Hope that makes sense.

Okey dokey, Now I was originally going to make a thread about the amount of bowel motions Diego has been having, however just now after emptying his litter box, I feel this problem is more important.

It goes like this, I went to clean out Diego's litter box today to find hundreds of little black flying insects, kinda like sandflies in there. They aren't found anywhere else in the house but his litter box. Neko has his own litter box and thus far no flying things.

Now another interesting thing which I didn't think much of at the time, is I put his faeces in a plastic bag, seal it up and put it into an outdoor rubbish bin. The other day when I was putting the bags of faecal matter into a rubbish bag to be disposed of, I saw some, somewhat larger black insects crawling in the bags of crap, but I thought it might have just been flies, even though the bags were sealed, they have a habit of finding their way in, but now I'm not so sure that they were flies. I don't know, it is actually quite the scary thing.

What I was originally going to post about is his number of bowel motions he has at least 3 or 4 craps per day, absolutely loves to sit by me and watch me clean his toilet, perhaps thinking I have some kind of fetish with his crap
his faecal matter is nice and hard with a pleasant aroma. Now incase your starting to think I have a crap fetish..... I've had some experience with animals that have intestinal/bowel problems and when they have a crap it is putrid. I came across one poor cat 8 or 9 years ago now, and one day he didn't quite make it to his toilet and took a dump right on the carpet. I was the unfortunate bugger who had to clean it up, and I tell you it was that vile I was gagging literally I thought I was going to chunder all over his crap, and end up with a bigger smellier mess to clean up. So yes Diego's crap has a pleasant aroma about it.

I'm thinking worms, earlier today his tummy felt a bit bloated however at this moment it does not. I am rather baffled by these flying insects in his toilet.
So if anyone has any ideas as to what might be the problem, please let me know ASAP. I'm starting to think I have a much sicker kitten on my hands than one with just a flu.

Thanks everybody.
 

toomany

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Where do you keep the litterboxes? Anywhere near an open window or door? Are the boxes covered? Sounds to me like knats...once in a while I will find them in my litter box....but only a few...not "hundreds." That's why I clean the boxes twice a day.

Let's see what other people say.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by toomany

Where do you keep the litterboxes? Anywhere near an open window or door? Are the boxes covered? Sounds to me like knats...once in a while I will find them in my litter box....but only a few...not "hundreds." That's why I clean the boxes twice a day.

Let's see what other people say.
Clean them once a day, they are in a special room so the cats can have privacy and Diego's box has a special lid so its like a little house toilet so he's totally private. You'd be surprised the weird things people do with their pets in Japan, a private toilet is just one.
Not near open window or door, I would expect them to be elsewhere in the house to get to that room. Temps however in that room are probably perfect for breeding, thats why I make it a habit to keep their toilets spotless (well within reason).
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by beandip

A gnat is a very tiny flying insect...sort of like a fruit fly. The terms could be used interchangeably sometimes, I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnat
Ok I just checked that site, we have no plants indoors. If they are those gnat things I take it I've got a bit of a problem?
Why would they hang around only Diego's litter box and not Neko's? and why wouldn't they be in the kitchen? (probably too clean for them
)
 

renovia

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flys are attracted to feces and will find anyway to get there. I also had this problem, but not with poop. I had some soil that I was going to plant something in a pot. I had noticed a lot of gnats hanging around and when i looked in the pot it was crawling with HUNDREDS of the buggers. The only way to know if it's coming out of diego with out taking him in is to get his poop just after he's gone and look inside it.
 

toomany

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Originally Posted by Renovia

flys are attracted to feces and will find anyway to get there. I also had this problem, but not with poop. I had some soil that I was going to plant something in a pot. I had noticed a lot of gnats hanging around and when i looked in the pot it was crawling with HUNDREDS of the buggers. The only way to know if it's coming out of diego with out taking him in is to get his poop just after he's gone and look inside it.
Great advice....and I guess I need to go back to college....spelling gnat...knat!!!!
 

goldenkitty45

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That IS weird. I don't have any suggestions. Let us know what you do find out, if they are present right after he poops.
 
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diego

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I think maybe they were just attracted to his poop. I scrubbed his toilet top to bottom with hot soapy water, yesterday. I haven't seen them since. Its quite weird that they were nowhere else in the house.
 

renovia

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well, at least you've seemed to rule out that they were actually from diego - THAT would be an issue. Little flies roaming around, not so much.
 

epona

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So am I right in thinking that the litter box with the problem is the covered one and the other one isn't covered? That would make sense to me - flies congregate in areas where there is less movement of air and where the air temperature is as a consequence warmer (better egg-laying/hatching conditions), and both of those factors (less air movement and more heat) make the smell of what attracts them more concentrated in that covered space, making it a very much more attractive proposition to them than an uncovered litter box.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by Epona

So am I right in thinking that the litter box with the problem is the covered one and the other one isn't covered? That would make sense to me - flies congregate in areas where there is less movement of air and where the air temperature is as a consequence warmer (better egg-laying/hatching conditions), and both of those factors (less air movement and more heat) make the smell of what attracts them more concentrated in that covered space, making it a very much more attractive proposition to them than an uncovered litter box.
Yes that sounds about right, but I really would like to know how the little
got there, I mean they would have to travel from 1 end of the house to the other to get to the back room and undetected. I also changed the type of litter I was using, there are about 50 different types over here.

I am relieved however that they aren't actually growing from his faeces, that would have been unpleasant.
 
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diego

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Originally Posted by DIEGO

I think maybe they were just attracted to his poop. I scrubbed his toilet top to bottom with hot soapy water, yesterday. I haven't seen them since. Its quite weird that they were nowhere else in the house.
Well since
there has been no black flying things, hard to say what they might have been, since it was just that once.
 

autumnblueangel

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I came across this whilst I was googling the nasty little flying
s that keep attacking me and my cats since I moved a few months back.

I thought I was being attacked by fleas, and went on a flea rampage to no avail and here I was scratching my head (literally) and trying to work out why the
my head was so itchy all the time and why I was having allergic reactions etc and begging the doctor for everything, anything he could do, and then I come to realize that these little
s are the culprits!

Little flying black thingies that like to nose dive into water, like to hang around litter boxes and generally pester us. No matter how clean you keep the place. God I hate gnats. I'll be moving soon, thank god, I think it's the area, being next to a lake with lots of greenery, no matter how much you insect bomb a house, you never win lol
 
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