Bugs in dry food

When I fed Ramsay this morning, I noticed a 3/4 inch long dark colored millipede looking bug in his bowl. I immediately spread out the rest of the food (about 7lbs of kibble) on a white trash bag and sorted through it. I found 3 more alive that size, and about 10 smaller bug skeletons. SO...my question is what the heck are those bugs? Is it likely that it's okay to feed since I went through it? Should I throw it away? I'm concerned about the bugs, but also that I will have to order more food and that will take a good week to get here.


(I did buy a lidded bin to keep the food in from now on.)

Can you post a photo of the bug?

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Can you post a photo of the bug?

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I smooshed them all and flushed it down the toilet...I guess I should have documented it first.


EDIT: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/...85f931.jpg?v=0
This looks similar, but like I said it was just dark brown or dark gray in color.

I'm wondering if there were pillbugs:

Pillbug

If so, it may be a sign of a problem at the manufacturer, although they COULD have gotten in anywhere the bag was stored for a while.

They're pretty harmless.

It was much skinnier than a pillbug. They were about 3/4 inch long, but no more than 1/8 inch wide.

I would suggest calling the store you bought it and the manufacturer

oh and maybe take a pic into the vet to double check if there is any risk ..

Yuck!!!
I would suggest investing in a food storage container. http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3088200 I have that one, well, mine have blue tops and wheels but its the same thing. I keep my dog and cat food in them and have never had any problems with bugs or moisture or anything yucky!

Originally Posted by sharky

I would suggest calling the store you bought it and the manufacturer

oh and maybe take a pic into the vet to double check if there is any risk ..

Click to expand...

The in-laws watched the cats for us recently, and they kept the food in the garage. It's more likely that the bugs got into it that way than from the manufacturer. The bag has been open for a while now...Ramsay doesn't eat much.


Also, I do have a storage container, but it's only been in use this past week.

Cats often eat insects as part of their diet, so I wouldn't worry about any he might have ingested already. But yes, chuck the rest.

Could be the caterpillar of a grain moth, they infest bags of cat food left open for too long like 2 weeks. They wont harm your cat (if anything added protein!)

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/inse...anmealmoth.htm

Originally Posted by emmylou

Cats often eat insects as part of their diet, so I wouldn't worry about any he might have ingested already. But yes, chuck the rest.

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Except that Ramsay is not a "real" cat. He will play with bugs, sometimes chasing them and catching them over and over for hours, but he always releases them alive. He's way too good for bug eating.

Hello,

I think I had these little bugs in my cat food in the past. I asked an exterminator who was at my apartment building about them. He said they came from the packaging the food came in. The bugs were common in grain factories. I don't know what he called them though. I switched to keeping the food in a storage container from Target and that fixed it. I dumped the whole bag into the container and threw out the paper bag.

I don't know if they will hurt your cats but I know that they can get into your other grain type foods. They got into my flour, corn meal etc. ewh.

I hope this helps. I can be for certain that they are the same bugs!

On a side note: Some cat food comes in a plasitic type bag (solid gold) and they say not to dump the food in the container but to put the whole bag in the container. Now that I use Solid Gold I do this.


yellow-flower

I keep the food in glass 1-gallon jars with metal lids. It not only keeps the bugs out, it stops the kitties chewing through the bags to get extra food.

I Think this is what you might have. Sounds pretty harmless unless your cat eats a lot of them. Being it looks like they have exoskeltons

Dermestid Beetles  (Family: Dermestidae):

These common insects scavenge and feed on animal matter like dried meats, dead insects, hides and woolens. The species that feed on wool and other natural fibers or blends are sometimes called carpet beetles. Closely related species, such as the warehouse beetle, varied carpet beetle and larder beetle, have expanded their diet and also feed on grain and grain-based products. They are especially common in flour and cereals, but also are found in candy, cocoa, cookies, corn meal, nuts, pasta, dried spices and many other dry foods.

The adult beetles are small, oval and variously colored. The full grown larvae are similar in size to the adults for each species and tend to be cigar-shaped and banded with dark, long hairs. In some species, the larvae have a tuft of hair at the tail-end of the body.

Typically, only larvae will be seen in infested food because the adults feed on pollen and leave the food once they have emerged from their pupal stage. Sometimes only the larval "skins" will be found. Dead adults are often found in window sills because they fly to the light, trying to get outside.

Because some of these species feed on woolens, infestations in the pantry may spread and damage valuable clothing, woolens and furs. Proper cleaning and storage of natural fabrics will help prevent damage.

We had this happen awhile back with a bag from PetSmart.  It was definitely a manufacturer/store thing.

I went to exchange the bag because I thought it was "just this one bag".  Turned out, there were moths coming and going from this whole generation of food at that store AND the other local PetsMart I tried.    We had the larvae/worms..many of the bags at the store had evolved in to moths that flew out at you when you opened the bag.  EEEEWWWWW!!

I agree with the other poster that the bugs should be harmless...however, I will let you know that I did notice a decline in my kitties health after this episode.  She was an old lady, and her system was likely more sensitive...or it was just a coincidence.

It seems to happen more with the brands that sell their dry food in the more paper-like roll top bags.  The plastic sealed ones seem much better protected!!

Definitely bring it back to the store.  Most will refund even part of a bag...and at least the alert might save other customers (as the other bags there are likely contaminated too).


 

Was the food that you gave your car made by Purina? There have been a lot of similar complaints about this problem on the consumer affairs website, all having to do with Purina products.

Sorry, I meant the food that you gave your cat, not your "car."