killing ants

tdonline

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The weather is warming up and the ants are coming out. What can I use around the house that won't hurt my kitties? I read vinegar may be an option?
 

yosemite

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Diatomaceous Earth! I just sprinkled some across my door sills and the sliding door last night. Hubby saw some of the little beggers. It is not actually "earth" - it is very finely ground diatoms which are a miniscule crustacean. It feels like a fine talc to us humans but is like shards of sharp glass to insects, cuts their exoskeleton and they die.

DE can be purchased usually at garden centres or feed stores. You must, however, ensure you get the food/human grade DE. It is perfectly safe for you and your animals. They do recommend, however, that you avoid inhaling it while applying it so just keep the kitties out of the room while you are spritzing it around and cover your own nose/mouth area with a cloth. It won't kill you or hurt you, it is just uncomfortable if you get some in your lungs and will irritate your lungs.
 
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tdonline

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Indoor ants. They are hanging out at the window sill where my cats like to sit!
 

kittieshasme

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Look for a crack around the sill and see if you can figure out where they are coming in from. Then seal the crack. If you have double hung windows and the ants are coming in under the window itself I would open the window, sprinkle DE, cinnamon or turmeric in the area between the sill and the screen, then shut the window. the ants have to crawl thru the powder but the cats can't get into it.

If you can't find where they come from you can wipe the sill with vinegar or sprinkle cinnamon or turmeric powder. DE will work just don't breathe it and don't let the cats breathe it. Warning: d-limonene and orange oil are sometimes recommended for ant control but both can be toxic to cats.
 
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tdonline

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Update: I used Terro and it worked for about a week and then the ants came back and the Terro baits have been useless. It's like they attract ants but do not kill them.

I opted not to use DE because I'm not 100% sure that breathing it in for the cats is safe. They are also prone to sneezing. I spoke to a couple of people at the local hardware store and one of them was adamant about not using it with pets around.

It looks like the ants are popping up from under carpet seams, I can't really seal those areas.

Any other suggestions?
 

goonie

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i have a big ant problem too and somebody suggested vinegar. i've been spraying it around door & window frames on the outside and so far it seems to help. i also put down Grant ant traps inside where the cats can't get to. so. cal. seems like a giant ant hill in the summertime
 

mews2much

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We haveant problem ad I tried everyones advice but nothing worked so we have a exterminator now.
We do not let him spray inside because the cats and my asthma.
 

cloud_shade

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I read something about using instant oatmeal. I put some out a week or two ago in areas where I had seen a few ants, including near the cats' food bowls. I haven't seen any ants since. Since it was the only thing I had on hand, I ended up using cinnamon & spice instant oatmeal. While I doubt it would help with a big ant problem, it seems to be working so far.
 

shanynne

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

Diatomaceous Earth! I just sprinkled some across my door sills and the sliding door last night. Hubby saw some of the little beggers. It is not actually "earth" - it is very finely ground diatoms which are a miniscule crustacean. It feels like a fine talc to us humans but is like shards of sharp glass to insects, cuts their exoskeleton and they die.

DE can be purchased usually at garden centres or feed stores. You must, however, ensure you get the food/human grade DE. It is perfectly safe for you and your animals. They do recommend, however, that you avoid inhaling it while applying it so just keep the kitties out of the room while you are spritzing it around and cover your own nose/mouth area with a cloth. It won't kill you or hurt you, it is just uncomfortable if you get some in your lungs and will irritate your lungs.
Actually it can cause lung cancer if too much is breathed in, but with the Fossil Shell, that risk is reduced because it contains less silica than the other types. Still it is recommended to wear a face mask when spritzing it in the house and to keep the pets in another room till the "dust" settles.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by tdonline

I opted not to use DE because I'm not 100% sure that breathing it in for the cats is safe. They are also prone to sneezing. I spoke to a couple of people at the local hardware store and one of them was adamant about not using it with pets around.
Your local hardware store is not apparently knowledgeable about DE. If you use the human grade it is perfectly safe, in fact many farmers mix some with the food they give their animals to protect them from internal parasites. Trust me, your cats are not going to be going around sniffing the DE to be breathing it in.

Originally Posted by Shanynne

Actually it can cause lung cancer if too much is breathed in, but with the Fossil Shell, that risk is reduced because it contains less silica than the other types. Still it is recommended to wear a face mask when spritzing it in the house and to keep the pets in another room till the "dust" settles.
If it is breathed in while putting it around the most it will do is be uncomfortable to your breathing, it won't hurt you thus why they do recommend you avoid breathing it in. To my knowledge it does not contain silica but then I'm not a chemist. My understanding is that is is simply finely ground diatoms. As for cancer, if you live in a city and are breathing in smog your chances of lung cancer are much higher than the little bit of DE you would be breathing in. A couple years ago they were saying bacon caused cancer too. If I believe everything "they" said caused cancer or harmed me, I would live in a bubble and have an extremely restrictive diet.


IMHO DE is the safest product to use, for both you and your kitties, to rid your home of insects. Some of the cleaning products people use are much more detrimental to their cats than DE.
 

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I ordered food grade DE online... (could not find it at any hardware store - they have a DE combo - but it is not 100% DE and it is combined with other things that make it unsafe to use around animals).

I've used the food grade DE in my home for ants - just sprinkle it in areas where the ants tend to hang out and it works. The pamphlet that came with it even encouraged people to eat a certain amount of the food grade DE a day as a dietary aid. Interesting...
I don't eat the stuff - but it seems pretty safe.
 

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Originally Posted by 7_Angel

I ordered food grade DE online... (could not find it at any hardware store - they have a DE combo - but it is not 100% DE and it is combined with other things that make it unsafe to use around animals).
I've never found food grade DE in a hardware store. If you look at the ingredients of DE products, some do contain silica and other harmful ingredients that I would never use around my pets. That's why those who recommend it always emphasize the FOOD GRADE part of the product.

I've used it for fleas for many years. Yes it is dusty when you first apply it, but a simple painters mask on you, and the critters locked in another room for a short while protects everyone.
 
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tdonline

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What sites do you purchase DE from? I'm desperate now, may as well give it a try.
 
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tdonline

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Has anyone actually fed their cats food grade DE?
 

stephanietx

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I haven't fed it to my cats, but I do use it in my house and yard. If you can find the Soil Mender brand, they have one that has a little straw-like thingie on it that helps distribute the powder in a very fine coating. It's the Crawling Insect Duster you're looking for. http://www.soilmender.com/products/b_sm_cik.php

We've also used a diluted orange oil spray. You can find orange oil in feed stores, organic gardening centers, and I've found it at Lowe's. I just put about 1 oz of orange oil in a 32 oz spray bottle and spray anytime I see them. The secret is to follow their path and interrupt it. I've also even sprayed Simple Green, the cleaning agent!

Here are some other environmentally (& mostly pet friendly) tips:

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/ga...question/id/5/
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by 7_Angel

I got my DE on ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=260291035947

However, it says it has silica in it, but it is food grade... other posters said that silica is harmful...

So, now I'm confused. However, my cats have been around it and they are fine.
One more reason I won't buy online from most sites. e-bay isn't exactly a place I'd trust for them telling me the truth about a product. I personally would recommend you buy from a reliable source that you can believe when they say food grade.
 

shanynne

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Originally Posted by 7_Angel

I got my DE on ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=260291035947

However, it says it has silica in it, but it is food grade... other posters said that silica is harmful...

So, now I'm confused. However, my cats have been around it and they are fine.
The best place to buy DE is from directly Perma-Guard themselves. That way you can be sure of what you are getting. http://www.perma-guard.com

Does it say what the percentage of silica is? It should be 3% or less. The important thing is not to breathe it in, although you would have to breathe in considerable amounts before it would harm you.

Remember it is perfectly safe to ingest for both humans and animals (the Fossil Shell type).

Hope this helps.
 
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