Larder Beetles

for_emily_ann

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Hello,

I am hoping you can help as I have two furry babies and have discovered some larder beetles in my apartment. I didn't know what they were until last night so I didn't know I should really be concern until last night :( Well let me back up..... Last week I noticed this black an tan bug by the cat food dishes. I grabbed a Kleenex and flushed the bug and the Kleenex not thinking anything about it. Well last night four of them were by the dishes - now I'm worried. I killed them and jumped on the web to see what the heck kind of bug they were..... Larder beetles and they were attracted to the cat food
My one kitty is a messy eater so I always picking up loose food around the dishes but vacuum up on the weekends. After my research last night I found that once you have found one of these pesky buggers it's pretty much already to late asthey bring their friends and lay their eggs in the sprin and summer. And that is very hard to get rid of them

I live in a very large apartment complex and unfortunately the windows are older and don't deal well so I don't know if these bugs got in this way.

How do I get rid of them and the larva without harming the kitties?

I have the cat food in a large plastic pet food container - I by Fromm so as soon as I buy it I put in this container. Now I'm afraid they will get in there and lay eggs. This is terrible.....

I found a article on a food grade garden produce DE that you can use but I worry it will irritate the cats lungs.

Please if anyone has suggestions or has delt with these little pests before and can
advise how to get rid of them.

Thank you so much :)
 

LTS3

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It's possible that the dry food may be the culprit. Sometimes you just get a bad bag that may contain insect eggs. How long ago did you buy the bag of dry food? Are the beetles a recent issue or did you have them before? I guess to be on the safe side, toss the bag of dry food away and clean out the storage container with hot soap and water. You can soak the container in a diluted bleach solution if you want to be extra cautious. Just keep the cat away from the container while it's soaking in bleach. A 30 minute soak is plenty. Then buy a new bag of food, from a different pet store if possible.

I found this: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/larder-beetles/ Frequent vacuuming will help. Empty the bin outside the apartment in a trash bag and dispose of it right away. Ask your landlord to seal all cracks around the windows and to treat the apartment to kill the beetles. You and your cat would likely have to stay out of the apartment for a few days. I don't know if there are any pet-safe pesticides that you or a pesticide company can use.
 
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for_emily_ann

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Thank you - YUCK. So they are laying eggs on the food I have in the dishes for my girls. I think I'm going to be sick. Now I worry about what it can do to them..... This is a nightmare. I don't know how the landlord is going to fix the windows to keep these bugs out as they are old. They might just let me out of my lease to move as I know replacing windows are expensive. Even the seal into my garage and doors aren't that great and I don't live in a slummy apartment :(. I pay a far penny a month so I don't know. Sorry to ramble just these bugs are horrible after reading more and more about them
 

jil05

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HI,

I am sharing your pain. as we are dealing with a larder beetle problem too.  You are not rambling either, this problem is horrible! 


We can't figure out how we got them either.  We use Kirkland cat food and Swheat Cat Litter.  Could it be either one of those?  I did notice bugs in the litter box recently and I have never had that happen before.  We changed to Swheat because the other litters were hurting the cat's lungs and one passed recently due to inflamed lungs and asthma.  But that is another heart-wrenching story!

All I know is I have never vacuumed so much and still seem to get nowhere.   We also have some very old windows so they could have come in from outside.  I would like to try the DE as well but also worry about the cat's lungs.  I'm hoping by now you are having some improvement?  Did you try the DE?  Has anything helped?

Thanks!
 

jil05

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Oh and right before this problem with the beetles started I purchased a cat tree online from a popular website. I know it was made in a foreign country,  Larder beetles burrow....could it have been from the cat tree?  Just curious to see if anybody else has had a problem with this.  Thank you!
 

Willowy

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I know they're around, but mostly I see them only occasionally so I don't worry about it. Keep the cat food (and other food) in an airtight container, and don't feed too much dry food at once---only give as much as they eat in a day, and wash the dish when it's empty. Clean around the cat food dishes. I don't think they usually get to be a huge problem unless you own a museum ;).
 

jil05

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I will be buying an airtight container today!  I buy the big bags so I never really thought about it, but I guess I have seen the big ones at Petsmart.  Thank you!
 
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