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- Aug 16, 2013
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I have a clothes moth infestation that I've been battling for months, and I think my cats are contributing!
It started with a blanket that was infested while in a storage facility. I put the blanket in the freezer for 3 weeks but apparently some eggs survived. Since then, I've trapped the moths in every closet & corner of my apartment. I had all my clothes in plastic bags at one point, laundered or dry cleaned everything I own made of cloth, turned over the rugs and made sure none are under furniture, took apart and vacuumed the couch at least five times, emptied out and washed closets, vacuum floors & rugs religiously...you name it.
But new moth nests keep popping up. One of them included my cats' toy basket. I had no idea moths could infest a wicker basket sitting out in the open, but they can - I just now looked and found tons of eggs in there. I guess they're living on bits of cat fur. Then it hit me: my cats have been spreading the eggs! All the recent infested sites are places frequented by my cats. I even found eggs in one of their brushes.
Has anyone else had this problem and what have they done about it?? A friend suggested a flea/tick collar or treatment e.g. Advantage combined with chemically treating (using vet-kem) all the closets & under the couch, but I'm not sure a flea collar would kill moth eggs. To do the chemical treatment, I'd have to lock the cats in the bedroom for a day, treat the rest of the apt minus kitchen, then go to work for the day, then reverse it the next day (cats out of bedroom, treat bedroom). Then bathe the cats - boy that will go over well.
Suggestions, benefit of others' experience etc are most welcome!
It started with a blanket that was infested while in a storage facility. I put the blanket in the freezer for 3 weeks but apparently some eggs survived. Since then, I've trapped the moths in every closet & corner of my apartment. I had all my clothes in plastic bags at one point, laundered or dry cleaned everything I own made of cloth, turned over the rugs and made sure none are under furniture, took apart and vacuumed the couch at least five times, emptied out and washed closets, vacuum floors & rugs religiously...you name it.
But new moth nests keep popping up. One of them included my cats' toy basket. I had no idea moths could infest a wicker basket sitting out in the open, but they can - I just now looked and found tons of eggs in there. I guess they're living on bits of cat fur. Then it hit me: my cats have been spreading the eggs! All the recent infested sites are places frequented by my cats. I even found eggs in one of their brushes.
Has anyone else had this problem and what have they done about it?? A friend suggested a flea/tick collar or treatment e.g. Advantage combined with chemically treating (using vet-kem) all the closets & under the couch, but I'm not sure a flea collar would kill moth eggs. To do the chemical treatment, I'd have to lock the cats in the bedroom for a day, treat the rest of the apt minus kitchen, then go to work for the day, then reverse it the next day (cats out of bedroom, treat bedroom). Then bathe the cats - boy that will go over well.
Suggestions, benefit of others' experience etc are most welcome!