Harmfulness of Whole Cloves

[carmcat]

I've got a asian lady beetle problem during the winter. They flock in once I've turned the heat on. One way I've found to deter them is by hanging little bags of whole cloves from my ceiling, where they hang out. However, I've recently gotten a new cat and I've heard cloves could be harmful if ingested by cats. They would be hung from the ceiling way out of her reach, there wouldn't be a way for her to get into them, but I'm still worried. They would at the very least smell up my apartment. What happens if they're ingested? Is simply smelling them going to cause a reaction? Does anyone know exactly how harmful cloves are to cats? Google hasn't been super helpful. Also, if anyone could recommend a cat safe way to get rid of these pests I'd be super grateful.

 

[stephenq]

 
I've got a asian lady beetle problem during the winter. They flock in once I've turned the heat on. One way I've found to deter them is by hanging little bags of whole cloves from my ceiling, where they hang out. However, I've recently gotten a new cat and I've heard cloves could be harmful if ingested by cats. They would be hung from the ceiling way out of her reach, there wouldn't be a way for her to get into them, but I'm still worried. They would at the very least smell up my apartment. What happens if they're ingested? Is simply smelling them going to cause a reaction? Does anyone know exactly how harmful cloves are to cats? Google hasn't been super helpful. Also, if anyone could recommend a cat safe way to get rid of these pests I'd be super grateful.

http://www.epestsupply.com/asian_beetles.php#.VhP3XVUVhBc

http://www.orkin.com/other/beetles/ladybugs-asian-lady-beetles/

I suspect the smell of cloves would not be enticing to a cat.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I'm pretty sure it is just the ingestion of whole cloves, ground cloves, clove oil that a cat (a cat's liver) might struggle with. I think it's because cloves have a substance called eugenol that can cause liver toxicity in cats and some other animals. But check with your vet or a pet poison helpline, maybe they have clearer information.

I personally would not worry about the smell (just make sure the cat cannot reach the cloves themselves).

Many cats are deterred by clove smell... but my last cat flipped out over the smell of cloves. If I baked using cloves, and had some ground cloves on my fingers, the smell of that had an effect similar to catnip on her, and made her super happy and roll all over the floor.