Roundworm

[otto]

what kind of litter do you use? I've heard of the maggot problem in litter before, I think it was those wheat or corn litters.

Bet you are really glad you didn't take that ER vet's advice and use an OTC dewormer. That vet ought to be de-licensed for giving such dangerous "advice"!

 

[strange_wings]

^You're thinking of various grain pest larvae. Moth and beetle larvae are not called maggots, only fly larvae are. Most grains and grain products are infested with some sort of grain pest, including human foods.

Originally Posted by mizmelzy

So these eggs had to have been in the litter for a longer time.

Who told you that?

Many species of flies have eggs that hatch within one day. A fly could have gotten in a couple days before you seen the maggots, laid eggs, died, and the eggs could have hatched between your scooping.

If you have a problem with flies getting in during the summer, you'll just have to scoop 2-3 times a day and dump the litter more often.

 

[mizmelzy]

I use tidy cats cat litter. The local grocer here carries it in 40lb boxes. I've been using it for over two years with no problem. However, I did just purchase a new cat litter after the maggot issue. It's low dust and works wonderfully. The cats really seem to like it because they use that litter more than the other. There are about three boxes left with the tidy cats.

I scoop cat litter twice a day at least so I'm just shocked that there were any in the litter. I have not seen a fly in this house in over a month. But, we do have a water beetle that keeps getting into their litter. Not sure what their eggs look like when they hatch. But I find one in one of the cat boxes at least once a week.

 

[strange_wings]

Water beetles? As in the large black water beetles that can't really move around without water because they have legs only made for swimming? They have dark larvae that live in water and are a bit weird looking.

A good way to tell beetle and moth larvae apart from a maggot is that they usually have darker heads or in the case of many beetles a tougher skin and little legs to move themselves with.

I think you simply had a pregnant fly sneak past you and the kitties. I rarely get them in the house but when I do the cats find them before I do. There's also fruit flies that make tiny little maggots and unless a fruit flies is on something right under your nose you can't see those tiny things.

 

[Willowy]

Ugh, yeah, I've had fruit fly maggots in the ferret and rabbit litter (Yesterday's News) before. Never in the cat litter, I figured they didn't like the clumping clay. But by your description that's probably what they were. Roundworms are larger. I can't think of any cat intestinal worms that look like that.