# Centipedes in the cat litter???



## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Does anyone else get this? Why does it happen? 

Ive had it twice recently, but this time it was right buried in, i really thought the cat crap was moving for a second....

after it scared the crap out of me.... it got me wondering, why again?? Whats the deal here??

Are they just out to get me?


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## TinyPaws (Jun 23, 2013)

Ew sounds kinda creepy never experienced anything like this in cat litter before!


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Ewwwwwwww!!! I would most definitely scream if I saw that.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Could be they are attracted to the litter and find their way there. Could be the cats find them elsewhere in the house and take them to the litter box, thinking "EWWW - this is where crap belongs, good riddance!". 

I think I would spray/seal all possible entrances to the inside of the house (around drain pipes, etc., and see if that doesn't help.


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## CatMonkeys (Sep 27, 2012)

Going along with what Marcia said about sealing the house, have you seen them anywhere else in the house, or just the litter box? 

I would have run away screaming if I found a centipede moving in the litter box!


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

What kind of litter?


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## _ANT_ (Jul 1, 2013)

That's wierd. Do you have sliding glass doors that aren't sealed tight?


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## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

Yes, they are out to get you


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

When I first got Simon, I found little skinny long multi-legged bugs that kind of looked like miniature caterpillars (my sun room is not air tight when the windows are open). I thought my cat had worms. I called the vet and they told me to bring a stool sample in. So I brought one in and made sure to include some of those little squiggly bugs. The vet was like, um sir your cat doesn't have worms, but you might want to clean out your litter box. 

Embarrassed - yep.

The litter box isn't in the sun room anymore.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Well, i see them elsewhere in the house too, so theyre not specific to the litter really. just strange that they were there twice within a week, and that the one was buried in the litter!! I literally jumped back like 2 feet. and then luckily i had shoes on.

interesting fact, clumping litter clumps to centipedes too... lol


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

Well, I can't give you a definitive answer, but I do know that House Centipedes are insectivores, and I know for a fact that they will happily eat catfood, as well as any other insects it attracts. They also thrive in humid places, so I suppose a litter box might fit the bill, although you would think that the clumping litter would take care of the moisture. It could have been hiding in the litter I suppose.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

NebraskaCat said:


> The vet was like, um sir your cat doesn't have worms, but you might want to clean out your litter box.


I know it probably wasn't funny at the time, but LOL.


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

Your cat may well have eaten a pregnant centipede and fertil_e _eggs passed through unharmed and hatched in the litter. This is not an unknown method for insects and plants to use.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

So, this is just about the creepiest thing I've ever had to consider.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

really??? microscopic pictures of dust mites in mattresses (think hotels) and taking a black light to check out a hotel room are much creepier to me. when i check in, i ALWAYS take the bedspread off and throw it on the floor. 

plus the bacteria in ice machines in fast food restaurants is often higher than the water in a toilet.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

Lol, yes those things are also both disgusting and creepy (shopping cart handles are another revolting thing worth mentioning). The centipede still wins though, hands down. 

I have never been afraid of creepy crawlies, with the _one_ notable exception of House Centipedes. Just looking at pictures of these things makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end! It's an odd reaction, considering that I'm not even actually all that afraid of them; I have no problem getting close enough to squash them, for example, and I leave them alone if I see them on the brickwork outside the garage. But, there's just something about the way they move that causes me to have a visceral reaction of itchy, shivery, disgust whenever I see one.


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## Stryker (Apr 2, 2007)

dt8thd said:


> ...I'm not even actually all that afraid of them; I have no problem getting close enough to squash them....


So, if you have no fear of them........why not just _put them outside_?


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

I didn't say that I have no fear of them. I said I'm not "_all that_ afraid of them", as in it's not like a phobia or anything. I still have a _visceral_ reaction to them. The amount of contact (or potential contact) and time required to whack a centipede with a shoe vs. corraling a running centipede into a container and take it outside is much different. House Centipedes are extremely fast, and, unlike most centipedes, they have great eyesight--the fact that I sometimes miss because of this when I try to whack them makes me unwilling to even attempt more friendly removal methods. I know that sounds stupid, I regularily scoop up spiders with my bare hands and deposit them outside. 

If you've never experienced the sort of visceral reaction I'm talking about I can understand why you'd ask, but that's why I described it as a _visceral_ reaction, it's an instinctive, unreasoning response that I have limited control over. The ability to take the steps to take the centipede outside is well beyond those limits, unfortunately.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

I get those little handheld baskets and the store where I shop has a container of wet wipes and I wipe down the handles first. 8O i'm very disgusted by public areas because of the things I see people doing lol. I won't even go inside a public restroom but my mother made me that way. the rest of it was clinched by working around children for so long. 

I am not afraid of bugs, snakes, spiders, anything living really, but I know exactly which visceral reaction you're talking about: I accidentally knocked a baby food jar into my garbage disposal so now every time a cat has been snooping on the counter and I need to stick my hand into the disposal (even with gloves) I get that shudder.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

I know exactly what you mean. I carry gloves in my purse for just such occasions as grocery shopping and riding the bus. I'm sure I must look like I'm absolutely bonkers wearing a sleeveless shirt with gloves, but I really don't care.

The baby food jar fell into the disposal while it was on? Yikes, that must have been quite the mess... and quite the visual when you extrapolate what would happen to say, a hand. We don't have a garbage disposal at my house, but I've stayed with relatives who do. I'm always _very diligent_ about checking that the switch is in the "off" position before my hand goes anywhere near the drain.


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

There's not a lot that fazes me but centipedes, ewwww, I'm with you!

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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

jusjim said:


> Your cat may well have eaten a pregnant centipede and fertil_e _eggs passed through unharmed and hatched in the litter. This is not an unknown method for insects and plants to use.


That is just the grossest possible thing icould ever think of!! EEwwwww!!!

I wish i wasnt afraid of them. I would love to just put them outside.... but my fear is too strong (and normally the cats will just kind of watch it like the lazer pointer... maybe bat it around a couple times.)


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

dt8thd said:


> I know exactly what you mean. I carry gloves in my purse for just such occasions as grocery shopping and riding the bus. I'm sure I must look like I'm absolutely bonkers wearing a sleeveless shirt with gloves, but I really don't care.


there's a man where I shop because it's right next to speer blvd. with the bridges over cherry creek. people live down there and go hang out at king soopers. anyway, there's a guy who wears quarters in his ears (not like the gigantic gauge stretch things, he just kind of pokes them in sideways so you just see George Washington instead of his ear hole. lol) and if you look at him too long, he takes them out, throws them at you and chases you. so if I saw a woman wearing a sleeveless shirt with gloves, I wouldn't look twice.



dt8thd said:


> The baby food jar fell into the disposal while it was on? Yikes, that must have been quite the mess... and quite the visual when you extrapolate what would happen to say, a hand. We don't have a garbage disposal at my house, but I've stayed with relatives who do. I'm always _very diligent_ about checking that the switch is in the "off" position before my hand goes anywhere near the drain.


no, it was off but I just bought a new disposal and a friend installed it for me and it has a crappy rubber guard on it, it's soft. the other one was stiff, so if something fell down it would sit on top where you could see it. if things get knocked in there overnight i don't know about it. i guess i could put the stopper in but i always go to bed and forget. i keep baby food jars to put bits of cat food in to warm it up, i prefer glass to plastic for food when i can use it. anyway, it was already in there and i turned it on. that is a sound i could go the rest of my life without hearing again. so instead of call a plumber i called the same guy and told him what happened. he took the goose-neck thing off or whatever it is and there were just a very few little pieces of glass, and the rest was ground up. i do NOT know why he got such an industrial strength disposal, but i swear you could stick someone's leg in it and turn it into dust. i can put chicken bones down it and it doesn't hurt a thing. (but that's usually what happens if i tell a guy i need x, y or z and can spend x-amount of $$, they will come back with the most heavy-duty industrial strength thing available) ANYWAY, now i try to check first but occasionally it will sound a little weird when i turn it on. i try to keep as many small things away from the sink as possible so that doesn't happen.

sorry, this has nothing to do with centipedes. i can find out what kind of disposal this is and you can get one and drop your bugs in it lol. I've never seen a live centipede, the only time I've seen one is on tv or a movie under a dead rotting log or something. but they look creepy, i hate all those legs.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

okay, the discussion about centipedes is apparently over....


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