Have you suddenly noticed cockroaches in your pet food? If so, there’s a reason for it. Cockroaches gravitate towards easily accessible food, and your pet’s food dish is like an open buffet for them. But more than that, it offers up the vitamins and minerals cockroaches need to thrive inside your home.
In one year, a female cockroach can have as many as 35,000 offspring, which means your house can quickly become the place they call home. Instead, you should prevent these pests in the first place.
One of the best ways to keep these pests at bay is to prevent cockroaches in pet food. Here’s what you need to know.
Why Do Cockroaches Eat Pet Food?
Cockroaches enjoy all different kinds of food, such as meat and grains. This means your pet’s food is the perfect sustenance for them.
An influx of
cockroaches in the house may be due to exposed pet food. The best thing you can do to prevent cockroaches is to get your pets on a feeding schedule. This way, their food isn’t left for cockroaches to munch on throughout the day.
Some people feed their pets freely. This means their dogs and cats have readily available access to food. However, cockroaches can sense food using their antennae. Since cockroaches are omnivores and scavenge for food, they’ll head right over to your pet’s food dish.
Once you establish a feeding schedule with your pets, immediately pick up their food dish and wash it. If you
use vinegar and water, you’ll disinfect their dish from germs and bacteria. And since cockroaches carry a lot of germs, this is an important step you won’t want to skip.
Bugs In Pet Food
Cockroaches can transfer a variety of germs. For example,
cockroaches carry the following diseases, possibly making you, your family, and your pets sick:
- Salmonella
- Staphylococcus
- Streptococcus
- Dysentery
- Cholera
- Typhoid Fever
The best thing you can do is invest in preventative
pest removal services. One cockroach can quickly turn into an infestation, so if you see one, take action before they multiply.
Cockroaches can also cause your pets to have
second-hand insecticide poisoning. As cockroaches crawl into your pet’s food dish, they run the risk of being ingested. If they were sprayed with insecticide, your pet may eat these chemicals.
This is why you should speak to a professional pest removal service about how you can prevent cockroaches from entering your home in the first place.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches
If you suspect cockroaches, transfer your pet’s food from the store-bought bags into plastic containers. Rubbermaid bins or Ziplock bags are best.
Don’t keep exposed food on the counter. Always cover your food and store it in the refrigerator or pantry. Clean your counters after you prep food, removing crumbs and anything else that might attract bugs. Cockroaches hate the smell of vinegar, so use this to clean your counters.
Cockroaches in Pet Food
Cockroaches in pet food can create a host of issues for you, your family, and your pets. If you see any cockroaches in your home, it’s advisable to call for professional pest removal services. Cockroaches reproduce every two months, so it won’t take long before you have an infestation on your hands.
Serene Property Services can help.
Contact us today to discuss the best pest removal plan for your home. We service Sussex County, NJ, and Warwick, NY.
