[Nammu]

I've lived here for a long time, Sir and I have our routines now and I'm at lost with what to do. I've never had a bug problem here before but the weather is very hot and muggy so that might be why we have these uninvited guests.

To start a bit of background. Sir is a British short-hair(big cat 18lbs) rescue cat, when he first came home with me he was acting like he has PTSD, had to be next to me at all times, he would cower whenever someone was at the door or I got ready to leave by the door( I can leave the door wide open while bringing things in and he will not go near it-won't go out on the deck either unless I'm out there). He would scarf his food then throw it up so I started feeding him tiny tiny amounts, when he finished gulping it I would wait a few minutes and give him some more, he got to the place where he understood there would always be food and I wasn't going to hit him for cat behavior and he started eating at a slower pace and relaxing. Somehow that evolved into my giving him a paper plate to cover his wet food when he was done.
I only give him a tablespoon or so of the wet food at a time(he also has high quality dry he nibbles on) he never eats all of it but covers it with the paper plate and comes back later to finish it.

Heres the problem; we seem to have a swam of tiny little annoying flies that moved in with us uninvited. If I let him cover his wet food they will start gathering under there and I don't like any bugs inside my living space.

I need to make sure Sir gets enough food(he is a big guy) and don't want his food issue to come back but I need to get rid of these little flies. He loves his wet food and knows when it is time for his wet food he doesn't eat a lot so I don't want to deprive him. What to do?

[lizardlady]

I'm stumped Sidestepper. Could you pick up whatever he doesn't eat, then give it to him later? Hopefully the problem won't last too long. The little blighters have a short life span. Hopefully they will die off quickly.

This is inside right? Chances are very good they are either fruit flies or drain flies9. Either can be a pain in the *** to eradicate.
Drain flies ... I think I had them once and cleaned the drains out very thoroughly. Fruit flies are a little easier because they pretty much die off without much help. You may have to give up fresh fruit for a few days
Hope you can get rid of them soon. I wonder what that poor cat went through before you brought him home.

[Maven]

I think liz has a good idea. Perhaps another idea is to get a hard plastic dinner tray cover, and when Sir covers his food, you could put the plastic cover over it (if the paper plate is in the way, just take it away and then cover the food), and hopefully, that will seal out the smell and the flies will finally go away. I sympathize with you...I don't like bugs much. I mean, I don't like to kill them--I respect them as animals--but better that than have an infestation. I like them in other ways (some are quite interesting and even pretty), but most bugs, I prefer to watch on TV or read about in a book or online. Butterflies would be nice. Why doesn't anyone ever get an infestation of butterflies?

[Nammu]

Thanks guys!

I like the idea about a dinner plate cover, of course Sir will probably try to take it off himself but I can try that.

George I haven't cleaned my kitchen drain in a while thanks for the reminder, it has a disposal so I like to take out that rubber thing and wash the underside then put baking soda down. I can't recall the last time I did that. No fresh fruit, gak! Guess I could store it in the frig?

I've often wondered what my guy went though in his life, wish he could tell me. It makes me so happy to watch him when he plays with his toys. My daughter emailed me that she'll be happy to take him if I can't find a place that accepts pets when I move and my sister (a bonafide dog only lover) was taken w/ him. He is rather dog(spell it backward ) like. Loves traveling in the car.

[Nammu]

George thanks for the reminder about sinks! That was where they were from, they are gone and Sir is back to his paper plates.

Yippy... we both won out battles with insects Sir must be happy to have things the customary way