When your cat is a kitten, it will try many different foods. It sometimes starts with your cat chasing and eating a moth, house fly, or a silverfish. The cat will hunt it and probably eat it or at least try to eat some of it. As your cat grows older, he will become more selective and will probably stop eating certain insects.
Your cat might find that some insects taste better than others, and stop pursuing the less appealing bugs first. However, a cat is gonna be a cat and as you probably already know, they love to chase and hunt just about anything smaller than them that happens to catch their eye. And this unfortunately includes the intimidating-looking silverfish.
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Can Cats Eat Silverfish?
First of all, what actually is a silverfish? Simply put, the silverfish is a small wingless insect, with the name being derived from its silvery grey color and fish-like appearance. They like to live on paper and can destroy your books by chewing through them.
Your cat can eat silverfish without any major issues. Silverfish are harmless to your cat when ingested, and are most active at night. So when Silverfish are scuttling around in the evening, your cat will also be active and, thus, will probably chase them and eat them.
Do Silverfish Bite Cats?
Silverfish don’t bite or sting so they won’t hurt the cat. The silverfish eats starches and protein-rich foods, including grains, fabrics, and paper. They will also eat any stored and dried pet food, and if the cat sees them, it will usually try to hunt them. Silverfish usually live in slightly humid conditions and if you have wallpaper, they will eat and damage that as well as your books, so they should be exterminated.
Where Do Silverfish Come From?
They can be brought into the house on wood, paper, or in books, and because they love humid conditions they will thrive in a humid house. So to discourage them, use a dehumidifier because they normally don’t survive in drier air. Once they are in your house in large numbers they live for about seven years and will need to be eliminated by a professional exterminator if you have an overabundance of these household pests.
Why Do I Have Silverfish in My Home?
The silverfish are in your home mainly because of the humid conditions or because they have been introduced to your house in something like newspapers or magazines. They also love the dark and will emerge during the evening and at night. Cats are usually active in the evening, and this might be another reason your cat is drawn to the silverfish.
If you have a closed-off room or a humid basement and you keep books in that particular place, the silverfish will eat into the books and ruin them. If you have a library, it is essential to control the humidity levels. A fan heater can also help to reduce humidity. Spray the outside foundation wall of your house to prevent them from entering.
How to Get Rid of Silverfish
There are a few harmless ways of getting rid of silverfish that don’t involve using toxic chemicals.
* Roll up a damp newspaper and when they crawl in, burn the paper.
* Put out some old-fashioned sticky flypaper, and when they crawl onto it they will be stuck.
* Use cedar oil as furniture polish, this repels silverfish.
* Put Bay leaves around your house, in bowls, the oils from the bay leaves repel the silverfish.
How to Prevent Silverfish From Coming Into Your House
* Keep your home free from dust
* Lower humidity levels with a dehumidifier
* Cover up cracks and holes in your floor and walls
* Keep your house well ventilated
* Don’t leave out any firewood stored inside as this is a haven for silverfish.
* Vacuum regularly to keep food scraps off the floor.
As far as household pests go, silverfish are reasonably harmless, as long as you don’t get too many of them. So let the cat chase them if they want to, and if your cat happens to eat one of these creatures, they will most likely be just fine.
Young cats or kittens, when confined to the house, really need some cat toys to help keep them occupied. If they don’t have anything else to do they will often hunt insects, although silverfish do not present much of a challenge compared to other household bugs. By pursuing moths, birds, and insects, a cat learns its natural ability of hunting in the wild.
Usually, if they catch a silverfish, they will eat some of it and leave a few pieces of the bug laying on the floor. These particular insects are present in most older houses, but usually not in huge numbers. You would only need to hire a professional pest exterminator if you found abnormally large numbers of them in your home.
