Is pest control safe for my cats and dogs?

It can be, with care. Many household treatments can be used in a home with cats and dogs when the label is followed and the product sits where pets cannot get to it. The risk comes from a pet eating bait, walking through a wet surface or licking product off its fur. So the plan is about placement and timing. You do not have to choose between your pets and getting rid of the bugs.

Worrying about the cats is the right instinct. It just means a few more questions before anything goes down.

What to ask a pest company before they come

1. Tell them every animal in the home. Cats and dogs, and also fish, birds, reptiles and small pets in cages. A method that suits one may not suit another.
2. Ask for the product names and labels before the visit. Or the safety sheets. Read the lines about animals yourself.
3. Ask how long pets stay out, and of which rooms. The answer comes from the label, so ask for it in writing.
4. Ask for bait instead of spray in the rooms your pets use most. For cockroaches and ants, bait in cracks is often the main tool anyway.
5. Ask what to do with bowls, beds, litter trays, toys and fish tanks. Move them, cover them or wash them afterwards: they should tell you which.

A good technician will be glad you asked. If they cannot tell you what they are using, that tells you something about whether to book them.

Doing it yourself: where pets cannot reach

For the German cockroach, the usual plan is gel bait in small dots plus an insect growth regulator. For ants, it is bait the workers carry back to the nest. Both work best where the insects travel, and that is often where pets are not.

• Gel bait: inside cracks, along cupboard hinges, behind the fridge and cooker, under the sink behind a closed door. Small dots, not smears. A dot tucked into a hinge gap is hard for a nose to reach.
• Bait stations: slide them under or behind heavy things, like the fridge, the washing machine or a fixed kickboard. Plastic is not dog-proof. A dog that finds a station can chew it open.
• High is not out of reach for a cat. A cat on the worktop gets to the back of it. Inside a closed cupboard works better than on top of one.
• Monitor traps have no poison, but the glue sticks to fur and whiskers. Same rule: behind and under.

Follow the label on every product, including where it says not to put it. With a baby in the house as well, see cockroach treatment with a baby. For ants, ant bait with babies and pets covers placement room by room.

What to leave out with pets at home

• Foggers and bug bombs. They fill the air and settle on every surface, pet beds and bowls included, and they miss insects hiding inside walls. More in do cockroach foggers work.
• Loose powders on open floors, including natural ones like diatomaceous earth. Fur collects dust, and cats clean it off with their tongues.
• Sprays on floors, rugs or furniture your pets use, unless the label covers it and you can keep them off for as long as it says.
• Any product whose label asks for something you cannot do at home. If it says keep animals away and you have nowhere to put them, skip that product.
• Poison for mice or rats. We do not recommend it at all. See rat poison with pets for what to do instead.

If your pet eats bait or licks a treated surface: call your vet straight away, even if your pet seems fine. Have the packaging or a photo of the label ready to read to them. If you cannot reach your own vet, call an emergency vet where you live.

After a treatment

• Keep pets out of treated rooms for as long as the label or the technician says. Not a guess.
• Wash bowls and put down fresh water before they come back. Keep pet food in a closed container from now on: it is cockroach food too.
• Leave the bait and treated cracks alone. Clean where your pets eat and sleep, not where the product went.
• Watch where they sniff. If a cat keeps going for one spot behind the cooker, move the bait deeper in, or into a place it cannot reach.

When to get more help

Ask your vet before any treatment if a pet is old, pregnant, unwell or on medication. They know the animal, and they can read the label with you.

If the cockroaches come from next door, treating only your flat often does not hold. Ask the landlord or building manager in writing to treat the building, and include the list of animals in your home so they use pet-safe placement. See cockroaches from the neighbours. Our safety page sets out how we handle kids, pets and labels.