Rhino wrote:
I've got a problem in my new apartment (which is in an old building)
with respect to bugs and am looking for some way of eliminating them
that won't harm my two senior cats.

I don't know much about bugs and don't know what these particular
critters are. They are very small and never seem to get much larger.
They seem to both hop and fly and they seem to like my cats' litter
box and places with a bit of water.

Is there any chance that they might have arrived in the litter
itself? I changed to a cheaper gravel litter when I moved in and the
first place I noticed them was in the litter. But I've also
mistakenly received an Orkin bill that should have gone to the
property management company so it's very possible that bugs have been
present for a while.
Please note that I'm open to anything that might chase these bugs out
as long as it is safe for the cats so it could be a spray or a solid
or anything else as far as I'm concerned.

Am I going to need to catch one of these things and take it to a bug
scientist (entomologist) to get its species determined? Or is there
only a very narrow list of things it can be that all respond to the
same deterrent?

My wife uses vinegar to get rid of our aqnts, but I don't know if it would
annoy other insects or not. It is safe, and she puts it in a a spray bottle
and sprays under the sink and other places where the ants get in. Bugs
usually get through holes where the water pipes go through the wall, so if
you can seal off these places, you might be able to prevent them from
entering your apartment.