Reunited with feline family (at LAST!)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...
My babies are busily exploring their new home, and we are a family again!
I moved to Arizona on October 30th, having boarded the cats for the
previous three days to spare them the chaos of the move. We then drove
from California to Fountain Hills, spending one night in a motel. The cats
were good as gold, scarcely a peep out of them. (I think having them
share a carrier, since they are on good terms, was a great idea - they
comforted each other.) As planned, I stayed with my brother for a bit
over a week, boarding the cats at a nearby vet (He told me his complex
does not allow pets - although I suspect it was he who did not want to
share his dwelling with felines.) I moved in here (Paradise Lakes
Apartments - the address is Phoenix, but I think the area is Paradise
Valley) on November 9th, after the movers had to wait out a two hour delay
because maintenance had to clean the place "to remove the dead bugs". (I
assumed because the exterminator had been, the day before - which was true
as far as it went, and they DID remove the DEAD bugs.) However, when I
opened the dishwasher to see what kind of appliance I'd be dealing with,
it was simply SWARMING with cockroaches, all very much alive!

When I complained to the management, they said the exterminator would be
back the following, Wednesday (the 9th was Thursday). Consequently I've
been camping out, living on frozen dinners because I didn't want to unpack
my dishes and cooking utensils until they'd sprayed the cupboards. I
bought some roach spray myself, too - sprayed inside the cupboards and
have been zapping any I found crawling anywhere (mostly in the kitchen and
the bath, although none of the walls are entirely exempt). Considering my
bitter complaints, and a very strong letter I hand-delivered to the
management office, they got the exterminator out on Monday, and it has had
some effect (most of the bugs I see now are either dead or dying).
However, he was supposed to come again Wednesday and did not - that is he
did the rest of the complex but skipped me, because he'd been here Monday.
Now I have to wait until NEXT Wednesday! I can't really blame the
management, judging by the varying sizes (from tiny hatchlings to
inch-and-a-half-long great-grandfathers) the problem has existed for some
time, and the former tenants apparently said nothing (just put a few roach
traps in the clothes closets). Apparently they also ignored the fact that
the kitchen sink drainpipes were leaking like a sieve - every time I ran
water in the sink, I found water on the floor, and you can see where there
is long-term water damage on the bottom of the cabinet under the sink.
THAT got fixed within two days, but the roaches are still with us. I was
supposed to pick the cats up last Saturday, but didn't want them around
when the exterminator came, so arranged to board them until today (at $13
per day per cat). Today the office suggested that, since the problem was
so bad, they should fog the place on Wednesday! I told them that was
simply not an option, since I'd already incurred more expense than planned
in boarding the cats to allow them time to deal with the problem this past
week.

In the past, I had excellent results with ant problems when I used a
shelf-paper called "No Bugs M'lady" (which was supposed to deal with
roaches, too, and used to be available in any grocery store). I discover
that now I must special order it on the internet, it's a lot more
expensive than it was, and will take nearly two weeks until delivery.
It's worth it, IMO, but in the meantime, what do I do with all the stuff I
haven't unpacked? (More to the point, how do I cope, when I've no idea
where anything IS?)

Well, at least I have my babies with me again, and they seem to be
adjusting well, so far. (But we wouldn't refuse a few purrs.) It's really
a nice apartment, part of a complex of 1200 units, with swimming pools and
exercise rooms, a recreation building, and various community activities.
I expect we'll be happy here, but I'll be lucky if I have things in order
by Christmas, never mind Thanksgiving!

Anyway, thought I should post an update, and let you all know I am now
living in Arizona instead of California.

Evelyn

Sorry about the roaches Evelyn, I know how you feel - we had an ant
investation a few years ago. Hope you and the kitties are now settling in.
I am sure you will all love your new place, after all, roaches etc. can be
disposed of Hope you will post how you get on.

Purrs,

Bev

I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how it's spelled).
It's not supposed to be toxic, although it can't be good for the kitties in
large doses. I simply closed the kitchen and ate out for a week and put it
all over the countertops, floors everything. No more roaches.

It's 98% boric acid. Boron in high doses can cause kidney damage, but
it's pretty low-rosk as poisons go.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how
it's spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it
can't be good for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed
the kitchen and ate out for a week and put it all over the
countertops, floors everything. No more roaches.

It's 98% boric acid. Boron in high doses can cause kidney
damage, but it's pretty low-rosk as poisons go.

Boron is actually a macronutrient, like calcium and phosphorus and
the like. Of course, as with anything -- even water -- you can
overdose if you try hard enough. To mammals, boric acid is about
as toxic as table salt or baking soda, and is used as a topical
antiseptic or (very diluted) as an eye wash. Don't go snorting it,
but don't worry if you or the cats accidentally sniff some of the
airborn powder.

Boric acid works fantastically for roaches -- but not
instantly. The powder clings to their body hairs and causes fatal
chemical burns. It also does nasty things to them when they ingest
it (when they groom themselves and each other) and when they
inhale it. I imagine finely powdered salt might have a similar
effect.

But...it won't happen overnight. It'll take a few days, but it'll
last practically forever, or until you vacuum it up.

If you and your neighbors are reasonably clean, the roaches won't
have any incentive to come back. The one or two explorers who
might wander into your place out of desperation won't have much
luck, either, now that you've got a number of avid insectivores in
the place. Make it clear to the cats that they get super-extra
bonus points for each roach they dispense with, and you might not
ever actually see one again.

Cheers,

b&

--
EAC Memographer
BAAWA Knight of Blasphemy
``All but God can prove this sentence true.''

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EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

tension_on_the_wire wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

I guess they just do things differently in California.

Arizona.
--tension


Sorry, got it backwards but still.... I'd be worrying about living
in that place.

You think I'm NOT???? I'd have been happy with a mobile
home park, but my brother is more upscale (at least he DID
pay attention to what I told him was the maximum I felt I
could AFFORD - including tax, pet rent, and the other extras.)

Didn't mean to imply you weren't concerned, but you did say it's a very nice
apartment and then listed the other amenities in the complex. So it sort of
sounded like you thought it was great! Mea Culpa.

Jill

Ollie via CatKB.com wrote:
I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how it's
spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it can't be good
for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed the kitchen and ate
out for a week and put it all over the countertops, floors
everything. No more roaches.

Sounds like a good suggestion. But I don't have any way to close off my
kitchen. (sigh) This time of year in Tennessee, when the temperatures drop,
the BIG roaches outside (akin to Palmetto bugs) tend to find their way
inside. In the last two weeks I've spotted 4-5 of them in my kitchen, and I
just know there have to be more! I'm absolutely and irrationally terrified
of these bugs simply because they are so GROSS! After reheating a small pan
of stew I unthinkingly left it uncovered on the stove for a bit. Came back
into the kitchen and a roach the size of a small trailer was eating what was
left in the pan. EWWWWWW! So what can I do to get rid of any other
interlopers? Maybe set some of those Roach Motel things around?

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

Didn't mean to imply you weren't concerned, but you did say it's a very nice
apartment and then listed the other amenities in the complex. So it sort of
sounded like you thought it was great! Mea Culpa.

Oh, I do - it's just that I'd have been perfectly satisfied
with fewer amenities and more cleanliness. (New carpet is
lovely, but I suspect they laid it OVER the roaches.) I
think the exterminator's efforts are paying off - the live
roaches I'm seeing now seem to be small recent hatchlings,
not the enormous elderly ones I was encountering last week.
(But Monday I make sure the office knows I expect a WEEKLY
exterminator visit until they are ALL gone.) There's a
boric acid jell they use when one has resident pets, but
with such a heavy infestation, I think a few follow-ups are
indicated.


Jill

jmcquown wrote:

Ollie via CatKB.com wrote:

I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how it's
spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it can't be good
for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed the kitchen and ate
out for a week and put it all over the countertops, floors
everything. No more roaches.


Sounds like a good suggestion. But I don't have any way to close off my
kitchen. (sigh) This time of year in Tennessee, when the temperatures drop,
the BIG roaches outside (akin to Palmetto bugs) tend to find their way
inside. In the last two weeks I've spotted 4-5 of them in my kitchen, and I
just know there have to be more! I'm absolutely and irrationally terrified
of these bugs simply because they are so GROSS!

We got those in California a lot in the summer, too. Some
people think they're "water bugs", bug actually they are
oriental roaches - more seasonal than the standard variety,
and generally come in from outside, don't breed in your
walls. However, that doesn't make it any less alarming when
you come home late, turn on a light, and these ENORMOUS
critters scatter in all directions! (They are so big that,
if you step on one, you can actually FEEL the lump under the
sole of your shoe!)

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

Ollie via CatKB.com wrote:

I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how it's
spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it can't be good
for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed the kitchen and ate
out for a week and put it all over the countertops, floors
everything. No more roaches.


Sounds like a good suggestion. But I don't have any way to close
off my kitchen. (sigh) This time of year in Tennessee, when the
temperatures drop, the BIG roaches outside (akin to Palmetto bugs)
tend to find their way inside. In the last two weeks I've spotted
4-5 of them in my kitchen, and I just know there have to be more!
I'm absolutely and irrationally terrified of these bugs simply
because they are so GROSS!

We got those in California a lot in the summer, too. Some
people think they're "water bugs", bug actually they are
oriental roaches - more seasonal than the standard variety,
and generally come in from outside, don't breed in your
walls.

Exactly. These aren't NYC cockroaches, either. They are tree-roaches.
Palmetto bugs, in the south.

However, that doesn't make it any less alarming when
you come home late, turn on a light, and these ENORMOUS
critters scatter in all directions! (They are so big that,
if you step on one, you can actually FEEL the lump under the
sole of your shoe!)

Yeah, they are gross! And when one rushes at me because I've turned on the
light (they don't run from it, they dash rather quickly in my direction!) I
scream! But how can I get rid of them?? It's not an infestation but if
they find a nice warm place during the winter there will be more, I don't
doubt it. I have montly pest control at my apartment but they can't spray
inside because of my bird. They do spray all around the outside.

I can't afford to live in a motel for a week with Persia and Peaches and set
off a bug bomb, even assuming I could get my landlord to agree to that.
It's not that I'm overrun (at least I hope not!) But I did find one
floating in Persia's water fountain last month, I suppose it was thirsty and
fell in and didn't know how to swim). What am I to do? I'm starting to be
afraid to go into my kitchen and you all know how I love to cook.

Jill

On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:35:03 -0700, Ben Goren
wrote:

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how
it's spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it
can't be good for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed
the kitchen and ate out for a week and put it all over the
countertops, floors everything. No more roaches.

It's 98% boric acid. Boron in high doses can cause kidney
damage, but it's pretty low-rosk as poisons go.

Boron is actually a macronutrient, like calcium and phosphorus and
the like. Of course, as with anything -- even water -- you can
overdose if you try hard enough. To mammals, boric acid is about
as toxic as table salt or baking soda, and is used as a topical
antiseptic or (very diluted) as an eye wash. Don't go snorting it,
but don't worry if you or the cats accidentally sniff some of the
airborn powder.

Boric acid works fantastically for roaches -- but not
instantly. The powder clings to their body hairs and causes fatal
chemical burns. It also does nasty things to them when they ingest
it (when they groom themselves and each other) and when they
inhale it. I imagine finely powdered salt might have a similar
effect.

But...it won't happen overnight. It'll take a few days, but it'll
last practically forever, or until you vacuum it up.

If you and your neighbors are reasonably clean, the roaches won't
have any incentive to come back. The one or two explorers who
might wander into your place out of desperation won't have much
luck, either, now that you've got a number of avid insectivores in
the place. Make it clear to the cats that they get super-extra
bonus points for each roach they dispense with, and you might not
ever actually see one again.

When I bought my house, almost 15 years ago, I had a roach problem in
the kitchen. The house had been unoccupied for several months, and I
suspect that the previous owners might have accidentally left some
garbage or foodstuffs behind for a while (although there was no sign
of such when I moved in). I put out roach bait, and within a few
weeks there were no longer any roaches to be found. Since then, I
haven't had any problems, except for the occasional lone roach that
wanders in through an open door in the summer time. So, you should be
able to bring the problem under control.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:35:35 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Ollie via CatKB.com wrote:
I've had real good luck with Roach Pruff (I think that's how it's
spelled). It's not supposed to be toxic, although it can't be good
for the kitties in large doses. I simply closed the kitchen and ate
out for a week and put it all over the countertops, floors
everything. No more roaches.

Sounds like a good suggestion. But I don't have any way to close off my
kitchen. (sigh) This time of year in Tennessee, when the temperatures drop,
the BIG roaches outside (akin to Palmetto bugs) tend to find their way
inside. In the last two weeks I've spotted 4-5 of them in my kitchen, and I
just know there have to be more! I'm absolutely and irrationally terrified
of these bugs simply because they are so GROSS! After reheating a small pan
of stew I unthinkingly left it uncovered on the stove for a bit. Came back
into the kitchen and a roach the size of a small trailer was eating what was
left in the pan. EWWWWWW! So what can I do to get rid of any other
interlopers? Maybe set some of those Roach Motel things around?

That should work. I would suggest getting one of the varieties that
have sticky patches on the back of the "roach motels", so that they
don't become cat toys.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria