With many bugs, such as mosquitos, carrying diseases and being potentially harmful to both you and your dog, that raises many questions about you and your dog’s safety around them. One of these is a drain fly. Are drain flies harmful to dogs?
No, drain flies are not harmful to dogs since they do not carry diseases or infections. Unlike other bugs, drain flies don’t bite or sting. This means they pose less of a threat to dogs and are less likely to harm them in any way. The only thing they can do to dogs is pester them with their presence.
The rest of this article will cover why drain flies aren’t harmful, what to do if your dog eats one, how to get rid of them, and what to use to stop drain flies.
Why Drain Flies Aren’t Harmful To Dogs
Drain flies primarily focus on the decay in your drains. It’s rare they’ll ever come after food in your kitchen, so you won’t see them often. And that’s without mentioning this: drain flies can’t actually fly that well.
Contrary to the name ‘fly,’ drain flies aren’t great flyers. They hop from place to place more than they’ll use their wings, so that’s why they stay in drains rather than coming out to see the rest of the house. The only downside to this is that they lay their larvae down your drain.
If your dog sees a drain fly, it’s possible it will bother them by hopping around. Just like how a flying bug will catch your dog’s attention, a hopping one will too. Since they’re a nuisance to both you and your dog, it’s best to get rid of drain flies as soon as possible.
What To Do If Your Dog Eats A Drain Fly
If your dog eats a drain fly, the first step is to remain calm. Don’t panic since that will lead to rash actions that won’t help you or your dog. While your dog eating a drain fly isn’t the worst thing in the world, it isn’t ideal either.
The worst of it will be the potential bacteria the drain fly consumed. It would be like if your dog licked a drain. While it won’t seriously injure your dog or cause any lasting health issues, the bacteria can weaken their immune system and cause filth to get into their digestive system.
This will wash out on its own; it’s like a form of food poisoning for the dog. It sucks, and it won’t be fun, but it isn’t something to run to the vet over unless your dog is showing other signs of infection, and the signs won’t go away (i.e., vomiting, fatigue, trouble walking).
How To Get Rid Of Drain Flies
To get rid of drain flies, you can use a natural method, or you can get chemicals. A natural method would be cleaning the pipes. This may sound gross, but to drain flies, you’re removing their source of food (bacteria). When the food is removed, they’ll start departing or dying.
You can also utilize bleach and boiling water when cleaning the pipes to kill additional drain flies. If you’re looking for a quick and easy fix where you don’t have to do any scrubbing, there are various drain gels you can purchase to chase the flies away.
What To Use To Stop Drain Flies
From your local Target or Walmart, buy a drain gel that works for you. Or, you can buy them off Amazon. A good brand to use would be InVade Gel since it doesn’t contain chemicals harmful to humans; therefore, it can be used on all types of drains, such as kitchen and shower drains.
InVade Gel you can buy in different sizes on Amazon or at your local Target and Walmart.
Recap
Drain flies aren’t harmful to dogs since they don’t carry diseases. They don’t bite or sting; therefore, they can’t harm your dog. The worst they can do is pester your dog and you by hopping around the kitchen or whichever room the drain they’re in resides.
In rare cases where the drain flies are near your dog, your dog may eat them. In which case, there’s nothing you can really do except get rid of the drain flies as soon as possible. The bacteria the flies eat may cause stomach issues, but otherwise, your dog will be fine.
Lastly, there are natural and chemical methods you can use to get rid of drain flies. The first is natural, and although there are many natural ways, the most effective way is cleaning the drain with bleach or boiling water. Or, you can buy drain gel and clean your drain that way.