How to treat wood borer?

[MelanieKS]

I have an upcycled solid wood table (treated) and I have owned it for 9 months. I recently noticed circular/powdery deposit at the base of two of the table legs. They look like wood borers. I have not seen any wood borer though. I would like to ask if this is indeed the work of wood borers and which is the best product top treat it? Thanks!

[JacobZ]

Hi @Upside3318,

Thank you for your question about removing wood borers from furniture legs.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of a pesticide that can be used to treat wood borers that would be immediately safe around your cat.

As you've indicated that you've recently purchased the timber legs, it's certainly possible that there are currently borers in the timber, but there is no reason to suggest their original source is around your home. I'd suggest that you can treat them, to ensure there are no live borers in the timber, then wipe the timber down to remove any potentially harmful pesticide.

My suggestion is to treat the timber using David Grays Ant and Termite Spray in an area that your cat is kept away from. Leave the timber legs in isolation for a week for the pesticide to take effect. Once the week has passed, wipe the timber down with hot soapy water to remove any residual pesticide.

Ensure you follow all instructions on the packaging and wear the relevant personal protective equipment including a mask, eye protection, gloves and protective clothing.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Upside3318]

Hi @JacobZ thanks for your reply! 
A couple of clarifications - I haven’t bought the table, I just found it on the side of the road for hard rubbish and I am considering taking the legs home to use. When I said “borers in residence,” I wasn’t referring to -my- residence; I was concluding that there were most likely critters residing in the table legs! 

If I leave the pesticide-sprayed legs in a quarantined area, and wipe down afterwards (maybe leave them in the sun for a day or two after that as well for good measure, if it happens to be sunny? Idk!)

…will it then be safe to turn them into a climbing/scratching tree for cats? 

(One of the cats in question, for the cat tax.)

[JacobZ]

Hi @Upside3318,

Thank you for the follow-up and for sharing the photo of your furry friend.

I mentioned that there are no borers around your home thinking that if there are holes in the timber, but there aren't any borers in the timber, the source of the borers is going to be a long way away, so they will not come back. 

If you were to collect the timber legs and inspect them over time and find there were no living borers, then there's no real need to treat them with anything.

If you did find borers in the legs and needed to treat them, the reality is that no treatment used to eradicate the borers is going to be completely harmless to your cat. 

You can greatly reduce the risk to your cat by using the method I've described above, but if ingested, even in trace amounts, all pesticides can be harmful.

Ultimately, the best way to keep your cats safe is to not use any hazardous chemicals on things they will come into contact with. 

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Upside3318]

Thanks again Jacob.

Is there any way to know whether there are borers or eggs etc in the wood before I bring it into my home? 

cheers

(Here’s the other cat, so she’s not left out. This is the face she made when she heard about the dangerous pesticides.)

[JacobZ]

Hi @Upside3318,

What a face she's pulling.

You could use some wire to probe the holes. If there are any borers in there, they should either be squished or disturbed enough to reveal themselves.

Let me know if there are any other questions.

Jacob