Hello friends. I have a 3-year old peach tree in the back yard that has been growing beautifully for the past couple years. It recently seems to have take a turn as of the past few weeks; the bark is completely splitting up several large main branches, and there are some dark spots here and there that are oozing sap.

I have called some local arborists, but it will be a while before anyone can come out so i wanted to reach out to you experts to see if anyone can identify the problem and perhaps offer some guidance in the meantime.

Two potential problems: there was a recent ant infestation on the tree. I wiped out the ants using a plant safe pesticide, but they have been coming back slowly. Also, a neighborhood cat has been using the flower bed under the tree as a litterbox; not sure if that could affect the tree’s health.

Thank you in advance for taking a look at this issue.