What is biting me (with pics)

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Last night i noticed the bite on my arm and when I woke up this morning I also had one on my hip. I now have another one on the elbow of the same arm and last week I had one on my shin. Very very itchy, they are like raised white lumps and the surrounding area is red from scratching. Please don't say bed bugs

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Or could they be heat spots? I've had my heating on a lot but never been a problem before.

[Crazyladee]

Have you got a dog or cat? I had similar lumps and put it down to flea bites.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

I have an indoor kitten, she was wormed at the vets last week but I can't remember if she was given flea treatment. I don't think she was so this did cross my mind but no one else is effected. I've noticed a tiny black fly in my living room twice today so wondering if this is the culprit (or one of many culprits ).

[ThunderOnlyHappens]

I'd create a flea trap (google is your friend here), and flea comb your cat. Fleas can come in on shoes I think.

[Seeline]

I react like that to fleas and mosquitos.

My DS is being eaten alive by mozzies ATM - he reacts really badly.

I reckon that all people get bitten, but only some react and therefore notice the bites. In my family DS and I suffer, DD occasionally gets a little itchy pimple, DH doesn't react at all.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

I'm going to order a flea comb. Will using this show the fleas the way a nit comb does to confirm if this is the problem? Will I be able to see any fleas if I have a look through her fur?

I thought maybe midge bite. Its warm and damp here so it is a possibility. When I was younger I was always reacted quite badly to midge bites so it could be that.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Should mention cat has a scab in her ear if that makes any difference??

[Crazyladee]

no one else was affected

OP I was literally eaten alive with flea bites not so long ago. Every day I would wake up to new bites. It was horrible as they itched like crazy. No one else in the family had even one. I have two dogs who are regularly de-flead.

I did a bit of research and ordered some Indorex from amazon. Sprayed it all over the house.

I also got a different flea treatment from the vets as even the prescription only flea treatments can stop working as they lose their effectiveness over time.

Touch wood the fleas have all gone.

[ASnowballsChance]

Easy way to check if your kitten has fleas - the wet paper test. Soak a piece of white paper under the tap, hold kitten over it and roughly brush fur back and forth to get any bits off the coat onto the paper. If you have any dark bits that smear brown/red then it's flea dirt and kitten has fleas.

FWIW, I'm a vet nurse and I'm pretty certain they are flea bites.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Thank you both. Not what I wanted to hear but still, thank you

I will do the paper flea test tomorrow. Are flea treatment sprays safe to use with children in the house?

[BigSexyCrimeUnit]

Indorex is excellent for your house and get some proper flea treatment from the vets, not off the shelf.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Thank you I will do this. I've woke up with another note on the same arm that's 3 in one areas and it's starting to hurt

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Bite not note! Have tried to do the flea test with wet paper but no hair was falling on to the paper all though I did get this. Could easily be a crumb though

[Crazyladee]

Flea bites are notorious for appearing in clusters.

If I were you I would assume flea bites even if you're not 100% sure. Get some indorex off amazon (cheaper than from the vets) and some decent prescription only flea treatment from the vets.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

I'm looking at Indorex at the moment. It says to spray all beds, sofas and carpets. Does a can go a long way? £15 is a lot of money to me so don't particularly want to have to buy 2 although I will if necessary.

[Crazyladee]

Yes you should only need one can. We have a 4 bedroom house (and 2 dog beds, blankets etc) and still have some left in the can.

[Crazyladee]

Germolene or neat tea tree oil best for soothing the bites

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Thank you that's really helpful I'll go look out the germolene. Spoke to the vet and they won't prescribe a flea treatment without doing a full health check (she had one a fortnight ago when she was neutered ). So £37 for consultation and then flea treatment on top of that. Any recommendations for an over the counter treatment? I know I sound really irresosonsible but I'm not really in a position to pay that right at this moment although I will if I have no other option.

[Crazyladee]

I'm not sure about cats but I've used front line before for my dogs. You could try that. Think it's available in tescos/asda pharmacy.

[Crazyladee]

That's madness what your vets have said by the way.

[TheRedBarrows]

I thought the problem with cat fleas is that they don’t live in the cat but in crevices near the cat’s favourite places. And if new fleas hatch and can’t feed on the cat they will feed on the next best thing: you.

I would spray and fumigate as well as treat the cat.

Could also be midge bites.

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Crazyladee thank you I will have a look. And do you think so? I was made to feel really guilty on the phone and have been feeling crap all morning but I just can't afford to pay £37 for them to check her for fleas when it could be something else.

TheRedBarrows I noticed a lot of midges in the garden last night so I'm wondering if it's that. Although a vet nurse posted further up the thread saying it looks like flea bites.

Oh and also the vet I spoke to on the phone said it will take months for me to get rid of the fleas

[kissmelittleass]

We had terrible fleas here for months last year all through the summer they were a nightmare to get rid of😔 I had to get treatment twice from the vet as the first lot didn't work it was very costly especially as I had two cats, one of which was a indoor cat at the time a kitten.
I had to hoover every nook and cranny literally through the whole house, strip all beds every few days and hot wash the bedding, hoover mattresses, settees ,carpet it was a nightmare and a lot of hard work. It sorry to say but did take months, we were bitten all over even on the belly, dd even had bite marks on her face!
The bites were always in a line 3/4 marks together, yours look a bit different to me but probably flea bites all the same.
The house never looked so clean and I was skint!! It has to be done though if you have fleas absolute nightmare

[Crazyladee]

OP don't feel bad. If you haven't got the money to pay for expensive flea treatments, you haven't got the money. I don't know why they cant give you prescription flea treatment if they only recently saw your cat for a health check? I presume they would have weighed your cat as flea treatments are sold based on weight.

It won't necessarily take months at all. I dont know why your vets are being so negative. We sorted it after one application of Indorex and a bit of work in terms of boil washing. You have to make sure you spray it on skirting boards, everywhere you can think of where your cat likes to sleep etc. And we boil washed all the dogs beds, bedding and all our own bedding. I emptied our hoover and washed all filters in hot soapy water too.
Good luck

[PivotPivotPivottt]

Kiss this is what I'm stressed about the thought of having to do all that. I'm gutted as I've just got a new sofa and living room carpet so hate to thing of the being infested .

Crazyladee thank you so much your advice has been really helpful and made me feel a lot better. I am going to treat it as fleas but still remain hopeful that it's midges!