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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to be going crazy trying to find what is biting us?

32 replies

slugjelly · 09/09/2026 21:06

Please help me work out what is biting us. I had a few but now it’s relentlessly going for my DD. Victorian house (with cracks for spiders etc but renovation and no one living here for years before that), first winter we’ve lived in it. One cat who is up to date on flea treatments. No recent weird sleepovers or holidays. It only started this past week or so. Could it be spiders? I have been round the house doing everything I can but still it comes. (Tonight new spider traps and sealant everywhere though)

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Elieza · 10/09/2026 07:51

we (the cat and i) got fleas and ticks from foxes in the garden. the cat hadn’t been flea treated so i started on non vet flea treatment (advantage). after a couple of months the problem was gettimg worse so off to the vet for prescription strength nextguard combo.

i hate to tell you but it didn't work. im still being bitten. i have no idea how, but i just keep hoovering everywhere and it does make a difference, but it’s still happening.

look in the bed and inside dd’s pj’s - even lift the mattress up and see if you can see anything suspicious, dead or alive. grains of things that look like white rice, or black dots.

i am reluctant to spray the special spray stuff everywhere as it cannot be good for us but will have to soon if it doesn’t stop.

Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 23:20

I have a cat who is flea treated every few months. I thought flea were smaller than that? Our house is surrounded by foxes too so maybe it was off one of them that came into the house.

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Shinyandnew1 · 09/09/2026 23:17

They look rather like a flea that’s got inside bedclothes/bedding. Do you have pets?

Coffeeisnecessary · 09/09/2026 23:11

We've had loads of mozzie bites since the rain, hadn't had any before now we are all covered in bites and keep getting woken up by them buzzing around!

Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 23:07

Oh god chiggers! I forgot about this last year. My partner works on a country estate so that may be the culprit.

I remember us joking last year that Chiggers sounds like your friend’s horrible new man who went to Eton. Wears funny little boat shoes and has a big red face.

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Shedmistress · 09/09/2026 22:44

Yes harvest mites. Esp around the knees. I have loads at the moment.

FairlyOddmother · 09/09/2026 22:39

Chiggers (Harvest mites?)... 'tis the season

RemindMeIn15Minutes · 09/09/2026 22:30

Do they hurt or just itch?

Keroppi · 09/09/2026 22:19

Indorex everywhere too and go out for a few hours after
Diatomaceous earth is harmless to us just don't breathe loads in like don't shake it and make a cloud form

Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 22:19

These

AIBU to be going crazy trying to find what is biting us?
OP posts:
Keroppi · 09/09/2026 22:18

Diatomaceous earth - sprinkle it in cracks, round skirting boards etc
Shreds all bug exoskeleton
Have you had the heating on as flea eggs can lay dormant & wake up when warm enough. This happened to me in a rental after I moved in

RemindMeIn15Minutes · 09/09/2026 22:16

BabyCat2020z · 09/09/2026 21:12

Do you have indoors plants? I kept getting bitten the other year around this time and it was horrible little black fly things on indoor pot plants.

I think this is happening to me! I didn’t realise they were vampire flies!

NigellaAwesome · 09/09/2026 22:16

If you can move out for a couple of days an ozone machine will get rid of whatever it is. Just make sure you stay out of the house as it is hugely toxic to all living organisms before it dissipates.

Cheesychips38 · 09/09/2026 22:11

Me and my daughter are the same, turns out half my street are getting bitten too by mosquitoes!! We have fields and water right behind us and it's constant!! They are so so itchy 😭

NippyNinjaCrab · 09/09/2026 22:05

Bat bugs, my next door neighbours had them. They had bats in the eaves and now the bats are gone the bat bugs have no food. The feed on human blood but don't last long on human blood. They look similar to a bed bug apparently.

RedSoloCup · 09/09/2026 22:04

Need a picture!

BizzyLizzyandLittleMo · 09/09/2026 21:56

Are the bites in clusters or ones on their own. Try posting a picture again

Jadedmoorhen · 09/09/2026 21:55

Harvest mites
(chiggers) ?

Calendulaaria · 09/09/2026 21:53

Bed bugs?

Takersgonnatake · 09/09/2026 21:48

Fleas can lie dormant in carpets for years and wake up to feast when cats/dogs/people move in. I’d go to the vets and buy a big can of indorex or similar. Blitz the house and sleep elsewhere for the night if you can!

Letsgocamping67 · 09/09/2026 21:47

Is your cat on a vet treatment ? And if it’s the back of the neck job they have largely stopped working apparently. We have had to go on a tablet instead think it’s credelio. Paying for a plan which wasn’t working.

Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 21:43

I uploaded a pic but I don’t think it worked.

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Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 21:43

They were on my inside knee and now on my daughters torso

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TGT · 09/09/2026 21:38

Where are the bites? Fleas tend to be round your ankles.

Original poster
slugjelly · 09/09/2026 21:38

Also, can anyone recognise the bites?

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