Flea misery!

[Whichoneisbest]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of flea infestations in pet free homes??

We moved into our house almost 3 years ago and inherited a flea problem. I have sprayed, hoovered and sprayed and hoovered like crazy woman but only seem to have succeeded in temporarily solving the problem.

This summer is the worst it’s ever been, I am covered in bites and the spray just doesn’t seem to be doing anything. We’ve spent £300 on getting Rentokil in next week which is going to be a huge hassle with a 6 month old but anyway, I feel we have no choice.

My question is, how is this still going on after 3 years with no animals in the house? There seems to have been an explosion in them this week, they are everywhere in rooms where previously we had no problems. How is this possible? We have a childminder who has dogs could she be bringing them in on her clothes? Or are the fleas continually laying eggs even without an animal to feed off of?

I just want to understand so we can make sure we don’t keep getting re infested!

Did you buy the carpets and curtains from previous owners?

The upstairs carpets were here when we moved in but curtains, sofas etc were all ours. Ironically the problem now seems worse downstairs which is hardwood floors

That does sound odd in a pet free home after such a long time. Are you 100% sure it's fleas you're dealing with and not something else?

Indorex spray is the best - recommended by all cat people I know - and stops the flea life cycle.

Yes it’s definitely fleas sadly as I’ve seen them and caught some in the sticky heat lamp traps boak!

I’ve used indorex and acclaim! Honestly could cry with it at the moment, I’ve got a family wedding in a week and I look like a stray dog

I just don’t understand how they’re still hatching out after this long and why he’s getting worse! Can I treat myself with frontline?? Thankfully they seem to prefer me as none of the kids are being eaten.

If I understand it, flea eggs can effectively hibernate for a period and then hatch out. The eggs of one batch don't all become fleas at the same time. Plus the eggs, as opposed to the fleas themselves, are really hard to vac up as they stick to carpet fibres etc.

Get a pet. I know it sounds counter productive, but the fleas will jump on the host and you can treat them easier.

Did you re wallpaper? The eggs can live in all sorts of tiny nooks and crannies for ages.

My ex-MIL had a terrible time with a flat she moved into. It was awful.

Have you got mice? Friends of mine didn't realise until they had a flea problem.

Very strange for it to have gone on for so long. I've delt with 2 bad flea infestations, one before I knew how crap some flea products are, and one when I moved into my current home a year ago and the previous tenant hadn't bothered looking after their cat properly. I seem to attract them too, I get bitten loads but haven't been bitten in a couple of months now.

The eggs shouldn't be able to lie dormant for more than about 9 months. They must be feeding on something. Perhaps they aren't the same fleas as live off cats and dogs. Could they be mouse fleas?

I'm sorry but I would also say mouse fleas. We didn't realise we had mice, no clues or anything till one of cats managed to get under the cupboard and bought out a mouse, mouse was dead but the fleas were jumping, it also explained why we had been dealing with fleas for so long, everytime we thought we had gotten rid of them, after a couple of weeks to a month we would suddenly find them again

Uh oh, mouse fleas?? What fresh hell is this! Ok well at least that would explain it, I’m going to clean out the cupboards tomorrow and look for evidence.
Where can mice hide that I should check?

I've never had to deal with mice but I think I'd start with a mousetrap, in whatever room you think is the worst for fleas.

You can get humane mouse traps if you prefer. (Although if they're out of sight you need to remember to check them regularly, else they become considerably less humane!)

Indorex will do the job. However it doesn't kill the ones in the pupae life stage so doing it twice is a good idea.

You need to spray every nook and cranny.

If you still get bitten, do it again.

I promise it works. I have 3 cats and a dog and don't need to treat the pets because the indorex keeps them under control.

This diagram hopefully will clarify things a bit.

You must've had fleas in the house when you moved in.

Because you don't have pets, they're biting you. Humans aren't a flea's preferred meal but they'll bite humans if there's a massive infestation and / or no pets around.

June if you treated the pets properly you wouldn’t have the house problem!

I also think it’s a long time to still be seeing fleas hatching out, they must be getting in somehow. As pp have said household sprays won’t kill the pulse but 3 years is a bit ridiculous. Good luck!!

No what I'm saying is I don't treat the pets every month. The issue is the environment- if you use indorex every 9 months or so, you don't need to treat pets every month.

(Worms and other internal parasites and ticks obviously need to be treated appropriately)

Yes. We have two cats and when we came back from holiday last year we had loads. I think because the cats had been away and they had nothing to jump on. We had wooden floors too. And we were treating the cats with the proper stuff from the vets every single month, it just doesn't seem to work as well as it used to.

We moved 😬

Actually we did get rid of them ourselves with heavy duty spray from a specialist shop, Hoovering twice a day. If you put a bowl of water with washing up liquid down at night and put a lamp shining over it they will jump in and drown. We caught lots that way.

Thanks all, more bites this morning despite using acclaim last night and hoovering last night and this morning. Will indorex AGAIN and tough it out till Rentokil can come out.

No signs of mice, will have to get a trap or two to rule them out. I just can’t understand how they’re still thriving with no animal around, there has to be a source somewhere!

Not bedbugs?

I remember now - you've seen the actual fleas. Forgot.

I had a flea infestation last year despite my cat very much being a house cat, he’d never been outside in his life! They can get in on peoples clothes and shoes or simply jump through your front door, horrible little fuckers. Anyway I used Acclaim spray which worked really well but I see you’ve tried that to no avail... Rentokil really should blast them all away. I feel your pain, they’re absolutely horrendous to get rid of.

The issue is they lay dormant through winter then come back in summer. They don’t necessarily need an animal to feed off, they’re happy enough with a human (sadly you right now) it needs must. The dogs might not help either so I would advise keeping them away for the time being.

The experts that come out are fab! We had a house of fleas (altho with dogs) and one spray from the experts and it was all sorted. After the sprayed we also had lots of other dead insects! Nice knowing the house was spider (and flea!) free!

Also check/treat your garden. When we moved in here our back garden was heaving with them, then they got in the house