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Original poster

Should I do something about fleas?

59 replies

Isittoolate1 · 18/07/2023 23:17

I looked at my arm earlier and there was a flea there, sucking my blood like it's no big deal.

I did also get a bite on my ankle while walking downstairs yesterday now I think of it.

DD has also had about 3 or 4 tiny red bites on her over the last month, maybe around one a week? They fade after a day and she doesn't scratch them. Nothing on DS or DH.

I thought you either had (loads of) fleas and had to treat or you didn't, I didn't realise you could just get the odd one (no pets).

Would you treat the house? Are the products toxic? Or should I just take my hoovering routing up a notch for a few days?

I found a flea on my arm around the same time last year while sitting on the sofa and never had another.

But i don't want to just ignore it if it could potentially become a problem. Any advice welcome!

OP posts:
MNRando · 18/07/2023 23:19

Well you may not have many now but, if you don’t treat, you soon will have!

In just 30 days, 10 female fleas can multiply to over a quarter million new fleas in different life stages. Female fleas start producing eggs within 24 to 48 hours after taking their first blood meal and can lay up to 50 eggs per day.

NeedToBookAGetaway · 18/07/2023 23:19

Id get it fumigated but that's because i get eaten alive by anything! Never had fleas but that's what I'd do.
Im sure others will come with a better approach

Clymene · 18/07/2023 23:19

You should treat the house. Why would you want to live with fleas? You can get a product called indorex which will rid the house of fleas if you do it correctly.

Ooh I'm all itchy just reading this. How are you not grossed out?

Aquamarine1029 · 18/07/2023 23:19

You need to get this sorted. Immediately. Whatever it takes.

You will have an absolute infestation on your hands if you don't.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 18/07/2023 23:21

You have loads of fleas. Treat your animals with spot on and get Indorex spray for the house and then do it again in a couple of weeks.

RosesAndHellebores · 18/07/2023 23:22

I am now really itching.
I have had cats for most of my adult life and grew up with animals. My grandparents farmed.
I have never seen a flea, despite one or two bites over 60 years.
The problem must be significant. You need to sort it out. Quickly.

Original poster
Isittoolate1 · 18/07/2023 23:25

OK I am now suitably alarmed :( I will get Indorex tomorrow.

I think I was blasé because this happened last year and nothing came of it. We don't have pets and I had assumed that one had come from the garden as it was really hot and the kids were in an out of there all the time.

I'm scared now!

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 18/07/2023 23:26

I'm quite shocked at how lackadaisical you are about this. It's a big deal.

Jelly0naplate · 18/07/2023 23:26

Indorex was the only thing that worked for us when our cats brought fleas in.

Hoover. Spray the indorex and then leave the house for a while. It stinks but it will work. May take a couple of rounds.

fetchacloth · 18/07/2023 23:30

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 18/07/2023 23:21

You have loads of fleas. Treat your animals with spot on and get Indorex spray for the house and then do it again in a couple of weeks.

This definitely. Indorex is very effective and spot on treatment essential.

CherryBlossom321 · 18/07/2023 23:33

Yeah, they’ll keep breeding. Contact your local council pest control to treat your house without delay. It happened to us once - it turned out a friend’s cat had them and we must have transported them back to our house. We have no pets either, and in a way that’s worse as in the absence of an animal, they feast on the humans instead.

Original poster
Isittoolate1 · 18/07/2023 23:41

Indorex ordered. Will hoover first thing in the morning then apply indorex when it gets delivered.

I'm wondering whether to set up traps overnight just to reassure myself that we don't have millions.

OP posts:
Tessisme · 18/07/2023 23:55

I was getting bitten by fleas a few years ago. Just me. Nobody else in the house! We have no pets. I actually found a flea on my chest one day and was almost relieved because I was starting to wonder if we had bed bugs. I killed it. The same day DP spotted one jumping onto his ankle and managed to squash it. And that was it. No more bites after a month of me scratching like mad. I don't know where the hell they came from, but that was about eleven years ago and has never happened again.

Original poster
Isittoolate1 · 19/07/2023 00:00

Thank you@Tessisme I'm googling as I can't sleep and needed to hear that success story! This is what happened to us last year. I did manage to kill the one I saw earlier so I'm hoping that was the only one but will spray indorex for my peace of mind.

Im pretty sure ours would have come in on laundry from the garden, it's been windy and I've had to pick up a few items that had ended up on the lawn. I really, really hope there weren't too many and they haven't mated.

OP posts:
earsup · 19/07/2023 00:05

stray cat walked into my kitchen for maybe 30 secs....weeks later...fleas....5 cans of indorex and i managed to get rid, they only stayed in kitchen so was lucky...keep spraying and hoover to get the eggs to hatch etc.

purpleme12 · 19/07/2023 00:11

If they are fleas they're very hard to squash.
I mean hard to kill that way.
Best way is to put them in water in sink and leave there. Obviously this is just for ones that you happen to find.

You still need to treat the house as above

windthatbobbin · 19/07/2023 00:12

We just had this quite badly, they didn't care about me but were very partial to DD. Turns out frontline for cats not strong enough, so got stuff from the vet, hoovered like a mofo and used spray twice - all gone.

Stilloutonthelast · 19/07/2023 00:14

Of fucking course you shood. If you had dandruff you'd surely use head and shoulders. Golly you really needed to ask.

Yarnorama · 19/07/2023 00:16

As well as using Indorex, put a cheap flea collar in your hoover bag to kill any hoovered up fleas.

AlbertaWildRose · 19/07/2023 00:19

Are they definitely fleas? Could they be bed bugs? I have never heard of fleas without pets before!

purpleme12 · 19/07/2023 00:26

Do they jump?

Greybeardy · 19/07/2023 00:52

Have recently had the same - fleas with no pet. Goodness knows where the little arses came from. Indorex (and hoovering) worked but took 3 lots of spraying (Frontline flea spray didn’t work). They are hard to kill by squashing… i put white sheets on the chair they seemed to prefer and I found sellotaping the ones I spotted before they jumped off was quite satisfying!

GetInTheBinThenGetInTheSea · 19/07/2023 00:58

If you put a few bowls of water around the house and leave them, you'll see if any get stuck in the water. If it's that bad, I'd get a new carpet.

Original poster
Isittoolate1 · 19/07/2023 07:15

100% not a bed bug. Can't 100% say it was a flea as I'm not super familiar with them, but it looked just like the one from last year which I did see jump at the time.

I read up a lot last night and it is unlikely they can proliferate without a host as both male and female would need to be well fed and on the host at the same time for this to happen.

A female would need to be able to feed 12 hours continuously on a human before having a chance of laying viable eggs.

I think it explains why I found them before with no further consequence and I hope the same happens this time.

But I will be hoovering first thing (wondering when is the earliest I can do that without being unsociable to the neighbours!!) And spraying indorex.

If you have experience of how/where to spray indorex let me know!

OP posts:
bert3400 · 19/07/2023 07:26

I guess they are coming in from your garden. I have this in a shady part of my garden. As soon as I go to that part I get bitten to pieces. Not sure if there is a product that you can use on your lawn to eliminate them ?