Calling all Pest Detectives! (With photo of ankles/bites)

[Terea]

Afternoon Mumsnet. Long term poster but recent name change as email changed.
Please help me - really hoping for someone to recognise this and give me my lightbulb moment!
I moved into a new house (new to me) last week and have been bitten. Itchy, but not as bad as mosquitoes. I have only ever had mosquito bites.
My mind is going into overdrive.

The facts:

• only carpet is stairs and landing, everywhere else is wood floors
• previous owners had a cat
• I don’t have pets
• my furniture includes some fabric sofas.
• the removal people might have used blankets to cover them (I didn’t see so don’t know)
• my mattresses were all covered for the move
• all my bedding and throws have been washed
• there is a very busy garden and lots of different species of plants
• There are no ‘bits/blood spots’ on the sheets which I would expect from bedbugs (never had them but know about them a bit)

I am so annoyed and literally irritated as I just don’t know what they are (flea bites, bed bugs, other) and without knowing, I’m not sure what to do next. I can’t call out pest control as I don’t know what they’d do without knowing what they are.

Apologies for photos! And much gratitude if you solve this.

Fleas, no cat for them to bite. You can get spray for carpets.

Fleas. That matches the location and level of severity and circumstances (hungry fleas in carpet from previous owners’ cat) add up.
Flea powders and sprays are good but tbh if you hoover, hoover, hoover that will work as there is no cat wandering around to reinfect.

And hoover your sofas too as some will have moved in.

Fleas are proper ankle biters but they are quite small bites...mind you I have massive reactions to them so bites always look larger.

Fleas..I'm being bitten at the moment, despite fastidious efforts with the cats and the house. They're tenacious little bastards.
Hopefully the cycle will be easier to break without a cat in the house. Get some decent quality spray and spray it everywhere.

You are all amazing. Cant believe the relief that it’s not bed bugs….
OK - not being a pet owner, where can I go tomorrow to get spray? Pets at Home.? What is best spray to use? Should I spray then not hoover for a bit?
so so grateful for the advice, thank you.

Terea you can get a smoke bomb online. I have four cats and I use these twice a year.....no fleas. Johnson pets do a flea spray that you leave on the carpet. They are stubborn little buggers though so try all the nooks and crannies x

My advice with pesticides would always be to read the instructions on the tin carefully before follow them to the letter. There’s usually an ideal time you have to leave it, for effectiveness and safety.

Try a company called critter kill they have a very good selection of flea killers. Can also buy sticky traps x

My vet recommends (and sells) Indorex spray for this.

A local vet would probably sell it to you, or you can buy it from some pet stores, or from Amazon (just thinking about what would be quickest)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Virbac-INDOREX-Indorex-Flea-Spray/dp/B00GKHI2PW/ref=sr_1_6?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QkCbq9vCjbEduRSIR7w7vIfGplIpDnwJQnsl7HAGxGuANAsAAv2caHdbzFZm_o8guZWLACnYhiTXB8yRyA68RZ1iSsO_S-UueKzB_3thMFJR6ue37RdhQF5-D_Jc8gAwAAeVT7SmVayUVJdlXOeeafeH9cd-u3OFVM-uehPlOYuX1UdKx5F9Pxh4F0cbxDusQ2JPrO_mWkG7POHoozf91laQn6puo-17Ie2XUsIKxftl7bmqXU5TltenIFCi_eNDNtE4JHCmFcm15cubD4Cw_WCOC_mqL4TuzmtqY5PJfL4.OtN9_tVsW2MTYZ-T5Z9j1EmXFYfoZ_dCCD316atHCes&dib_tag=se&keywords=indorex&qid=1717863114&sr=8-6

Agree with others that the culprit is fleas. We have cats so have experience. Indorex spray will sort it - spray one room at a time with windows shut, leave for an hour or so then air the room thoroughly. Make sure you do corners and floorboards. The good thing is this spray kills the eggs and breaks the cycle, so you probably won't need to do it again if you don't have pets. Put Germolene or similar on the bites. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. @Shellingbynight I’ve justed checked on Pets at Home and they sell it so one more sleep and I will be blasting those buggers!
Whats odd is that there is no sign, no dirt, no jumping fleas…. Obviously I’m glad about that, but it does make detection so difficult. Antihistamines loaded and tea tree applied.

Flea eggs can remain dormant for ages and they can suddenly feel inspired to hatch by heat or agitation.

If you want to be sure , or the flea solutions don’t solve it, that’s what sticky traps are for- they don’t catch enough to solve the problem but they are great for diagnosing.
Ime you can get a lot of bites before you actually see any, so it’s not too surprising you haven’t.