Unreasonably obsessed by flea problem?

[Fleabee]

Am I losing the plot?

I have 3 kids, 5yrs, 2yrs and 10 months. As you can imagine they need a lot of attention.

I have 2 cats who are regularly front lined but every single year they infest the house with fleas. This year is worse than ever. The 2 year old's legs are in a really dreadful state. The 5 year old is marginally better, and the baby has bites on her back and a big one on her face this morning. Sob. The fleas are in every room.

I am hoovering the entire house daily if I can, and not just a quick hoover. Pulling out all the bloody furniture and going in every nook and cranny. This is killing me, and of course the kids are very bored in the time I am doing it. I am also spraying flea spray when I can but limit this to when house will be empty etc as hate the thought of the chemicals and the kids playing on the floor where the spray is.

I also have mastitis and yesterday spent the day feeling shit and hoovering in tropical temperatures.

And then at bedtime I saw about 5 fleas.

WWYD?

Am I blowing this out of proportion? Should I just calm it down as it doesn't seem to be working anyway. Is it as big a deal as I feel it is?

Or any tips on getting rid of them?

Any advice appreciated.

[Fleabee]

Thank you all so so much for the replies. I am so relieved to see I am not alone in this. Thanks for all the tips. I will definitely be getting some jungle formula in the meantime. I got some Johnsons stuff today (only thing I could lay my hands on, but on the plus side it's a bloody big can) and given a few rooms a good spray, but unfortunately couldn't do everywhere because of the kids. I saw fleas on my bed a while ago but don't want to spray there now as will be going to bed soon.Will they ever die!!?? We have wooden floors and I think they fall down the cracks in the floorbaords making them even harder to kill. bastards.Thanks for tips on local pest control too. It may be coming to that. It's not like the place is thick with them or anything. It's just that there are one or two in every room every time we are in there and they are not going away. Indorex sounds like good stuff. I may get that next as a little treat to yself for all my hoovering!!

I have washed everything - all the clothes in the kids rooms etc, blankets, cushions, bed linen and pyjamas EVERY DAY!! (I am half dead!) And still they come. It is so disheartening when I bet they just hop right back in the drawers. dueinseptember can you really see the eggs? Urgh. I shall have a new hobby now! Flea egg spotting! Griphook I love your sofa story. I reckon it becomes flea madness! You sound very much like me in my quest for the death of the flea! And did it totally work?

melodypondering and melonandpapaya I hear you! I totally share your pain. My husband thinks I'm obsessed and depressing because it bothers me so much. I'm glad it's not just me who feels like this!

[MelodyPondering]

Definitely try indorex, I saw one for a yesterday morning and since then, none (fingers crossed! Please please please!) And the lovely man from amazon emailed me straight back yesterday and is sending me a new can. I LOVE him!

Good luck.

[Iamsparklyknickers]

Another advocate of indorex here, I use it annually whether I see fleas or not.

On the cats I use stuff from johnsons but you can get it at pets at home - it comes in bright pink packaging. It's a two pronged approach but worked really well on my two, the tablets turn them into flea killers for 24 hours and the drops kill the eggs.

Combing the the above means that even if the odd flea does manage to get in any eggs should be killed either on the cats or on the carpet. Seems to break the cycle. I get stuff from the VetUK website, they seem pretty competitive on pricing and deliver quickly.

[halcyondays]

We've always found the only way to get rid is to spray the whole house thoroughly with a proper spray like Frontline, then go out for several hours to avoid breathing in the chemicals. And treat the cats at the same time of course with a proper treatment, i.e not Bob Martin. Anything you can get from the supermarket usually won't work, need to go to vets or pet shops for the proper stuff.

[Shinyshinyface]

I really really feel for you OP! About 2 months ago we had a flea infestation in our garden left behind by foxes...we keep chickens though and have a hedgehog indoors and it took AGES to work out first of all that they were flea bites and second of all where the heck they were coming from! Every time we went out there we'd unknowingly bring fleas into the house with us...wasn't till I was in my room getting changed one time and about 4 fleas fell out of my hair that I realised what was going on. By then I had over 250 bites on me...really big, dark read maddeningly itchy bites. I wanted to lie down and die. Turned out the foxes had been living under the shed and moved out at some point but left their fleas behind. Cheers for that. Chickens and hedgie were innocent and I could thankfully forget about bedbugs!

At least when I worked out it was the garden we needed to sort out that helped...I bought builder's lime and garden lime and scattered them about liberally. Garden lime you could probably use safely in the house especially between the floorboards. I really wish you luck with getting it sorted out. I felt like a pariah for weeks, like I shouldn't leave the house in case fleas started jumping off me on to other people.

[Fleabee]

mumtothreeboys, what would your husband reccomend instead of frontline?

So i had a total flea based break down this morning, and enlisted extra help, hoovered the entire house every nook and cranny and sprayed with a can of Johnsons, a can of indorex and a can from wilkinsons. Then left the property for the day. Back a few hours now and not seen a flea.... yet. God help them if I do. I am going to order more indorex in case and repeat the above if this attempt has failed. I have also bought jungle formula sensitive and applied it to the kids, and flea combed the cats twice. PHEW,.

[melonandpapayaandmango]

Fleabee, I know what you mean, I am obsessed with exterminating the fleas, haha! I've got a pest control person coming in, my DM actually asked me if they were coming in a van without their job on the side of it or else what would the neighbours say!

[Fleabee]

Melon, sorry I'm being lazy here and not scrolling back, but what have you tried so far? Is it a total nightmare isn't it? I honestly lost it this morning when I saw one of the little feckers. I am jelous of your pest control. Are you having to stay away for the night?

[maddiemostmerry]

Hi Fleabee, I am also having flea problems this year. I think the dog picked them up at the vets and shared them round the family.

I have frontlined, Indorexed and also have an electric flea trap(basically a lamp and sticky paper) which I have been using in ds1's bedroom.

Haven't tried smokebombs yet but may do soon.

I too have scrubbed, hoovered and cleaned every part of the house. What a way to spend the summer hols

[melonandpapayaandmango]

We'll stay at my mum's. The cats are fine now they've been treated at the vet's, it's the house itself. I tried hoovering and a spray I bought from Pets at Home. The problem was better but not solved. At one point it was just horrific, if you wore white socks then they would be covered in fleas and I wnt mad at one point just screaming "get off me!" I hate fleas!

[Fleabee]

Oh my god melon....it's just awful isn't it!

maddiemostmerry what a way to spend the summer hols is exactly what I keep thinking as I hoover the house whilst the sun is shining outside and the kids are going mad with boredom. We have had one of those flea traps in the past. I'm trying to get hold of another one. A new flea killing product makes me happier than a new bottle of perfume at the moment.I hate the idea of smokebombs but if the little feckers aren't dead yet we may have to go down that road too.

[Fleabee]

Our cats are fine too. Just the house. JUST!!!

[NamesKerry]

I really feel for you Op :( our cat brought fleas into the home a couple of years ago. We were treating the house and cat constantly with expensive, ineffective pesticides but to no avail. At it's worst I counted 25 flea bite on my legs. My DP had none, which I thought was unfair as it's his bloody cat. I would literally break down and cry in frustration and not to mention the painful itching, scratching my legs until they bled etc...

After about a month my DP got in touch with a friend who works in pest control. He gave us a sachet of miracle powder (don't know what it's called) told us to mix it with water, spray everything in the house and then go out for the day.

We haven't had fleas since. We now get the cat treated by the vet. I will never trust shop bought flea preventatives/killers again.

I strongly advise you to get the professionals in.

[lazylula]

We have been having problems with fleas too this year, I was lured by cheaper flea stuff from The Range and it was obviously not up to the job. The only person who has been bitten is dh though! I have had the RIP from the vet, gone back to Frontline for the cats but still one or 2 have been turning up. The last room I saw a few in was our bedroom on Tues, I sparayed it with RIP and shut the room up for a couple of hours, before hoovering again and opening windows, hoovered again Wed am and pm, found more Thurs am so resprayed using cheper stuff and shut the room up. Hoovered again but found 2 alive, so Friday morning I salted the floor (tip found on the net) and hoovered before bed, I have not seen a single flea since. Going to get some more RIP and the other flea stuff mentioned on here from the verts this week to spary the whole house again before we go away. Apparently the milder Winter has caused the fles to 'wake up' early and so reproduce earlier, meaning there is a lot more around (I have googled far too much).

[Fleabee]

Lazylula, I have googled far too much too. I really wish I had never seen a particular image of a flea magnified about 1000 times. Not helping the situation. Evil. I shall investigate salting! I hope they are gone when you return from your hols. I am slightly hoping the cats are gone when I return from mine...

[lazylula]

I have no idea if it has worked. Most places say that once the animals are properly treated, then the problem should subside. I think I will be salting before we go away as well. It dehydrates the flea and the eggs apparently. Problem is I have a crawler so can not leave it down for days. My mum has been having similar problems too, which has made me feel better.
We had an infestation once in our lounge (6 years ago). We went on holiday and came home, I popped my 7 month old on the floor and with in seconds he was covered in fleas. We had no idea that there were any fleas in the house before we had gone on holiday! We stayed at my mum's over night and went back the next morning and sprayed the whole house, left it shut up for a few hours and then returned and aired the house. They were all gone, no problems again until now! We have mainly only been seeing 2 or 3 a day at the worst but I have been almost crying at times and it has been on going for almost 2 months!

[TeWiDoesTheHulaInHawaii]

We've had our house totally sprayed by the local council nearly 3 weeks ago - they are STILL here the bastards. One jumped on my babies face earlier today.

Anyway, will ring them again in the morning to get them to come around again (free follow up because it hasn't been 100% effective, although there are a lot less) mentioning it because via the council it was only £55.

[Flyingwithoutwings]

We had this with my dog about 3 years ago.
Frontline is ineffective (in my area anyway) now - vet refuses to stock it.
Advocate is the one to use but, and here's the issue. You must use advocate on the animal and then let them in EVERY room of your home. Fleas feed off animal then are poisoned and die.
I echo the "get someone in" recommendation but you've got to treat the animal and let them go everywhere. My DH made the mistake of trying to keep our dog in the conservatory / kitchen. But they just got worse.

Good luck

[YouOldSlag]

Watching with interest and learning a lot! this is the first time I have had a flea problem ever in 42 years. Why this year?

It's mortifying. Give me headlice any day over fleas!

[holyfishnets]

Stop using Front Line. We found that it didn't repel the fleas either after a couple of years. We are using Bob Martin once a fortnight and those bomb things for rooms. Try and put it on during a dry spell so it doesn't get washed off.

[bumpybecky]

We've also got a flea problem at the moment, have been seeing loads for the last week. Have discovered DH has a natural ability for charming them, they see, to love jumping on him, hardly any come on me! luckily none of the 6 of us seem to be sensitive to being bitten as we're not reacting.

We've not sprayed yet, can hardly even hoover properly as we're redecorating and have carpets up in several rooms and all the furniture is in the wrong place and can't be moved and hoovered round :( we've treated the cats, but they're not in the house much as they prefer to sleep outside when it's hot.

[Madeyemoodysmum]

Watching this as my dd said she saw a flea today dispute me spraying twice in last 6 weeks. Never had a problem before. Must be the damp summer. On the plus side hardly any wasps this year!

[Flyingwithoutwings]

Oh yes, you need some patience once you've used something decent (advocate) on the animals... Can take 2-3 weeks to be fully rid of them.
But once you are, that'll be it. Just make sure you keep using advocate.

I wrote a scathing letter to Frontline, they (obviously) denied their ineffectiveness but they did say they brought out Frontline "extra super duper".
But I refused to ever use it again and we didn't have a single flea for a further 3 years (until dog sadly passed away this year). Advocate or something else from your vet will sort it

[Madeyemoodysmum]

Bumpy Becky. I think that's our problem. Cats only coming to eat so fleas tucking into us instead of cat and dying as they are treated.

We have a hamster. Should we treat her? Can u even treat a hamster?

[freddiefrog]

I second the Advocate suggestion.

I've used Frontline on my cat and dog for years but last year we got a horrible infestation and the vet gave us Advocate.

Contact pest control at the council too, they're much cheaper than private pest control companies.

A complete treatment for a 3 bed house with 2 visits cost us £50