To think these are flea bites?

[Loonaandalf]

Three or four months ago our dogs had fleas, took two months of vet treatment to get rid of them, and we treat them monthly now, groomer confirmed she could not find any so we are sure they were gone. We also sprayed the house. Last week groomer said she spotted some dead fleas on one dog, but didn’t see any alive, I can’t see either but I am not great at detecting them as couldn’t see them last time either. Two days ago, I started coming out in bites like this(see photos). They are mostly on my legs, feet and lower back. I have about 7 altogether and new ones came up last night. DH would start all over again with the flea spray but we now have a three week old baby and it’s not easy to get out for long enough to do that, we’ve no family nearby.

I am tempted to pay for professionals to come out but how do I make sure they are flea bites and not just spider bites or something? DH and baby have no bites so far but DH never gets bitten by anything whereas I always do. I’m freaked out incase the baby could catch something if it is fleas or ticks.

I would say they are fleas yes. We got a sorua that you sprayed and left for 20 mins, why can't you use that? Spray all the rooms, shut doors, take baby out for a walk and then come back and air the house and vacuum. You need to get in top of it and keep on top of it, they're persistent buggers. You could pay for professional treatment but personally I wouldn't spend the money until I'd tackled the house myself.

ah what a nightmare, disgusting. What’s a sorua where do I buy it? The spray we had meant we had to be out of the house for 4 hours at least. We never had fleas before and have dogs 5 years, never really treated them regularly until now. I suspect they are picking them up from the nearby woods near our new house.

Sorry typo, meant spray. It was one from pets at home. Once you've got fleas you have to keep on top of it, you'll always have more than you think. Buy a decent spray and just do it daily for a few days.
Think it was this one. https://www.petsathome.com/product/johnsons-house-flea-spray-for-use-in-the-home-400ml/3483P

Thank you

Indorex spray from the vets is best. And spot on / equivalent from the vets. Some fleas are resistant to the cheaper over the counter things like frontline or advantage. Once pet and house all treated you need to vacuum everyday, into all the crevices. The vibrations will make more eggs hatch out, adults will then ingest the treatment and die. It might take a few days or weeks to get them all.

You should be able to do it yourself though, spray the furnishings, open all the windows to air, just stay in a different room for a bit. Then rotate to next room.

I think they are flea bites or at least they look similar to the ones I got

Husband and I fell out over this. He treated his dog himself wouldn't pay for vet treatment. In the end a poster on here recommended the flea trap. So I hoovered then put the trap on going to bed 22 bloody fleas under my little table alone. We got the vet treatment.

I hoovered every day, carpets eventually they were all gone.

Never had such a problem before.

Yes flea bites , intensely itchy awful things . Plaster toothpaste on them .
We used Indorex spray every night for about a week and it worked . The cats had a 6 monthly injection called Program and it sorted them out in no time . Good luck OP 🤞

When we had a cat years ago, she had fleas, and even after treating the cat, I was still getting flea bites. They loved me! It was awful. I got a flea bomb from pets at home, i believe. Just set it in the room and let it off. Completely solved the flea problem! We did have to stay out for the day though, but worth it.

Indorex or Acclaim spray (er, not every night for a week, thats not how you use it!!)...

You must do ALL of the house - all around the edges of each room, any joins in carpets, under sofas, under beds. Let it dry, then its pet/child safe.

It should last a good while, one of those brands lasts 12 months and one lasts 6, can never remember which.

Use decent vet only products on the pet - if you're treating the house, the amount you need to treat the pet should be minimal.

Have a think about where you go/where pet goes - it may be that your house is fine/pet is fine, but you're getting bitten elsewhere, or they are picking up fleas somewhere that bite you and then die in your house as a result of recent treatment.

If bites are in a line it's fleas.........
Humans are a last resort for feeding, furry hosts are preferable. Priority is to deflea/treat furry hosts and soft furnishings. Eggs can linger for years dormant in nooks and crannies so important to act promptly to avoid an infestation.
Soft furnishings can be deep frozen for minimum 48 hours to kill eggs/adults. Chemical treatment for furry hosts and infested properties.
Good luck

2nd the Indorex recc, you can buy it on Amazon

Thanks everyone. I’ve bought indirect and dh will fumigate tomorrow, we do use over the counter treatment for dogs but I think it might be working since groomer says she only saw dead ones. If they come back after this I’ll get the vet treatment for them. I think they just be coming from the nearby woods where we walk them most days.

Indorex I mean

If she only saw dead ones the treatment probably is working for your dogs but they'll be in your soft furnishings. Good luck with the spray.

Flea traps can be effective, but they need to be on the carpet to work and your dogs need to keep their nose off the sticky pad.

We had a flea infestation last year and it was a nightmare. The only thing that worked in the end was several rounds of flea bombs over the course of several weeks. Lots of hoovering as well.to catch the eggs/larvae.
We have two small children and had to be out of the house for several hours while DH did the bombing and after!

Read up about flea life cycles and you will understand why you usually can't get rid of them In one go sadly.

We didn't even have a pet! We think they were coming in from neighbours pet who we all uses to stroke and fuss over everything we went out of the house!

Good luck, happy to help if you have any queries.

Lack of common sense question… but when we spray the indorex should we wash the soft furnishing like duvets/ cushions or is it ok to just spray on there instead? The absolute effort of putting the whole house into a wash with a newborn, if I can avoid that and just spray then I will.

Wash what is practical to wash - so duvets, dog bedding etc.

The things that are not practical to wash, that you do not come into direct contact with (although it is safe once dry) - under the seat cushions on the sofa, under a mattress topper.

I have never washed sofa seat cushions or indeed sofa covers -its the cracks/crevices that are where the flea eggs go.

Fleas live on the dog - however most of their life cycle takes place off the dog!

So fleas heave their eggs overboard. These are then jiggled and bounced into your carpet and down the side of the sofa cushions or under the mattress.

They hatch into itty bitty larvae, and they feed on detritus, skin cells, hair, flea dirt... importantly, they will eat tapeworm eggs. Remember that part.

They pupate, and then hatch into fleas, and then hop onto your dog.

Your dog itches/licks himself, ingests the flea and the tapeworm eggs survive the digestion process and now your dog has tapeworms too.

So the flea that hatched and had its larval stage at Auntie Joans house, where her cats have both fleas and tapeworms, or in the nest of some feral cat that your dog walks past every day... hops on your dog and comes home with you... and ick. Itch. Yuck.

So ensure you are de-fleaing and worming appropriately, with vet approved stuff not over the counter (it is at the same time, not overly effective at killing fleas, and still a high risk of causing harm to the dog!).

Indorex will sort it. I would use vet product rather than over the counter for dog. They are vastly more effective.
Dont despair when it takes time. It doesn’t kill the eggs (I’m not sure anything does!!) so for a while eggs will hatch and you may get a couple of bites. The fleas will die before breeding though so what you won’t get is more eggs being laid. Vacuuming creates vibrations which “wake up” the eggs and get them to hatch so the more you vacuum the quicker the eggs hatch and fleas die off.

Indorex kills adult fleas for 2 months..

And stops eggs and hatched out larva from developing into adults for 12 months.

So yes lots of hoovering and heating on in any rooms you've normally got it switched off in, once treatment is dry.

Usually people make the mistake of only treating the rooms they go in, not treating thoroughly enough, and of using over the counter treatments.

Whoever it was mentioned flea traps up-thread - these will not deal with an infestation. They will tell you if fleas are present though and are useful if you're wanting to know if the problem is definitely fleas, or an indication of the level of infestation.

Wash all bedding definitely shreds as many baby things as you can but I sprayed everything even if washed, and I mean everything. Get right into the edges of carpet, corners of rooms, spray up and down curtains etc. And repeat

Aren't the sprays harmful to us though? I thought vacuuming, washing and treating pet was enough.

I feel like they've been banned, but back in the day the only thing that worked for us were "bug bombs". Little smoking things. You put one in each room, set it off, leave, and barricade the door shut. Everything was washed down and hoovered after. It worked a charm. We had multiple animals, but it was always this one cat who would keep getting them. I've no idea why.

Those spots do look like flea bites, but check your bed in case the problem is actually bed bugs