buying house where animals lived: fleas

[curryeater]

We don't have pets and I am very sensitive to, or delicious to, fleas.
We're renting a temporary place and some beastie is biting me every night. Looks like fleas to me. (please no one mention bed bugs please please please don't even let me think it) (Actually does anyone know, other than catching one, how you can tell what is biting you?)

The house we want to buy has dogs and cats living there now. What can I ask the vendors to do about fleas? I mean I know they will say "our animals don't have fleas" but they all bloody do and they all bloody eat me (especially because once the vendors have taken their animals away they will be desperate to eat anything; people with flea-ridden animals often don't realise it because the fleas are eating the animal of choice). Do I just have to accept it as our problem and try to get the place properly dealt with before we move in? Vendors with pets, what is your position on this?

also, does anyone know anything about how long the little bastards can live with no animals other than humans to eat? I am desperately hoping that the ones biting me now are residual ones left from some previous animals and eventually they will die without the right animals to eat. I am sure I had heard that. but I can't find any information on that now.

Thanks!

Sorry Zola, forgot to say that you are definitely right that I need to separate the two things in my head.

Did the tenants before you have pets? I suspect our estate agent claimed the cost of industrial strength treatment back from the tenant's deposit. It's just not acceptable that there is something in your rented flat biting you!

Hatchet faced old bags? Well, that's a new one.

At least identify what you are getting hysterical about. Fleas? Easily treated. Bedbugs? A whole nother story. They can be in seams of suitcases, in joints in bed frames. They take professional treatment to eradicate.

If I had bedbugs, I would be hysterical too. I have heard that to check for bedbugs, throw the covers back quickly and see if you see anything scurrying.

curry - you have my every sympathy and do let us know how you get on=, amazingly I could have written a very similar post, having previously never experienced such a problem, and I am thankful you have raised it. We moved from a rented house to our own house two weeks ago, and since moving, I have been bitten profusely on the scalp, neck and shoulders - no one else in the family has been touched, and like you, I am very sensitive to bites. It is driving me mad!!! I am not sure whether our previous owners had any animals, so not sure whether or not it is a flea problem, we are sleeping in exactly the same bed etc, as before, previously with no problems. I have been wondering about the removals, as some of our stuff was in storage, and whether or not something could have been creeping into that - but if so, why isnt anyone else affected? I certainly can't see anything on the bed, and havent been bitten on my body, just my head and shoulders. It is a horrible problem, as I am constantly itchy at the moment. Could it be headlice of some kind??

I guess part of the problem is identifying what is doing the biting and then taking the advice. My first port of call will have to be the doctors, as this has gone on for a couple of weeks now, no new bites,, just constant itchiness from the old ones. Sending you empathetic waves! :)

Hi guineapiglet, and everyone else

Guineapiglet, if you are not getting new bites, that is a very long time to be itchy. Sounds horrible. let us know what the doc says.

The pest guy came this morning, a very large, calm and reassuring Welshman. He can pretty much guarantee from looking at the bed that it is not bedbugs, which I am delighted about. So now, to treat the fleas. It's going to be hard because we practically have to empty the place of stuff which we laboriously moved in for the place to be treated properly. By chance, a plumber was there at the same time and he confirmed that the owners, who lived there before, had dogs. Now at least I have talked to a sensible expert who confirms my hypothesis and is not fobbing me off. And now I have someone to call about the new place, before we move in.

thanks for the support and sympathy!

Great! You'll be free of the beasties in no time.

I wouldnt say anything to a seller- I would be highly insulted to be honest.

Just get a carpet cleaner in when you have brought the property and vaccum like hell for a while.

Sorted.

lizzieannejames, interesting - do you have animals?
If you would be highly insulted, is it because you are convinced there is no possibility of flea eggs being left in your house?
If so, why do you think it might be necessary to hire a carpet cleaner and hoover like crazy? And why should that be the job of the person who bought the house?

Back to the rented place - it is a nightmare, confirmed fleas, proving so bloody difficult to get rid of, being bitten every day. Does anyone have actual legal knowledge of whether we can claim money back for this from the landlord? Two issues: 1. the money we have spent on this problem, laundry etc, and 2, compensation for living in a house that has fleas which a lawyer casually mentioned to me means the house is technically "uninhabitable" and the landlord is in breach of contract. He meant we could leave and get our money back, if we chose; as we have nowhere to go I am interested in solving the problem and having financial recognition of the trouble we have been put to.
I would be interested to hear from anyone with legal knowledge of tenancies (not boring opinions of people who think that tenants just have to put up with any old crap because they are a part time landlord)
thanks

don't think it sounds like fleas though. We are cat owners and have had fleas on and off for years I have never been bitten anywhere other than my legs.

OP, have fleas been confirmed? I walk around the house with bare legs wait until they land on me and drown them in a bowl of soapy water.

Also, from past experience I have found that they are worse in rooms with floorboards, as they hide down the cracks and you can't hoover them up

I have lots of animals in and out of my house, one cat and anything from 2 - 4 dogs at any one time living here and up to a further 5 dogs popping in for visits. There are usually more pets than people.

We don't have fleas and I would be highly insulted if anyone suggested we did. My eldest and one of my dogs both have flea allergies and will scratch themselves bloody if there is so much as a single flea egg in the house. I spend a lot of time and money making sure there are none.

As for getting rid of them I find this to be the most effective at repelling them/killing them in the house

Boil wash all bedding/pillows/soft toys/curtains/nets etc. Vacuum obsessively, pay particular attention to nooks and crannies, crevices and edges. Don't forget the sofa, especially under the cushions and down the sides of the arms, hoover the mattress, you could also buy a steam cleaner for the mattress. The high heat of the steam helps kills both fleas and bed bugs.

When spraying the house pay special attention to the edges of rooms and corners and the bottoms of curtains and blinds. I spray our whole house religiously every 6 months and dog bedding every month after boil washing it, but for your problem you should only need to do it once, buy a few tins and use lots.

devil, they are fleas, we caught one and it is a flea.
People who have animals get bitten a lot less than people who don't and inherit fleas from animals who have left. If you have cats you might only get the odd bite. When you and your cats move out and someone moves into your house, the eggs will hatch, there will be millions of starving fleas, and that person will be eaten alive.

I am so tired of people with animals saying that fleas are not a problem, (so either what I have in my house is not a problem or it is not fleas) just because they are not a problem TO THEM. people will perform all sorts of cognitive distortions to avoid admitting that their animals are verminous and they infest houses.

lizzieanne would in fact be highly insulted at this suggestion and thinks it should be made in case it hurts someone's feelings, at the same time suggesting ways of mitigating the inevitable infestation.

Hi Dooin
thanks for the tips. nice to see someone acknowledge that fleas exist and are a problem where there are animals.

"I spend a lot of time and money making sure there are none."

See. This is what you have to do. Nice to see it admitted.
This is now what I have to do, when they are not my animals' fleas and it is not my house.

We got them once last year, dd1 brought them home from my sister's house.

I spent a month steaming her mattress, bedding and soft toys every night before she went to bed, spraying and steaming allergic dog's bed and vacuuming the whole house daily, plus we sprayed the house once a week for a month (a fleas life cycle is 1 month), probably over kill, but they were gone in no time.

The next time she was due to go to my sisters we sent some prescription strength spot on treatment for their cat and two bottles of Acclaim ahead of her. She doesn't bring fleas home from there anymore.

If you are tasty to them drinking lemon juice helps. Dd1 is very attractive to all bitey insects, so she drinks a glass of lemon cordial every morning over summer and it helps reduce the amount of bites she suffers. I have no idea why, but it works.

We know instantly if there is even a single flea in our house because dd1 starts itching relentlessly and the dog starts trying to eat himself, it is not nice for either of them, hence the ott flea killing/repelling regime.

I wouldn't call that ott if it is what you have to do. It is not ott to prevent something happening which causes such discomfort to your dd. I am sighing though because I have to do all this now and I am exhausted, it is very hard to thoroughly hoover a house which is too small for your stuff and hasn't been unpacked properly yet. We do not have a washing machine so we are paying for all our laundry, and I have no idea what a steam cleaner costs. I am exhausted already and this looks like a pretty punishing schedule.
How funny about the lemon juice. I will try that too (relatively effortless)

I must try that lemon juice thing.

I don't think OP will have any success claiming off the landlord. Have to prove that the landlord should have known there was an intolerable insect infestation present. Yet you & I both agree that some people never get bitten no matter how many fleas are around, so it's hard to define intolerable and how would he know how sensitive some people are.

I am almost impressed OP was bitten so much in bed. My cats sleep on my bed sometimes and I know I'm sensitive to bites, but I've had very few while actually in bed.

You can pick up steam cleaners fairly cheaply now, we got ours for £60 but it's a super duper steam machine with eleventy million different attachments.

It's ott because normally when I go my manic flea killing sprees (around twice a year) we have no fleas, owing to the fact that all animals are treat with spot on treatment monthly and Acclaim keeps working in the house for up to 12 months, but I like to make sure our house is very uninviting to fleas and dust mite, it's easier keeping them away than it is getting rid of them once you have them.

lljkk - ok I see what you mean about getting money back off rent - what about getting reimbursed for actual flea treatments, laundry etc? (What about my time, too?)

I imagine you'd have to take LL to small claims court.
You'll need some objective assessments of how bad the infestation is, a statement from your doctor or a pest control agency, perhaps.
You will get nowhere with billing for your time, but for flea treatments perhaps. It cost £60 to spray 100 m^2 of my house, though, have you spent more than that? The meds for the cats are way more expensive than the Indorex was.
Laundry you'll have to show receipts and exactly what you were washing more than you would normally have done.
Not saying impossible, but may not be worth it for £200 or so.
You'll have to take time off work to go to Small Claims Court, too.

I guess you could try to sue for stress, but not sure you can do that in SCC. Might have to consult a soliciter and you will pay for other side's legal costs if you lose (and it's not all done thru SCC, I mean). You'd need a medical statement about the stress you're under, too.

OP, did the lovely Welshman give you an idea of how long it would be before the treatment killed them all? We only had to have one treatment and it was sorted. Was he a proper infestation person, or just a handyman sent by the EA?

I feel for you, the previous tenants to us had also let their cats shit under all the kitchen cupboards.

Zola, I feel your pain - cat shit would really push me over the edge right now.
I have been told they are going to do a spray which should take 10 days before you can tell if it has completely worked. I need to get the house sorted before this can be done because there are boxes against the walls. I have nowhere to put this stuff and am going a bit mad. I am so angry with this fucking landlord. This is the worst thing but in addition I have been trying to get help for nearly two weeks with:

two leaks (upstairs loo out of action because water turned off)
hot water not working properly in kitchen (boiling kettle to wash up)
Broken window and rubbish in back garden (our dcs can't play out)
Violently spitting tap (can't use it because you become soaked)

Eventually most of those small things will probably get fixed but the fact that I have to devote my entire fucking life to hassling people about this grotty house is slightly doing my head in.

How long before your purchase of The House That Will Absolutely NOT Have Fleas?

I am hoping we can get it sorted in a few weeks, Zola. I have decided that I am going to ask the nice Welshman what he can do to the place before we move in, money no object. I need a proper expert view on whether you can go nuclear on an undisclosed flea problem, or whether you have to wait for it to be disclosed, ie, I have to be bitten to hell and back before there is anything that can be done. I am hoping that I will be able to get that if I am offering to pay, rather than in this case where someone else has to pay so everyone is trying to insist that there is no problem and no need to do anything.
Obviously there is no point in trying to talk to the vendor about it now we have established that she will be all "HOW VERY DARE YOU, FLEAS DO NOT EXIST, YOU MADE THEM UP TO INSULT ME"

curryeater I'm quite amused how rude you have been on this thread. I have a cat and i try hard to keep him flea free. If the person buying my house asked me to de-flea the property when moving out I would say no unless they could prove there was a problem. If they were as rude as you've been on here then i would absolutely say no.

Your neck bites sounded more like the MO of bedbugs, i hope your Welsh guy checked more than the just the mattress as they can live in furniture, in the walls/floors...

Maybe you should get a pet, give the fleas something nicer to bite