Flea larvae - please help!!!!

[Cauliflower82]

Yuck! Seriously after some advice here.

So today my husband discovered two flea larvae on our beautiful long haired dog. We instantly isolated her to the downstairs toilet with food, drink and some clean bedding.

We’ve hoovered the entire house, changed bedding and sofa covers (sofa is fabric and she practically lived on it). Bedding changed as she’s always on that too. I’ve ordered some flea spray, shampoo and roll book her an appointment at the vet.

She doesn’t seem to have any fleas on her at all but the flea larvae which obviously we removed, one was dead and another died soon after being taken outside. We didn’t even know what it was to begin with! Stupidly thought a caterpillar.

We have a newborn baby too. I’ve been up all night worrying about the baby having coming into contact with fleas. I can’t get comfortable anywhere. I’m completely and utterly freaking out.

What more should I do?

Look online for a spot treatment called Advantage. Works a treat every time. You put it on the dogs neck and it kills the feeding fleas.
Just keep hoovering well too.
Unfortunately for my dog but luckily for me, he was allergic to fleas so we always got them sorted early on

Spray your house with Indorex.

I have a newborn baby and I don’t think that’s safe.

I want to go and stay in a clean hotel for a week while husband sorts this out with chemicals etc but I can’t because of Covid.

I’m inspecting the carpet for fleas but I don’t know if I’m likely to see them.

I can’t believe this is happening. I’m already a neurotic mess right now.

Does your dog like having baths? If so, maybe you could clip her short, then bathe her and comb her with a flea comb (a bit like a Nitty Gritty comb for humans) to remove any fleas, larvae and eggs without chemical treatment. You would probably need to do this several times. You will also need to do lots of vacuuming, throwing away the dust bag afterwards so the eggs/larvae dont hatch into fleas in your vacuum cleaner and reinvest your house.

Indorex is perfectly safe as long as you follow the instructions and gives you 12 months protection. I used it when my kids were small and they survived. But up to you!

Get some flea treatment from the vet and some sort of preventive spot-on treatment going forward. If there are eggs/larvae in the environment, the adults will jump on the dog and die if you are using a preventive. (If you are using a preventive already, that is probably why the larvae died.)

Dogs get fleas, especially if you aren't using a preventive treatment for them, it isn't a big deal. You are really over-reacting to this - please consider whether you might be suffering with PND and whether you need to see your health visitor/GP.

Please calm down. Your baby is fine. You are fine. It is quite possible that the things you saw were caterpillars or some other insect larvae. I have lived in a house where the cats had fleas. I’ve never seen flea larvae. Ever. If they are the only sign you’ve seen then it’s unlikely that you have a problem in your house.

If you contact your vet you can get something like Advocate on prescription for your dog. It’s a liquid that you drop onto the skin on their back, between their shoulder blades, once a month. It makes them toxic to fleas. You use it as a preventative. As your baby is so young it’s not like they’ll be climbing all over the dog so you’ll be fine to use it. I’d get something like that and hoover regularly.

Indorex is perfectly safe around a baby.

Just get your dog treated and wash your soft furnishings. You'll be fine - it happens with animals.