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Please help, I'm going mad - is this fleas?

5 replies

nickEcave · 04/09/2018 13:03

Is it possible to have fleas but not to be able to find them? We were a week late with our cat's Advocate spot-on treatment this month. Last Wednesday after an evening on the sofa I realised I was covered in little red bites mostly on my buttocks and torso. DH had just a couple of bites. Same happened on Thursday evening. We gave the cat her flea treatment and on Friday I bought 2 large cans of Indorex and sprayed and hoovered whole house following instructions and washed all throws, bedding, pets bedding etc. I continued to hoover, following the Indoret instructions every day and for 3 days I was bite free. However last night, after a few hours on sofa I was covered in bites again. I set up a flea trap overnight but there was nothing there this morning. Today I have pretty much dismantled the sofa, hoovering everything but can't find any signs of fleas.

The bites are small raised itchy red spots in clusters on the top part of my legs and torso and are definitely occurring when I'm on the sofa. The skin swells around them and feels hot. My husband has only had one or two small bites but I am usually much more susceptible to mosquito bites than he is. If I treat the bites with antisan cream at night and take piriton before bed, by the morning the bites are completely gone. The cat is black with long hair so it is impossible to see her skin to check for bites but I have combed her extensively and not found any fleas.

What more can I do? Is this fleas or has some weird invisible parasite invaded my sofa?

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 04/09/2018 13:09

Do bed bugs live in sofas?

nickEcave · 04/09/2018 13:12

I don't know but I'm pretty sure Indorex should be effective against bedbugs as well. I've seen pictures of bed bugs and they are no harder to spot than fleas, so if we had them I should be able to find evidence after pretty much dismantling the sofa.

OP posts:
Polkapjs · 05/09/2018 19:43

I’d keep spraying tbh in case of any eggs

A0001 · 05/09/2018 20:54

I wouldn’t say that you’d be overrun with fleas after being a week late with advocate.

Also, they wouldn’t localise themselves to your sofa

Is your cat scratching lots?

nickEcave · 06/09/2018 12:16

Since I sprayed the room the cat doesn't want to spend time in there so I'm guessing that any fleas that have survived are coming to get me in the absence of the cat! I was bite-free last night, so will continue with the hoovering and hope that it is just a few stragglers who will die over the next week. I spent £50 on the Indorex last week as I needed 2 cans so I'm hoping I don't need to spray again. The cat is scratching a bit, but I presume that now she has been dosed with Advocat these are old bites that she is scratching.

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