we had Cat Pee; now it's fleas

[Two_Sheds]

we've got rid of the stench of cat pee from our new house*, and now I've realised what all those little bites round my ankles are ... cat fleas.
I naively thought they would move out when the cat did, but apparently they can stay dormant, without feeding, for 4 months.
then when a new source of blood comes by, ie my feet, they get all lively again, start having baby fleas and live happily ever after

I got me some Flea Bombs (pyrethrin) and then it's Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum every single flipping day for ever.

* and we just realised the shower leaks into the computer room below ... the vendors just stuck some new tiles over the damp so we didn't spot it. Grrr.

[FionaH]

Ouch nasty! My friend just moved to a new house and it was so bad she had to rip the bedroom carpet up! Apparently the cats spent a lot of time up there. The very best of luck mate

[di]

Yuk!!Has brought back nasty memories of when my friends cat had kittens & she couldn't use flea treatment~I got home after a night out,took my shoes off~looked down & my foot was black!~I can hardly type it's made me go shivery remembering!!
Although they will bite humans(my boy reacts really bad!)I don't think they can survive without catblood!Good Luck~& you have my sympathies!

[Nicos]

Not nice!
As far as I am aware- cat fleas need cat blood to reproduce, so you'd only have one batch of eggs hatching- but of course you'd have to wait ages for them to hatch. ( that is if you don't have a cat!)
I think you'll have to get the house fumigated though????

[HeyWayne]

We had fleas once with our cats when we had them. It got to the point where I could stand in the bedroom, barefoot and the fleas seemed to home in on me. I then made my way to the bathroom where we had the bath half filled with water - I tried to drown them by standing in the water. It worked to a certain extent, but we ended up buying a flea "bomb". It was this thing you placed in the centre of the room set it off and ran - not to return for an hour or so from memory.

Now that did the trick!

[lynda66]

had the same problem when we moved into a new house, they hatched, and you could see thousands of them crawling through the carpet, and up the side of the bed.... YUKKKKKK spent a fortune on flea killers ..... which don't work, ended up phoning the council, who sent a man round and charged me £20 to spray the whole house, no more fleas after a couple of hours ..... bliss

[Two_Sheds]

The female flea needs cat blood to lay her eggs, but they will still feed voraciously off humans.
She lays fairly large eggs which are oval, white and translucent. White, legless larvae feed on a variety of materials. The flea larvae shed their skins two or three times over a 3-4 week period eventually spinning a flimsy, silken cocoon near the feeding area. This may be in the cracks in floorboards in a house (where ours are).

Depending on the temperature the adult fleas usually start to emerge from the pupae within about a month. However, the adult may remain within the cocoon until a potential host (human leg?) passes by and stimulates its final emergence. This ability to remain dormant in buildings over long periods is the key to their success, and makes them hard to eradicate.

[Two_Sheds]

If you've found 10 fleas on your pet, there are likely to be another 2000 eggs, larvae and pupae hiding around your house!

[Polly Fouracre]

I use a steam cleaner regularly around skirting boards, down the sides of furniture etc. We don't have carpets which helps tremendously. A steam cleaner will also kill flea eggs. I never use flea killer but (touch wood!) never have fleas even with ######ty dogs in the house!

[Two_Sheds]

We ended up buying a flea "bomb". It was this thing you placed in the centre of the room set it off

Now that did the trick!

That's what I've bought. You light the fuse, shut the windows/doors, and leave it to fumigate for 2 hours. Then open all the windows wide so you don't poison Mr Sheds when he comes home

I am washing all the bedding (again) at 50 degrees to kill any lurkers.

Then I have to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.
If it works, I'll do the big front room too (but how much carpet is 36 cubic metres? I can't work that out. I can just about work out squares, but not cubes)

[Two_Sheds]

I'm so itchy.

[Two_Sheds]

Apparently to hasten the removal of the fleas, I need to encourage all the eggs to hatch - by turning up the heating, or running the vacuum around (the vibration & warmth makes them think it's a snack)

I don't think I could bear to see thousands of them hatching and jumping around
I'm considering just pretending I never saw any to begin with

[HayleyB]

Apparently to hasten the removal of the fleas, I need to encourage all the eggs to hatch - by turning up the heating, or running the vacuum around (the vibration & warmth makes them think it's a snack)

I don't think I could bear to see thousands of them hatching and jumping around
I'm considering just pretending I never saw any to begin with

Oh dear poor you, there is a powder you can use not sure where you get it from maybe at vetuk (online) apparently it's for carpets and the like just in case the fleas aren't all killed on pooch.

Know how you feel though I remember how itchy I felt when my daughter had a couple of bouts of headlice

[lynda66]

thats why we don't have carpets,(except on the stairs) i mop all the floors once a week (including the stair carpet) and put a capful of flea shampoo in the water, and use frontline on the animals, it's very rare we find a flea now and if we do, it's usually dead or dying.

[Nicos]

We have our cats injected with Program every 6 months. It's expensive but prevents any fertile eggs. Each month the cats have Frontline on their necks, killing off any live fleas brought in from the garden.
Don't think I've seen a flea in the house for at least 10 yrs.

Never heard of flea bombs- sound good.

Keep at it 2sheds...you'll win eventually!!
( I recall flea bites from student days...boy they itch don't they????)