Losing Hope asked 6 years ago
Hello!
Im feeling super discouraged. I cat sat for a friend and had the cat in my house for two weeks at the end of August. Left for a trip the day after dropping the cat back to the owner and when I returned had a full on flea infestation in my apartment. The landlord had an exterminator come the first week of October and I called him back after still seeing fleas two weeks later. Since then I haven’t seen any live fleas but was getting the odd bite here and there. In the last week all of a sudden I’ve gotten over 12 bites on my body. I still have not seen a flea living or dead, I vacuumed diligently through October. Is there a reason for this sudden resurgence? I don’t have any pets and this seems so extreme for having had an animal in the house for two weeks, also the owners claim the cat did not have fleas when they received it and did not have any trouble at their house. When will I finally be flea free? Hesitant to call the landlord as the three month guarantee from the pest control is over and I don’t want to get into an unnecessary extra cost, but I’m starting to go a little crazy :/ thanks for your help!
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Hello,
If you haven’t seen any living or dead fleas in a while, it may be a good idea to purchase a flea trap or two and place them in rooms where you noticed fleas in the past. Flea traps aren’t great for control, but they are useful for monitoring populations and detecting fleas.
Most infestations end in around 8 weeks after control of host removal. However, some cocooned adult fleas can enter into a quiescent (dormant-like) state for up to 5 months. So the longest you should have a problem is around 6 months after the cat left.
Since you are still having a problem after 6 months, something strange is going on. It would probably be a good idea to have pest control out again. Ask them to identify the flea species. Almost all infestations are cat fleas (C. felis) and dog fleas (C. canis). They can’t survive or reproduce on human blood. Human fleas (P. irritans) can, but they are a much more rare species.
I apologize for the delayed response.
Adam
