Neicyree asked 6 years ago
Hello! I just recently saw my cat scratching. I saw him scratching for 2 days before i decided to wipe him down with a wet cloth. I saw flea dirt come off of him. My other cat started scratching as well. I closed them off to one room for now and have been treating my entire house and vacuuming my sofas and carpets twice a day and spraying it everyday with flea spray. I have washed our bedsheets so far twice. The cats were treated with one of those topical monthly treatments and we go into the room twice a day and brush them and wipe them down with flea spray and we clean up about 10 dead fleas a day for the past two days. Today i believed it decreased. Also before we put them in a room me and my son got bit a few times but now that they are in the room no one gets bit unless we go there. I have yet to see a live flea only dead ones. I just want to know if i am following the right steps and precautions! (We also empty vacuum cleaner everytime to be safe! It is bagless)
When will i know we are flea free? Are there any signs? And am i doing a good thing by quarantining the cats? Ive read some mixed reviews but ever since putting them in a separate room i am no longer getting bit. I am also 5 months pregnant so i am worried about being bit!
Also would this be considered a bad infestation or a mild case of fleas? I am so beyond paranoid!
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Neicyree,
It sounds like you are taking the correct steps.
Ensure you continue the monthly pet treatments for the recommend duration on the labels (usually 3-4 months). 95-99% of fleas are immature stages living in the environment. If they mature and emerge and find an untreated pet, then the infestation will continue or restart. You shouldn’t need to wipe the cats down with flea spray if they are treated with flea drops.
Here is some more information on how often to vacuum.
You shouldn’t need to spray so often. The most important ingredient in the spray is the insect growth regulator (IGR), either pyriproxyfen or methoprene. The IGR will stay active for 7 months indoors.
Usually it takes around 8 weeks for fleas infestations to resolve. But it can be difficult to know when you are completely flea free. Deploying some flea traps in infested rooms can be helpful. Traps aren’t very useful for control, but they are useful for assessing populations. Another thing you can do is walk around infested rooms with long white socks, and then count the fleas that jump onto the socks.
Quarantining the cats shouldn’t matter much. The only downside is that they won’t go to their old favorite resting places, which will be flea hot-spots. If they were allowed there, the emerging fleas would jump onto the treated cats and die. This can help eliminate the fleas faster. However, if you are vacuuming regularly, this shouldn’t be an issue.
The infestation sounds moderate or average.
Warm regards! I hope this helps.
Adam
