Emma asked 6 years ago
Hi, Firstly, thank you for your excellent site – it\’s the best I\’ve come across. We are trying to deal with a flea infestation. We\’ve tested our cats twice, had the council in who have treated the house and dry cleaned almost all of our clothes. We\’re two weeks in and, as expected, were still seeing fleas. I understand that cycle but I just have a few questions and am hoping you can put my mind at rest as I\’m concerned the cycle won\’t break: 1) can fleas lay eggs on places other than the host? Our cats are treated so I\’m hoping nothing can be hatched on them. Do I need to be concerned if I see a live flew on my sofa for instance? Can it hatch eggs here? If so, my worry is I\’m going to have to keep fogging etc. I saw one woman posted that she saw a flea lay an egg on her sofa! Or is it the case that that flew will soon die as it has no blood source and I don\’t need to worry about the eggs on upholstery (all originally treated) as they can only lay eggs on the host? 2) I have found a few fleas on my cats since treatment. They were slow so I\’m guessing dying, but one jumped. Could this be one that has jumped on. The cat from elsewhere and the advocate treatment hadn\’t got it yet? In other words, if live fleas jump on to the cat that\’s treated, how long should it take to kill them? I like to think that my cats are taking out all live fleas jumping on them but I\’m just not sure. I\’d really appreciate your help! Thanks, Emma
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Hello Emma,
1) Fleas only lay eggs on their host (in extremely rare circumstance they may get knocked off the host and lay eggs before they starve). The adult fleas stay on their host once they jump onto it. They can’t lay viable eggs until they feed for at least 24 hours from the host. And they must mate to lay eggs, and fleas find a partner and mate on the host. I am not sure how to interpret that woman’s ancedotal report of seeing a flea lay an egg on a sofa.
The eggs aren’t sticky though. They fall wherever the infested animal roams. So you may find fleas on your sofa if your cat spent time there. However, if your cat is treated, the fleas shouldn’t have a chance to lay new eggs. You’d only have to worry about fleas developing there that started as eggs before you began treatment.
2) Most pet treatments should kill fleas within a few hours. They won’t die immediately upon reaching the host, but they should die shortly after. So it’s not uncommon to see fleas here or there on treated pets, especially considering 95-99% of infestation are immature fleas in the environment and they will be maturing into adults and looking for a host.
Let me know if you have further questions!
Warm regards,
Adam
