sarahmann asked 7 years ago
Hello,
we discovered fleas in our home about two months ago. We have two cats and had forgotten to treat them one month, however we didn’t find any fleas on either cat. They have been to the vet and are free from fleas.
However we have seen the fleas all over our house and our three year old has been bitten badly as have I. We sprayed and flea bombed our house and then moved out as we were having building work done.
The builders found no fleas and we thought we had got rid of them. However after a few weeks my husband returned to the house and went upstairs to be greeted by hundreds of fleas! We called out the pest control and they sprayed the entire house.
The house was then left again for a week or so. We moved back in this weekend and on our second night at home our three year old has been severely bitten again and I found three fleas in her bed.
My question is…are we at the end of a cycle? Do we need to spray the house again?
Many thanks
Adam Retzer Staff answered 7 years ago
Sarahmann,
Spraying the home again probably won’t do much. I am assuming an insect growth regulator (IGR) was used, which will remain effective for 7 months, preventing any new eggs and larvae from developing.
The adulticide in sprays primarily kills emerged adults fleas, which only account for 1-5% of infestations. And the adulticide doesn’t have a long-lasting residual effect. The bulk of the infestation are immature stages developing in the environment, often deep within carpets. There, they are somewhat protected from chemical treatments because sprays can’t penetrate. In order for your infestation to end, these immature stages need to mature, emerge, and die. This usually takes about 8 weeks from the initiation of treatment.
The reason why the fleas keep popping up is because the immature stages are maturing and emerging. The good news is there should be no new generation of fleas with the cats properly treated and the environment sprayed with an IGR. It’s just a bit of a waiting game now. Your infestation should be gradually getting better until it ends after about 8 weeks. One of the best things you can do to speed up the process is to regularly vacuum.
Hope this helps!
Adam
