Adam Retzer Staff asked 7 years ago
Question moved from: How long will it take for all fleas to die after treating my home and cat
If I see one more flea I will lose it /:. Been dealing with them since September 2016 . I didn’t know what fleas were or looked like so unfortunately I had seen them in the house two months before that and just thought it was an annoying harmless bug . Well , after being bit all over and seeing the dogs scratch we got them treated at vet . But our house had them too /: we used tons of sprays a few raid bombs vaccumed like crazy AND had inside and outside exterminated TWICE and I just saw one on counch ?
I thought after the second time we were done with them as it has been two months since second extermination and I hadn’t seen them till tonight . I’m so frustrated . I had seen the dogs scratch a bit but we didn’t see any on them . I’m at my wits end and have dawn traps in each room. I’m hoping it’s just one that survived because it got mild out today (72 degrees live in the south it’s been cold warm back and forth) . I killed it but I know where there’s one flea there has to be another most likely. It looked small like early stage . This has been a nightmare and I definitely don’t want to start the new year with them again anyone know what I should do ?
Adam Retzer Staff answered 7 years ago
Carley,
I’m sorry to hear about your flea problem. It was probably pretty bad if it went untreated for months.
What pet treatments are you using, and for how long?
I think a lot of your concerns are addresses on our page How to Get Rid of Fleas. Please review this page. I’ll be happy to answer any further questions here though.
Generally, proper flea treatment involves: (1) treating pets with flea drops, (2) treating the premises with an insect growth regulator (3) vacuuming regularly. This is explained in more depth on the linked page. However, I’ll go over the important parts here:
Exterminator treatments usually aren’t as effective as people hope they will be. Carpets are where immature fleas develop, and carpets are a very difficult substrate to treat. Insecticides can’t penetrate through the fibers to the depth where fleas live. Thus, many of the fleas will be unaffected. Before the infestation completely ends, these environmental stages need to mature, emerge, and die. Upon emerging, if they find an untreated pet, they’ll mate and lay eggs, and the infestation will continue.
The most effective insecticides for the environment are insect growth regulators (IGR), either pyriproxyfen or methoprene. These compounds mimic natural insect hormones that regulate molting. Exposed eggs and larvae won’t be able to reach adulthood. Current fleas in the carpets may not be affected (penetration issue again). But IGRs last for 7 months indoors, and any new eggs falling into the environment won’t survive. Did the exterminator use an IGR? If not, you may want to spray some yourself. For example, Precor 2000 Plus.
Vacuuming is important because it removes a portion of the fleas from the carpets, at all stages. However, the most beneficial effect vacuuming has is that it causes pre-emerged adults to wake up and emerge. Without heat and pressure from the vacuum (or a host resting on the cocoons), the pre-emerged adults can stay quiescent for up to 5 months, waiting for a host. This stage causes a lot of control issues.
Usually it takes around 8 weeks for the infestation to completely end after all proper treatment is in place.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Adam
