steff asked 7 years ago
Hello, I live in a shared house where last June my housemate’s cat brang fleas inside, especially in my room (where it wasn’t allowed to be, but a couple of times it jumped on my bed while the door was opened).
The cat has been treated by the vet after about a week and I’ve been bitten at least 100 times in few days.
My landlord used fleas bombs twice in all the house, I washed bedsheet and vacuumed many times, I also used a flea home spray in the cracks of the wooden floor, but I still kept to be bitten and found them on me or in a little trap with a light bulb that I bought – that by the way didn’t work but attracting them I’ve been able to kill few.
A professional pestice control company has beencalled twice in the last 10 days: the guy used a spray that seemed like the one I’ve got, but still I found bites on me.
THe company told me to wait at least a week without washing or vacuuming the floor to let the poison kill other fleas.
It has been 1 month and half and I’m almost getting crazy, so I decided to move out in the end of the month, but now I’m terribly worried to carry fleas with me (in bags or clothing) and start an infestation in the new flat.
Is that possible? I’ve never been bitten outside my house, but I’m very scared of starting the nightmare again.
If there’s the risk, how can I avoid that?
Thanks very much
Stefania.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 7 years ago
Stefania,
It usually takes around 8 weeks for infestations to completely end once the animal host is treated.
95-99% of infestations are eggs, larvae, and pupae living in the environment. They live deep within carpets or other harborages. Chemical treatments aren’t all that effective, because they can’t penetrate deep enough. For the infestation to end, the young fleas must mature, emerge, and die. They will die upon jumping on the treated pet.
Environmental treatments with an insect growth regulator are useful because they will prevent newly fallen eggs and larvae from reaching adulthood. But those already living in the environment will likely not be affected much.
Most eggs will reach adulthood and emerge within 30 days. However, sometimes cocooned adults can enter a quiescent (dormant-like) state for up to 5 months. This can prolong the infestation or cause re-infestation. And this is why pets are usually treated for at least 3 months.
Flea traps generally aren’t great for control. But they are useful for detecting fleas and assessing populations.
It’s possible that you may bring fleas with you to the new place, but not likely. Items to be concerned about are those which are on the floor, or those which the cat may have rested on. This is because flea eggs are laid on the host, and drop from the host.
The good news is that without pets in your new place, the fleas won’t be able to survive even if you unknowingly bring them with you. You are likely dealing with cat fleas (C. felis) or dog fleas (C. canis), and these species can’t survive or reproduce on human blood.
Warm regards,
Adam
