Anonymous asked 5 years ago
Hi my cat had fleas we had him treated at the vets but we don’t have him anymore we had the whole house bug bombed and were told to not hoover for 14 days. I feel like we should’ve hoovered cause we still have them. I’m finding small baby looking ones rather than big adults now. We’ve bug bombed ourselves twice more and hoovering regularly now but I’m still seeing them jump on me about four a day. I have set up heat light sticky pad traps and that’s catching some too. Next steps is to get all the carpets professionally cleaned. I have a lot of wood flooring so I think they are hiding in the cracks. How long can fleas live for just jumping on and off humans with no pet to feed from? I’m running out of ideas of what to do. Thanks.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Infestations usually take at least 8 weeks end. This is because 95-99% of the population are eggs, larvae, and pupae living in the environment. Adults only make up 1-5% of infestations.
The immature stages live in protected micro-habitats, often deep within carpets. Control efforts will likely not reach all of them. Patience is required until they all mature, emerge, and die. However, this should be the last generation without an animal host to reproduce on.
The small fleas you are seeing are newly emerged. They haven’t fed yet. They double in size once engorged on blood.
Without an animal host, the infestation should go away on its own. Like I mentioned, typically around 8 weeks. Flea eggs become adults in 17-26 days. However, some cocooned adults can elect to enter into a quiescent state (sleep) for up to 5 months. This can prolong infestations. Heat and pressure trigger them to emerge. Vacuuming can help simulate these host cues and force them to emerge earlier.
Emerged adult fleas can only live for around a week without an animal host to feed on.
Warm regards,
Adam
Annette Stanger
replied 5 years ago Thanks so much Adam. If they keep biting me and my son can they still keep surviving? We bug bombed the house three times in each room now and although I’m sure it’s had an affect we are still seeing a few. Thanks Annette
Adam RetzerThey shouldn’t be able to survive and reproduce on human blood. The only exception is human fleas (P. irritans). But this is a fairly uncommon species. It sounds like you have cat fleas (C. felis), and they can’t survive or reproduce on human blood.
