deeuk70 asked 6 years ago
I recently took pity on a neighbours cat who always seemed to be outside and from time to time let him sleep on my sofa, and sometimes even my bed. I noticed about 2 weeks ago that he was scratching a lot, and I quickly banned him from the bedroom. Ten days ago I stopped him coming into my house altogether as he was still scratching, almost constantly..Over the past week, I have been systematically eaten alive in both my living room and my bedroom by cat fleas, I have no intention of allowing this cat back into my house again, and I don’t have any animals of my own (and neither do I ever want any after this episode), I’ve tried excessive vacuuming, spraying flea spray in hotspots, sprinkling rock salt and baking powder, sprinkling flea killer powder, I even set candle and night light traps .. it’s been a stressful week. But still the little buggers keep coming back, and I keep getting what can only be described as creeping flesh, where it feels vaguely like something is biting me when I am sat on the bed or sofa but I almost feel like I’m being paranoid too.
Please could you tell me how long this will go on? .. I’ve already cut the cat out of the equation, so the host has been permanently removed.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
deeuk70,
I am sorry I took so long to get to your question. I hope the problem has ended by now, or is close to ending.
Usually it takes 2-3 months for an infestation to completely end once the host is removed from the home, or the home and pets are properly treated. Immature flea stages (eggs, larvae, and pupae) make up 95-99% of the infestation. They develop hidden in the environment. Many live in protected microhabitats (e.g. base of carpets), so control efforts can’t reach them easily. Thus, patience is required while you wait for them to mature into adults and then die.
In homes, it takes flea eggs 17-26 days to become adults. Unfortunately, the pre-emerged adult state causes extended longevity. Adult fleas can elect to stay inside their cocoons and enter into a quiescent (dormant-like) state for up to 5 months while they wait to detect a host. Most don’t enter this state, but some will. Heat and pressure will cause the pre-emerged adults to immediately wake up and emerge from their cocoons. Vacuuming is one of the best ways to simulate these host cues and force earlier emergence.
I hope this helps. And sorry again for the late reply.
Warm regards,
Adam
