khristy asked 7 years ago
Good morning! I asked a question a few months back as I was dealing with an infestation of fleas. Unfortunately the infestation lasted for about four months and even after that I was still seeing a flea in January about once every week and a half to two weeks that would land on the sticky traps that I placed in the area where they’ve either been emerging from or hiding at. When I have the infestation I did everything… I vacuumed daily and threw the trash bag outside. I had orkin come and treat my house and they had to do multiple attempts because there were still fleas being seen on the sticky traps. I treated my cat with three different treatments and use capstar often out of fear that we are having a re-infestation. Unfortunately my kitty died the end of January and after a couple weeks, I went and purchased a cat from the animal shelter. The cat was treated with revolution the day that I took him home. Now keep in mind I was still seeing one flea on a sticky trap every two weeks or so. Well after having this new cat who has been treated with revolution for four days I notice he was crazy itchy. I ran a flea comb through and found five or six fleas! Now since he is treated with revolution, there’s not a lot more I can give him except for Stars, which I have been doing. For the last 36 hours I’ve been walking around with tall kneesocks out of fear again of another infestation, but haven’t even seen one jump on me. Now since the cat has joined my home, the weather has warmed significantly for February here in Indiana. My question is, should I expect to see a reinfestation in two weeks? Or are these fleas that are coming out of their dormant stage from the last infestation? Is this the last of it? Is there something else I should be doing?? I need to sell my house here in four months and I am just so fearful that this is going to be a constant battle. I just don’t understand why I’m still seeing these when my cats have been treated with revolution since the beginning of the infestation in August! Please help!
Adam Retzer Staff answered 7 years ago
khristy,
I am sorry to hear that you are still dealing with fleas. And I am sad to hear your cat has passed.
It’s strange that fleas are still in your home if you’ve been treating since August. No life stage can survive that long. The longest cocooned adults can live for is around 5 months. Perhaps a few fleas avoided the initial treatment and laid eggs, and you are now seeing the last of those emerging adults.
If your new cat is treated with Revolution and Capstar, then you shouldn’t be at risk of a re-infestation. Any of the final emerging fleas won’t be able to survive on the cat to mate and reproduce. Most likely, those fleas you found on the cat were new and hadn’t yet succumbed to the insecticide. But they shouldn’t have had time to reproduce.
Your problem seems a bit strange, as it has continued for quite some time. Unfortunately, it is hard to help in these situations from behind a screen. You may want to consider hiring professional pest control once more, and give them all the details of your situation, so they can assess the problem is person. Something odd could be going on, for example there may be a rodent problem in your home and you are seeing rodent fleas.
I am sorry I can’t provide more insight. It sounds like you’ve taken all the correct steps. An in-person evaluation is probably necessary if the flea problem continues.
Warm regards,
Adam
Sorry for the talk-to-text confusion. My current cat was treated with revolution and I am also giving him daily Capstars. -khristy