Andrea asked 5 years ago
Hi! Today I found a flea on my dog. Tried to catch it but it was too fast… Checked the dog and did not find more. He is being treated every month, but this time we were 2 days late as we ran out of the anti-flea drops. After seeing the flea I treated my dog with something I had at home (it has no chemicals in it, it just creates a sticky surface on the dog and somehow suffocates the flea according to the instruction manual). I will pick up the regular drops tomorrow at the vet. I vacuum cleaned everywhere, especially the mattress on my bed where the dog also sleeps at night. This is where he was sitting when I saw the flea. Our bed has 4 drawers under the mattress where we keep our clothes. Since I could not catch the flea, I wonder if it’s possible it jumped/crawled into the drawers. Can the flea survive there? I try to keep my dog off the bed tonight but I am sure he will try to sneak on the bed. I am freaking out. What are the odds that we only had this single flea?
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Andrea,
The odds are low that the single flea will cause an infestation (you should know by now. I am sorry for the delayed response), especially because you seem to be on top of things. It’s likely that the flea just hitchhiked on the dog from outside.
If the flea survived long enough to feed and find a mate on the dog, it potentially could have laid eggs. And the eggs could have fallen off in the house to develop there. However, hatched larvae require flea feces and flea eggs for food. These foods only accumulate in the environment if fleas have been feeding and reproducing on the host for a while.
Fleas shouldn’t be attracted to drawers. The flea will starve to death quickly without a blood meal. It will be attracted to heat, movement, and changes in light (all cues that are indicative of a host). Drawers with clothes wouldn’t interest fleas. Drawers and clothes typically only get fleas on them when the infested dog or cat lays there, and eggs fall there to develop.
Warm regards,
Adam
