Susan asked 8 years ago
Hi, thank you so much for this very informative site. I discovered the flea infestation three weeks ago. We have an indoor-only cat and a five-month old baby, and the baby spends a lot of time on the couch that the cat also sleeps on, so needless to say I was very worried. I treated the cat with spot-on (first Frontline, and Advantage after three weeks) and had our living room shag rug professionally laundered (the rest is hardwood floors and tile), and have been vacuuming the floor, rug and couch daily. I also applied the premise spray Knockout that has IGRs. However as it’s impractical to remove the baby, cat and other family members from our apartment for many hours, I have only treated one room at a time, and have not applied as much as recommended. I\\\’m still combing out a few fleas from the cat every day, and still getting bitten though much less so than when the infestation started. The situation is very stressful; I live in fear that the baby would be bitten or ingest a flea accidentally and get tapeworm. But I also don’t want to overtreat the house with a baby. Do you think the end is near? Is it enough to treat just the problem areas, or should I suck it up and spray the whole apartment at once? And lastly, is it possible to thoroughly treat our shag rug, or should I just throw it out? Your advice is greatly appreciated and thanks again.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 8 years ago
Susan,
It sounds like the procedures you’re taking should be enough. It will just take a bit more time. After treatment, it usually it takes around 8 weeks (sometimes longer) for the fleas to be completely eradicated. This is why spot-on treatments usually come with doses for 3 months.
Vacuuming is the most important manual action you can take. Vacuuming daily will go a long way in removing any emerged and emerging adult fleas. Thus, fleas won’t have a chance to have access to your baby.
Spraying the whole home isn’t necessary if you are worried about it. Stick to the problem areas (areas where the cat spends the most time). The IGR will remain active for 7 months, and is good for prevention. That said, some studies have shown that spot-on flea drops for pets can alone end mild to moderate infestations. Environmental control and vacuuming just greatly speed up the process, and add a layer of redundancy to ensure no fleas survive.
Definitely keep the shag rug. With the cat treated, the fleas won’t be able to lay viable eggs (effect of the IGR in the drops) even if they do feed and mate before succumbing to the adulticide. Without new eggs, there will be no new generation of fleas. The rug will be flea free in time, even if it is difficult to clean/treat.
Right now you are just waiting for all the immature stages in the environment to mature into adults and then die. The problem stage is the pre-emerged adult. After pupating, cocooned adults can remain quiescent for up to 5 months while they wait to detect heat and pressure, which indicate a host resting on the cocoon. They then emerge within seconds. Vacuuming is a good way to simulate these host cues and force emergence. You can also slowly walk on the carpeting and rugs to trigger emergence.
Hope this helps!
Adam
Susan
replied 8 years ago Thanks so much Adam. Your patience in answering the many questions you get is greatly appreciated. It really helps to hear from you while tackling this!
