Natalie asked 8 years ago
Hi! Firstly, I’d like to say this website is brilliant. So informative. Thank you. Our neighbour’s cat has benn spending a lot of time in our house, sleeping on our sofa and occasionally sneaking upstairs, but recently he had fleas. I only realised he’d left them at our house when my children started to get bites on their legs and torsos while sitting on the sofa. Once I realised what had happened, I told the cat’s owners and they treated him, but we’ve now stopped him coming in, so there are no pets in the house now. Seven days ago, we set off some flea floggers that contained adulticide and IGRs both upstairs and downstairs. I’ve washed the sofa covers, curtains and blankets on hot washes (60°C) and have vacuumed the whole house every day all week. I’ve got electric flea traps which I put in the bedrooms during the day (with curtains closed) and downstairs at night. I’m now working my way around the house doing a thorough clean and declutter of each room. Happily, we’re not getting bitten anymore, but my flea traps are catching one or two fleas a day in total. I was thinking about fogging and spraying around the edges of all rooms again, once I’ve finished the room cleaning – maybe on Friday which will be two weeks after the initial treatment. Do you think this is a good idea? Also, I’m exhausted from vacuuming the whole house everyday, and I’m feeling very anxious. How long do you think I should keep doing the daily vacuuming for? How long do you think, without a cat in the house, we’ll continue to see fleas? Do you have any further advice? I really can’t bear the thought of my children getting bitten again, or a visitor, or us taking fleas out with us and infesting others! Many, many thanks for your help.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 8 years ago
Hello Natalie,
Thanks for the compliments on the site. I’m glad you find it informative. I’ve deleted the duplicate question.
You shouldn’t need to use a flea fogger or spray again. The IGR will stay effective for 7 months. And the adulticide in the treatment isn’t that useful, because, for the most part, it only kills adult fleas (which there will be very few of at any given time). The adults will continue emerging as the young fleas mature. Vacuuming in the most effective way to eliminate them. The traps will help as well.
Since you don’t have pets, vacuuming every day isn’t necessary. Vacuuming that often is useful for removing freshly fallen eggs from the carpets. Without pets, there will be no new eggs. Still, you will want to vacuum regularly, at least a few times a week, to remove the emerging adults from the carpets. You can focus on hot-spots where the cat spent the most time, as these areas will be where the eggs fell and developed.
You’ll likely continue to see a few fleas here or there for around 8 weeks, with diminishing numbers as time goes on. The problem stage is the cocooned pre-emerged adult, which can stay quiescent for up to 5 months. The cocooned adults will emerge within seconds once they detect a host (heat and pressure). Vacuuming is the best way to simulate these host cues and force emergence.
The flea traps you’re using are useful for determining when the infestation is over, and for estimating the population size.
To prevent bites while you wait for the fleas to disappear, you may want to consider having your family wear pants and socks, and then tuck the pant legs into the socks. Fleas can’t bite through most fabrics.
Warm regards,
Adam
Natalie
replied 8 years ago Thank you so much for your reply. It’s very reassuring. Best wishes. Natalie.
