Anybody know alot about fleas???

Question

I don't even have an indoor pet, or an outdoor pet for that matter! But there are kittens under my porch and a mama cat and a little dog that comes on my porch sometimes. Anyway, as I said I have no pets, but I think I have fleas in my house! I have unexplained bites all over my ankles and feet and I saw one or two tiny black bugs. My mom and sister who DO have indoor dogs said my bites look like flea bites! So...I don't know how they got in my house or how I got bit this many times and not know it or not have seen or felt apparently a hundred bugs! At first I thought they were mosquito bites. But now I don't know after seeing those tiny bugs. Anyway, does anybody know how they would have gotten into my house? What is the best thing out there to put on the bites to keep them from itching and bothering me? Any oral over the counter meds I can take or anything to rub on them? Also, what is the BEST way to get them OUT of my house?? Help!

Answer 1

Hi Sparrow,

you don't have to have pets to end up with fleas..the cats living under your porch is probably coated with them....and some have found their way into your house...a few fleas running around in your home will lay many eggs..and in no time your carpet can be coated in fleas...the best thing you can do ...is go get some raid flea bombs and set off ...they work really well..they kill the fleas running around and their eggs...I know from experience....there is something about my youngest sons chemistry..that fleas just dearly love..they will eat him up....in one night his legs were totally covered in flea bites...it was awful.....I got benadryl extra strength anti-itch cream to use on his bites ( this works great..it stopped the itching right away) and the bombs in a few hours killed the fleas...each spring and summer I watch for them...and the first signs.. one bite on his leg and I get the bombs....

Try the raid flea bombs and the benadryl extra strength anti itch cream....

Answer 2

In the summer months fleas can survive outside and be carried into the house.
You can transport fertile fleas into the home.
Visiting any public building - again you can bring them home.
Moving into a new house or flat - you can inherit a flea problem.
Fleas in the pupae stage can remain dormant for up to 9 months and then hatch when you walk into an empty property.

Seems like you will have to bomb your home and if you don't follow up with a second and/or third treatment, they will come back.

You need to repeat the bombing 10-14 days after the first one. If you want to be absolutely sure, do a third one and if these little babies you mentioned are close enogh to your home, the door the yard or if they get too close to you, fleas will hitch a ride on you into your home.

Fleas are a pain in the neck but easy to kill if you just do the right thing. It's not even too expensive.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Fleas are in the environment, so you may think it is just the dog, but it isn't... You need to treat the environment... You can do this a few different ways... there are products on the market that are pesticides (ie: sprays, bombs etc.) but there are other products that are herbal... Using an herbal product will take longer because they do not kill fleas they are repellents... Fleas live in all the cracks and crannies in your home. As for your dog ~ use either Frontline or Advantage ~ even with sensitive skin it is the best out there. You can also use a product called Program - - it is a pill so it does go into the bloodstream, but it works... And might be the best for your situation.

Answer 4

I feel so bad for you. . . But thanks for posting the question because I'm having the same problem and it's been a nightmare. I do have 2 cats but there both indoor, so I have no idea how the fleas got in. But I've tried everything these people have written. I really think the key is going to be to keep the fleas under control by repeating some of these methods. So far I have found that the RAID FLEA spray and VACUUM,VACUUM,VACUUM. . . are the best ways so far. So good luck I hope we can both get rid of them.

Answer 5

Another test is to try to pick up one of those little black bugs and see how fast they jump away from your hand. You can have bites on ankles and feet, at your waist, or your wrist area.

You say you don't have pets, but if I was to ask that dog and that mama cat, they would say you are their owner. You certainly are their landlord and they certainly have brought you fleas. I suspect that you are feeding them! At some time their fleas have jumped on YOU and come into your home where they are breeding and feeding on you.

Sad to say, anything you do is going to be undone by the cat, kittens and the dog. They will keep bringing the fleas back to reinfest you and your home! You need to get your Humane Officer out to capture them and take them away if you can't capture the cat and treat her and her babies. You also need to get rid of the dog if possible. A live capture trap would be the kindest way to capture the dog and the cat. If you can't bring yourself to turning the dog over to the Humane Officer, then capture him and treat him with Kennel Dip.

put anti-itch cream on your bites after you rub them with either alcohol or Absorbine Jr. You can try an antihistamine if you want to take an oral medication if the itching is a big problem. BUT...
what you need is to get them out from your home AND from the area under your porch.

FOR YOUR YARD:
Get a bag of Diazanon and sprinkle it over the grass to kill fleas and ticks. Do it for at least 20' distance from your home, or better yet, the entire yard.

FOR UNDER YOUR PORCH:
It would be best if you can get the cat and her kittens out of there first, but you MUST treat the area. Sprinkle Diazanon there as well. Get a bag of cedar chips and throw it under there as well. When the Diazanon dissipates, the cedar chips will make it unpalatable to fleas.

FOR YOUR HOME:
The longer the infestation has gone on, the more treatments it will take to get rid of them.

For a BAD infestation:

Go to Walmart; buy a bunch of bug bombs. Bug bomb your home after putting away any exposed foods. Use more bug bombs than they suggest... to get a really strong first treatment... Go relax somewhere else for at least 4 hours while the bug bombs do their job. If you have a basement (cellar) remember to set off one or two bombs there as well.

OK... that's step 1

Next, wait 4 days and repeat the house bug bombing, but you don't need to do it more heavy than recommended by the bombs. The reason for this is because the bombs kill the live fleas, but don't do much to the eggs and repeating every 4 days for 4-6 treatments will kill the next batches of fleas as they hatch.

Repeat this at least 4 times. You should not have any more problems. It does work... I don't recall if I did my home 4 or 5 or 6 times, but it really was fairly inexpensive and worked!

Answer 6

What you need to get is a flea bomb. I think you could get this at Pet Pros or some place like that. You could try Witch Hazel ointment for your bites. Also, one you get rid of the fleas, you might want to sprinke Borax on your carpet before you vacuum. You can buy it in the grocery store by the laundry detergent. It helps keep fleas from becoming a problem. But you should use Borax every time you vacuum.

Answer 7

To the previous answerer, and anyone else under this illusion - INDOOR CATS STILL GET FLEAS! Fleas enter houses - they're attracted to the warmth and the presence of a meal. Indoor cats still need to be flea-treated!

I would advise getting a housespray from a vets for yourself, they are far more effective than anything from a shop.

There are animals close to your house and they probably have fleas. As I said, fleas enter houses as easily as any bug!

Chalice

Answer 8

I usually set off flea bombs to get rid of the fleas in my house. You have to stay out of the house for a while but they work VERY well. To keep the bites from itching I would use rubbing alcohol because it always helps me out a lot!

Answer 9

If you dont like chemicals. penniroyal 5 drop to every 50ml in a spray bottle will kill them off. You must vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! Vacuum once to get rid of the lot of them after sparaying them, then throw away the bag, vacuum again in a week and so on and so on. Put dishes full of soapy water in the rooms with the fleas, with a candle near it--this will draw them to and into the water, killing them.

Vacuuming TOO MUCH will make them worse as it will hatch the eggs! Again, make sure you knock them out with a spray then vacuum, repeat every week. Rugs make the experience much worse but not impossible...

good luck! Happens to the best of us............

Keep all animals out of the house if you can, and if not make sure the animals get picked before going in of fleas, placing the fleas in a dish of soapy water to kill them. It will take about a month to eliminate them.

Answer 10

you can get fleas in your house any time an animal walks across your yard! fleas travel, and that's likely what happened.

there are many products on the market which you can use to get rid of fleas -- something with pyrethrins (spelling?) in it is adviseable. there are bombs, and also sprays.

i guess use calamine lotion for the bites? take care