Help! fleas but no cat

piggles1

Hi all

I've just moved into a new place and I'm being bitten all over when I'm in the house, leaving me with tiny red itchy spots.

When I had a cat I used frontline for him and we had no fleas. My cat sadly passed away a while back and I know flea treatment is different now with resistance to frontline I think. But I can't treat myself anyway.

I will likely get another cat at some point and flea treat it, but I don't want to let what I think are fleas multiply and make me even itchier than I am now! I have an old pot of rug patrol, but I'm wondering if there's something else I can use for the house that won't harm a future cat? I'm pretty sure they're flea bites, but I've not seen an actual flea yet.

Any suggestions welcome

HB58

It sounds as if there have been cats in the house in the past. The fleas have lain dormant for a while but now you have arrived and they are looking for food.

'Indorex' is a popular spray to use on the house, make sure you do around the edges of carpets etc. When you vacuum, throw the bag away (or empty if it is bagless) straight away so that the little blighters that are still alive can't crawl back out into the house.

I would tend to steer clear of the 'Bob Martin' stuff, even if I didn't have cats at the time, just to be on the safe side.

sheramber

There are several household flea sprays which last for several months.

A search online will find them - e.g Zodiac, Acclaim, Indorex.

You can't be too thorough with hoovering and spraying. Include under cushions, along curtains etc

Make sure you spray along skirting boards and in corners where fleas lay their eggs.

Remember you may have carried fleas on your clothing to all the rooms so treat everywhere.

Hoover very thoroughly and dispose of hoover contents safely outside to prevent any stray fleas escaping back into the house..

Some people put a flea collar in the hoover bag to catch any fleas that are hoovered up.

If you use a car.treat it also.
It is a lot of work but the only way to get rid of the blighters.

sangie595

Just be aware too that if flea treatments appear not to be working, it may not be fleas. Tiny red, itchy spots, especially all over the body and not just around the normally exposed skin, can also be bedbugs; and they are now rife in the UK. Although commonly found in beds, hence the name, they can live in any textiles, and they are a horror to get rid of - it needs professional fumigators to deal with them. It literally only takes something like a small overnight case in an infested site being placed on a bed or similar, and you bring home an unexpected souvenir of your short break!

piggles1

Thanks all for the comments

Yes it looks like the previous person had a cat. One jumper and long sleeved t-shirt seemed particularly itchy so I've stuck those in the wash.

I'll look up where to order the flea treatments from and do a good spray and hoover. I forgot the idea of putting a flea collar in the hoover bag, thanks for that!

I did wonder about bed bugs because I get bitten a lot evening and overnight, but often it's as soon as I walk in the door. I don't go away and am relatively self contained as in I don't bring things/people in or stay anywhere else. But something's trapping itself in my clothes.

It's probably a good idea to get a spray and go round everywhere. And then redo it when I've moved eveything into its proper place.

I don't want a poor new cat to be infested as soon as it gets here.

Slinky

Is this a rental property? If so draw it to your landlords attention that you've got a pest problem. If you can't solve it, you don't want him blaming you for the problem.

Mayflower10cat

Indorex is very good - though you may need several treatments to really get to the bottom of the problem. Follow the instructions carefully. Hoover like mad around peripheries of rooms and discard contents after every session.


There's a bizarre looking flea trap you can buy over t'internet that has a sticky pad on top and a tea light underneath (warmth attracts the fleas. I've not tried this, but I imagine you'd soon find out if it's animal fleas you're dealing with.

piggles1

Thanks all

My home made flea trap didn't work but I found a flea on me, so I've ordered some spray for the house. Apparently it's the same chemical that indorex uses, from the local independent pet shop. I'm not sure about it because none of you named it but I'll give it a go.