Fleas infest homes despite pet treatments

“I'm 14, and my family (mom, dad, older brother, younger brother) recently found fleas in our house. This is the second time. The first time, we had quite a bit of fleas. We checked our 3 dogs and they were crawling in their crotches. It maybe took 4 weeks to 2 months to resolve the issue and we really weren't that bothered. We didn't even do that much, and they just went away. This time , we found 1 stray flea on the ground. It jumped on my dad's foot while I was gone, and they w”

“So I'm just wondering what all else I can do tonight to hopefully avoid an infested house of fleas. For context I have 3 cats. I had 2 cats until Friday, (5 days ago) I really should of check the new kitten for fleas but I didn't and I'm kicking myself in the ass for it. Anyways I found a flea after I was petting him and immediately took him to the bath and washed him off. I didn't own a flea comb so I just kept using my fingers to scrub him down as much as I could. I got like ro”

“I have a cat at home. The thing is this bug randomly appeared at my desk at work. If this is a cat flea, that would apply that it got onto me from home. I’m not exactly sure if it came from my body since it just randomly appeared on my desk. Can anyone ID it for me? Thanks submitted by /u/RandomSupremacy [link] [comments]”

“Partner and I just moved in earlier this month to an apartment where previous tenant had a cat. Wasn't long until we found fleas (we do not have pets.) It thankfully doesn't seem too severe, but it's something we're still having to resolve. I was talked out of using floggers and was adviced to vaccuum daily/ leave bowls of soapy water under lamps/ heat source. Admittedly I haven't been vaccuuming daily once we went days of not seeing new fleas in the water, and I was beginnin”

“I use Capstar but the price adds up, I bathe him in Dawn a few times a week and they’re back in a day, I vacuum constantly ….. I’m exhausted submitted by /u/yippykynot [link] [comments]”

“been suspecting fleas for about 2 weeks, jumped on it immediately vacuuming every day, sprayed the rugs/under couch cushions with virbac ES, flea collecting with monthly flea med from the vet. pretty much exactly at the 2 week mark. submitted by /u/HotRecover2117 [link] [comments]”

“My neighbors dogs are infested with fleas, and have been passing it to mine. We’ve gotten them a flea collar, flea prevention treatments, on an oral preventative chewable every 2 days, and have had our house sprayed twice (inside and out) . I just found fleas in my house on our bed and the dogs room. I have two small kids and I think we’re all getting flea bites. I don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions? The neighbor could care less, their one dog has had 4 litters since we moved here 3 yea”

“Hi! I’m in a new Airbnb with my two indoor cats who have never had fleas in the past. I just found a couple of these bugs on the couch and more showed up when I vacuumed. Wanted help with an ID so I can know what my next steps are. Photos are lower quality because they’re screenshots of videos I can’t post and the bugs are in the vacuum canister. submitted by /u/zabbie13 [link] [comments]”

“Live in a country where cats are indoor and outdoor and we have livestock all around our house so we use a preventative every 3 months. i usually use the 3 monthly topical bravecto on our three cats for literal years, the treatment before the current ones I noticed my short haired cat had a small bald spot where the treatment was (it is still bald 3 months later) it was time for their new dose so for this cat I decided to go for a different brand that only covers one month to see if It would not”

“Has anyone used tempo sc inside for flea treatment? Is it pet friendly? I don’t have a lot of fleas but I want to stay on top of it. Thank you!! submitted by /u/Sensitive_Kiwi1171 [link] [comments]”

“I have read the sticky but don’t have an answer for my specific question. I found fleas on my bed the other day and promptly treated my cat(vet prescribed flea medication). I removed my sheets and have been vacuuming (waiting for Al pine). Before I found the flees I removed a quilt from my bed and placed it in my closet where I keep all my clothes, linens, and towels. The quilt was touching some of my hanging clothes. I was worried that the quilt had fleas so I made a DIY trap and caught one fle”

“A stray cat brought fleas into our garage but the garage is completely full of stuff. We aren't allowed to move any of the clutter since the owners told us not to but we need in the garage for maintenance. How should we tackle this flea problem? submitted by /u/Sad-Berry-325 [link] [comments]”

“Hey, I'm turning to help online because what I've been doing isn't working it seems We have three cats, two being indoor/outdoor and one being mostly indoor by her own volition, and her being the cleanest of all the cats, but her also seeming to be patient zero. This happened maybe a month ago. Since then I've used Virbac spray on so.many surfaces but stopped that because of price and and I thought the bombs would work better, I've bought two Seresto collars from Chewy becaus”

“A month or two ago, we fostered a kitten and didn't realize he had fleas until a few days before he was given away. The lady who gave him to us apparently didn't give him a proper bath or something I guess. We have two indoor cats.. Guess who has fleas. They both do. We've used both topical medicine which didn't work at all and capstar which definitely got rid of a lot but they still had some. The fleas are in my bedroom since they mostly hang out there. Also in the living room I”

“I need advice. I found fleas on my cats two weeks ago. As soon as I noticed it I bathed them and got them on vet prescribed flea treatment. I vacuum everyday, I cleaned all my clothes and anything else I could clean. Vacuum the couch regularly and then deep vacuum it every few days. Pest control came out yesterday and as soon as I was able to go back home I gave the cats another bath. They’re hanging out on my bed right now. I’ve been sleeping with the bare minimum, a small blanket and a couple”

“had my house treated for bed bugs the other week with pesticide so doubt it’s that. my cat goes out hunting and i found some fleas on him but this one wasn’t jumping. I did treat him with a spot on so wondering if it’s a flea that’s bitten and dying? otherwise unsure what it is? it definitely fed on blood as when i killed it blood was inside. moving very slowly, bulbous and has antennas and legs. i sent the image and a video to my pest control guy but he said it’s a beetle i dont think he’s corr”

“Looking for some advice from pest control/flea professionals because I’m starting to worry that we aren’t getting ahead of this. We first noticed fleas on our 50 lb Goldendoodle around the end of August. At the beginning I found quite a few on him (probably around 9-15) along with flea dirt. Since then we’ve been treating both the dog and the house pretty aggressively. The house has been professionally treated 2x times, with the most recent treatment this past Saturday. I’ve also been vacuuming”

“A bunch of people in our community have been having serious flea problems. My boyfriend and I have been very cautious as we both have a cat. We have been putting preventive flea treatment on them all summer as a precaution. Over the weekend our cats both started itching and when we ordered more flea treatment and went to put it on them saw a single flea on each of them. Immediately washed them and didn’t see anything else. Cleaned everything in the house and sprayed this cat safe treatment every”

“Hi guys, a short TLDR to start, Consistently cleaning for me is not an option, and my brother and mother are out of the picture. If cat is treated consistently, will a flea infestation go away over time? Full story, About a year ago my mother had a heart attack, and is subsequently disabled. Since then, it’s been me my brother and I in the same house. The entire house is carpeted. My mom cannot go downstairs due to her disability, so it leaves my brother and I to help with stuff like laundry or”

“I have a Severe flea infestation in my basement. Actually severe doesn’t even cover it. We have 4 cats all indoor cats but we have had fleas for what feels like a year! I have my cats treated but nothing touches it. It has only gotten worse to the point; I have contacted a few exterminators but none of gotten back to me yet. Even when I treat the cats; flea bath them and comb them there is so many on them it’s just unbearable. My basement has gotten to the point that the second you walk onto the”

“We have two dogs who DO NOT have fleas. We believe the fleas were brought to our home by a family member who has animals in their home with fleas. They were at our home for maybe 2-3 hrs. So far we have seen 3 fleas. One in our 1 year olds room, one in the basement, and one in the kitchen. The only carpeted areas in the house are two bedrooms, and the basement. There are rugs in the kitchen and living room. We have bought two of those flea traps with the light and have caught none in the two day”

“I have no idea where they came from. I do have a dog and in all the 4 years of having him he has never had fleas. He randomly got them and now they are taking over our house. I’m being bit and so is my fiancée. We have a vet appointment Friday to get by mouth flea medicine for our dog. In the past we have had much luck with flea collars. The flea collar is doing nothing now, and the topical ointment is doing nothing also. We have been spraying, vacuuming, washing everything. I’m about to buy a s”

“Hello! (excuse the sock marks) I'm hoping that these are not flea bites but I think they are... I found a kitten outside my house about a month ago (she was around 1 pound and had fleas) I've kept her in a separate room in my house and sometimes I'll play with her in the living room etc. I took her to the vet. I've gone twice and they haven't given me anything to treat fleas until this last visit but I have to wait a week so she can get a bit more chunky. They just mentioned”

“About 10 days ago ago, my husband and I started noticing getting bit by fleas at home. We don't have pets, and haven't had a pet over in months. At most, we've been getting between 2 and 7 bites a day. We are vaccuming every other day, steaming furniture and mattresses, and washing/drying stuff on max heat. We've set lamp + glue traps, and are getting a couple fleas per day in those. He's checked the crawlspace and said there aren't any animals living there. Do we need to”

“Please forgive me for how long this is going to be. I am in a very fragile state being postpartum and professionals are brushing off our concerns, so this may be a bit of word vomit. My husband and I recently moved into an old house with a newborn, an indoor cat, and a dog who is too afraid to go for walks so only goes out to the front yard. This rental has been one issue after another, and as new parents it has been very hard on us mentally and physically. The worse issue so far are the fleas.”

“My cat received Nexgard Combo for fleas today. That was about 7 hours ago. For the last 40 minutes or so, she's been running around the apartment like crazy and panting heavily. She's 7 months old, and my male cat (11 months) also received the medication, but he's just scratching more than he was this morning. These are my first cats, and I have no idea if this is normal with flea medication or if it's a serious problem. I read online that cats can become restless when the medica”

“The complex cat entered our home a few times. Kids loved her. She was pregnant. Few weeks later, there's fleas where she went. Mostly in the basement. Now the basement is full of clothes not in bags. In piles. 5 kids will do that. Goal is to wash in hot water all the clothes and bag them. Once that's done, what can we do? Wash the floors obviously. Do we need to bomb the place? Also going to vacuum all beds and bedding as well to make sure. Thanks for your help submitted by /”

“My cat only lives in one room of the house, he doesn’t leave the room due to dogs, he’s very comfortable in here. The problem is that it’s infested with fleas. I gave him a topical treatment (petarmour plus) and it did nothing, he’s covered. And I can’t get a better/more expensive one for a month since you can’t mix them. I have hardwood floors which I’ve heard is easier to get rid of them. I tried vacuuming everyday and sprayed flea spray everywhere for a week and they just came back. I hate se”

“Hi everyone! I recently welcomed a new kitten into the house, unfortunately she’s brought some unwelcome friends with her. I’ve bought an OTC spot on (frontline) and while she is old enough to have it, she’s about 100g under the recommended weight. Will I be okay to treat her? Or is it baths and combing until she puts on the extra 100g • ⁠Species: Cat • ⁠Age: 8 weeks • ⁠Sex/Neuter status: unspayed • ⁠Breed: Moggy • ⁠Body weight: 909g • ⁠History: N/A • ⁠Clinical signs: itching but not excessive •”

“So Ive been trying to find the safest option to kill fleas for my cats but everything I've read either has terrible side effects like seizures and chemical burns or others just flat out dont work. My cats are 2 years and the other 6 months and they both have collars currently that dont seem to be working in the slightest. I need to know what is the best option to get or if I should just go to my local vet and have them take care of it I just dont want to spend a shit ton of money if it wont”

“So I have 5 cats and I started noticing fleas in the house about a month ago. I had never dealt with fleas before so I spent a lot of time researching about what to do to prevent a full blown infestation. I am really strapped at the moment and don't have a lot to dedicate to treatments, so at first I just gave them all dawn baths and combed them regularly. This didn't do anything so I got Simple Source flea and tick spray and thoroughly sprayed all the carpets and furniture. I also start”

“Last year I had a horrible case of fleas in my manufactured home. 5 professional treatments, I used precor 2000 three times, daily vacuuming, laundry, deep cleaning, the whole nine. 8 months of this and towards the end we discovered that a raccoon that kept knocking my skirting down and going up under my crawlspace into my insulation had severely infested my subfloor and walls, therefore everything we did was a waste of time, it had to just run it's course! After that I nailed my skirting to”

“About a month ago I started getting bites while I was sleeping. The welts were ranging in size and they were in somewhat of a line, so after a week or so (I'm not home all the time) I removed my mattress toppers, sheets, blankets, and put on a mattress protector, discarded the toppers and blankets, and replaced that blanket. Additionally, I slept in long sleeves, pants, and long socks. I was still getting bites, not as much but still between 3-6. Around week two I found the culprit-- a flea.”

“About two months ago I noticed a single flea on my kitten (5 months old now.) I started vacuuming everything in the house, cleaning everything I could every day. I also sprayed around the house every week with pesticides that said it also kills fleas in all life stages. A week passes by and the fleas haven't stopped. I live with my partner and his father. His father is stubborn to say the least. I notify them that I've been cleaning every day, washing all of our clothes and the pet beddi”

“Okay so I live in a home with my mom, 6 cats, and 2 dogs. Im fairly certain none of my animals have a flea problem, but there are still so many everywhere. In my bed right now i can count 6 and thats only what i can see. my mom refuses to do anything about it and its driving me insane. is there a way to just get rid of all the fleas in my room?? i cant stand these things any more and my mom wouldn’t let me try to solve the problem in the whole house. submitted by /u/zenzparadox [link”

“I recently got a cat, and was thinking about buying a flea collar for him, but when I asked our vet, he said they do not work for these reasons -flea collars were thought to work because fleas and ticks would have to cross over the neck collar to get water from the eyes - turns out they get water from the blood of the animal and don’t need to actually cross the neck I can’t really find anything about it online, but I believe the vet, is there any reading I can do about this? Thank you!! su”

“Recently my cat was found to have fleas. We got him on Senergy which was prescribed by our vet, then absolutely nuked our house. Everything washed from curtains to clothes. Couches vacuumed and sprayed. Floors powdered and vacuumed, to include under all furniture. Sprayed base boards with stuff, continue to wash, vacuum, etc daily. Cat is combed multiple times a day, and we still are pulling up to a dozen very energetic fleas off of him. We've also been doing flea baths every other day or ev”

“She is half a kilo and has hundreds of flea eggs falling off her 24/7 the vet sprayed her with something that should kill them overtime but we’ve had to quarantine her since. We’re so scared of there being an infestation. I need them gone asap it’s so difficult seeing the crawl on her face and seeing the eggs in her wake. We’ve used a house spray but I want to bathe her to get all the poop and eggs gone. Is baby shampoo okay or will it hurt her? Is this safe to use on her? submitted by &#3”

“My kitten is 7 weeks old and when we got him (at 4 weeks) as any other kitten , he had fleas. 1,5 weeks later he was clear but I was still brushing him occasionally just in case. Also I was sweeping the house every night and even used a steam cleaner on my couch and carpets (kitty was only allowed at first on the kitchen and living room) . 2 weeks later I wake and I see that he is scratching on and on close to his ear so I check ! And I see a flea !! I wasn’t fast enough so I didn’t manage to ge”

“anyone else deal with a flea infestation this year? my cat is treated on revolution plus but we still dealt with an infestation in the house, my exterminator thinks it’s the crazy heat and humidity california has been having. it’s been almost a month now and I haven’t seen a live one in a while but I am traumatized. It feels like I can’t relax and I don’t know when my house will feel like my home again. anyone have similar experiences? submitted by /u/letsgomeow [link] [comment”

“I have my kitten for a month, and he iis on ampoule for 3 weeks now, today I sprayed the place with powder for the third time, I'm doing it weekly and don't vacuum daily because the powder needs to sit on the surface to work, so I leave it for at least a few days before vacuuming. Today I saw a live flea, I usually only see a few dead fleas daily in his bedding, so this was unpleasant. He also doesn't have any flea dirt on him and nothing really falls off when I comb his back and tai”

“I recently moved into a new apartment. Turns out it had fleas. I’m 99% sure they are from the prior tenant who had a cat. I’ve mainly noticed them in the living room where I’ve encountered 10 out of the 11 fleas and am sleeping on a pullout couch. The other flea I found on my leg in the bathroom after waking up. I was hoping they would be aggressive in the spray application, especially since my apartment is still sparsely furnished. However, they insisted they only needed to spray the living roo”

“So we have 4 cats and a dog, always up to date on flea treatments and "billy no mates" supplement as prevention. One of my cats escaped a week ago, this means we should have done the treatments earlier, but with lack of money, only having 1 set of treatments for all or them left and it being due tomorrow - we decided to leave it. We have been checking the animals everyday, no signs. And we haven't seen any or been bitten. Until last night my husband saw one on his leg. We decided t”

“We have a major flea problem in our house. Our two cats are indoor cats but the neighbors have a cat and a dog that go outside. We’ve done all the things to get rid of them but they always come back. I have a theory that the fleas are crossing through the wall heater from the neighbors who have an identical heater on the other side of the wall. We don’t ever run the heater and the pilot light is off. I read that it can be dangerous to seal off the heater even if the pilot is off but we’re losing”

“hello! i have a 5 year old cat named Zelda. she is allowed to go outside, and today i noticed a flea so i gave her the usual treatment which is vectra felis around 12 or 1pm. then she went outside and came to cuddle around 4pm. i started smelling a weird smell like rotting fruit, and i thought it was coming from the house. but it was from my cat. around her head but not on other parts of her body or inside her mouth. I am not sure what it means, and it’s been a couple of hours. Now it is more fa”

“We brought two older kittens home about 6 weeks ago. One had tapeworms, we treated that and thought we were good. However a few nights ago as I’m cuddling one kitten IN MY BED I realize he has a handful of fleas crawling all over him. The next morning we did Capstar for both as well as a topical. We did vacuum everything and laundered all bedding and blankets. Unfortunately tonight I just found more live fleas on one cat. We have a 3 story house and these cats roam and mess around EVERYWHERE we”

“TL;DR; I have been fighting a flea infestation for 3+ months and I keep finding flea dirt on my cat. No active fleas spotted in the house but my cat started getting bold spots from overgrooming. I struggle with depression and chronic fatigue and my budget is very limited (no access to a vacuum, no IGR sprays where I live, no professional pest control). I decided to quarantine my cat to an unfurnished room that I clean weekly for 2 months, while I continue with the monthly nexgard combo spot on t”

“Currently battling fleas in the house. Luckily, I think we caught it early. We are spraying everything every week and after we spray precor the number of noticeable fleas decreases drastically. I put out some flea traps to monitor what the population is like but i’m not sure what is good. If I find 1-5 can I assume that I’ve successfully stopped the cycle? submitted by /u/Glittering-Ad-7195 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! What’s the best flea treatment for dogs? I’m not sure which ones to avoid and which ones are good! Bonus points for flea treatments for cats.. I have one dog and one cat submitted by /u/Lost-Alfalfa-8894 [link] [comments]”

“I got a kitten and it has fleas, I used advantage topical medication and they keep coming back a week later (it works for all my other cats but for him i’ve used it 3 different times in a month with no success). I got him a flea collar yesterday but he still has fleas?? submitted by /u/Spiritual-Ride-7543 [link] [comments]”

“Long story short, we found about 10 fleas on my dog last Thursday. He was wearing a seresto but we think it was too loose. We immediately bathed him, gave him capstar, got him treatment from the vet(Nexgard) and started treating our house. Steam mopping, constant vacuuming, washing everything and threw out ALL area rugs. The house was professionally treated Saturday of last week, and he told us that he found less than a handful of fleas by the large area rugs which we then just threw out. Since”

“Hi everyone, I adopted a stray cat that had fleas apparently and the vet gave her CapStar, but this only kills fleas that are on her alive and not the eggs. She had a spay neuter surgery today so flea baths are out to kill the eggs. Does anyone have any idea what to do with A) the cat, and B) the room she was contained in? What works to get rid of the eggs ASAP? submitted by /u/Character-Region-637 [link] [comments]”

“I found this on my arm 🥲. This picture is after I s Smashed it with a tissue but does anyone know if this is a flea? submitted by /u/Jazzlike_Relative753 [link] [comments]”

“Looking for some advice here.. a few weeks ago I saw a few fleas on my dog. He is a Brittany so he's got white fur and pink skin, I just picked them off and put them in the toilet and flushed them... anyway, I washed him in flea shampoo and also did the cat who doesn't go outside as I checked her and she also had a few fleas on her too. Treated them both with Frontline (which I have read apparently doesn't do anything... great) Few days later I noticed some more on the dog and then a”

“I found this on my arm and crushed it. It looked like a small black dot/line on my arm and moved really fast i’m scared cuz i’ve been pet sitting for the past week and I have two of my own cats at home and have already been by my house to drop stuff off (laundry) submitted by /u/No_Temporary4183 [link] [comments]”

“to make this short my aunt was being neglected and so were her dogs by my cousin,dogs are being rehomed and aunt is in the hospital,i need to get everything of hers out of the house. the issue is there are fleas everywhere. nothing living will be in there and i need to bomb,what are the best products to kill them?? submitted by /u/mothpuppyyy__ [link] [comments]”

“No matter what we do, they won't go away. Since about October 2023, we've been dealing with fleas from our two cats. We've done monthly flea treatments, flea bombs, flea spray, flea collars, and NOTHING HAS STOPPED THEM!!! We know that we should get professional help, but the problem is we can't afford any treatment or any veterinarian-provided medication. Is there anything we can do? submitted by /u/No-Tennis-3761 [link] [comments]”

“I am beyond excited! I’m moving out in a week and I’ve been living with a flea infested apartment for months. For context I have 3 cats, they all get flea treatment once a week, as well as baths. The problem is the fleas are impeded in the carpet and the other tenants have them as well because it’s a private landlord who doesn’t do a full sweep on the place. We’ve treated constantly, the carpets, blankets, even my clothing. They leave for a week and keep coming back, because everyone in each apa”

“I caught fleas and it’s destroying my life. I’ve only been dealing with this for the past 3 weeks, but it’s genuinely hellish. I’m not one to be afraid of most bugs, but infectious critters make me extremely paranoid. I have a 1 bedroom apartment with only one big rug, and I have no pets. There’s a nice wandering cat that likes to hang out on my porch. He’s not a stray, he’s just outside during the day. I hang out with him occasionally. Somehow his owners haven’t noticed that he’s totally covere”