hi, I bought a sofa (floor model) at a big furniture store…got home; wash it down,vacuum it and found a little pet hair;  about 2 weeks later i just started getting ichy on the arm and legs(don’t know if it is all in my head as i am dark skin and i don’t see any bumps) so today i decide to do some deeper vacuuming and find some animal hair and i don’t have pets.and i don’t know how to go about checking for fleas? please can u help me?

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Hi,

My wife and I are from Canada and are vacationing in Orange County. We have a challenge we are hoping you can help us solve.

We recently stayed for 2 weeks at a friend’s home – where we found out the hard way – the home had a dog flea problem. It seems fleas will usually munch on pets – but if no pets are around – tourists will do just fine. In this case the pets had been out of the home since January 1 and so had the homeowners so when we arrived on January 16 they said ‘BooYah’ and began munching on our feet, then ankles then legs. At least that is what we think happened.

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I have a 7 week old Shih-tzu puppy and everything we can find for treatment says “not to use on puppies under 12 weeks”. What can I use on her that won’t hurt her?

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Can you tell if bathing my dog in Dawn Dish soap can help with the fleas.  My Vet told me to bath her in the dawn dish soap.  I did that on Monday morning and checked last nite and this morning and have not see a flea on her belly.  She also isn’t itching and biting now.  She is allergic to the fleas.  I have been to the Vets since June till now.  She has been having the treatments every month, but it seems that the bath has helped.  Is it my e imagination or is that true is does work?

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My question is, can fleas live in and on furniture. If so for how long?

Yes and no. As explained in our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, adult fleas aren’t comfortable out in the open so yes, they can live on a couch. However, they won’t last long. If any person or pet came to the couch, adult fleas on it would naturally seek this warm blooded person or pet hoping to hitch a ride and to take advantage of what this host would provide: a stable living environment. As our article explains, if you left a flea on a couch without food, water or shelter, it would probably die in 5-8 days.

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If I put blankets and sheets and clothes outside when it is below freezing will it kill the fleas and there eggs and larvae?

Yes and no. Yes, freezing temps will kill both adult and larvae fleas that might be on the fabric if you keep it outside for 24 hours. But as our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE explains, the adults and larvae are really only 25-40% of the problem. If you currently have a flea infestation, the only way to get rid of them will be to employ one of the control methods we have listed in our article. And this will have to be done where the fleas are laying their eggs which is usually inside the home or on the resident pet.

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I went to a friends house to feed her cats on Monday. On Wed I brought her home from the hospital and her cats are infested with fleas.  I have 2 cats of my own but they have Frontline monthly.  My friend thinks I gave her cats the fleas.  Can they reproduce in 2 days if one jumped on the cat? (Its winter here in Ohio)

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I found a flea on our dog yesterday. She has never had any on her before. She is treated with Advantix for 7 months of the year. A visitor came in the house a few hours previous to finding the flea and he has a cat and had just been around someones dog. Is it possible the flea came in on him? We will continue to check the dog today but I am hoping this is an isolated incident. Your thoughts please.

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Me and my boyfriend have a flea problem which we think started in summer. We just assumed it was the usual summer insects since we’re both prone to being bitten perhaps because we are pale, and so we waited it out.
We are trying to treat the house, the problem is that we live in rented accommodation and our house is small.
We cannot deflea the garden because they are shared gardens, we have nowhere to move our furniture to, the carpets don’t belong to us so we have to be careful with them.
To complicate matters further there is a cat involved which also doesn’t belong to us!
He doesn’t appear to have problems with fleas but we don’t know if he’s being treated for fleas or not. We know he belongs to someone because he used to have a tatty collar which was then replaced with a new one and even though he now has no collar he still looks well fed (we don’t feed him)
So we either make sure he can’t come in anymore (which is difficult if we need to air the house because he comes through our downstairs window), or we treat the house with flea treatments which don’t risk harm to the cat (I’ve heard flea bombs are risky) and try to find some way of defleaing him which won’t harm him if he’s already being given maximum flea protection (I’ve heard too much flea treatment on a cat is harmful)

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How cold must it be to end the “flea season?”  I live in the St. Louis area and currently it’s down in the low 30s upper 20s at night, but warms to 40s-50s during the day.  Last week it was in the 70s.  If it warms during the day, will the darn things continue to be active?  My pets have been plagued since July despite a visit from the bug man in August to spray inside and regular applications of Frontline.  From what I have read, I suspect I need to do some serious vacuuming and call the bug guy back.  I was hoping for a reprieve when the cold weather hit.

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Here in central southern Oregon we are being told (as if we need to be) that we are being besieged with a new kind of flea. I’m almost ready to believe it too. Our cat gets washed almost weekly using sergeant’s skip flea shampoo. This cat is almost 10 years old, the first time I washed him, the water in the bath was almost bloody, I felt like such a schmuck for allowing it to go so far, I’ve never seen an animal this infested. We’ve been using Frontline on the back of his neck but he has began losing hair where we put the frontline. Several cats in the neighborhood have had the same reaction as well……..So, in the past three days we have torn out the carpet and have put in a wood floor which we will paint with an oil based paint in hopes that any eggs or pupae will die. All corners of the floors and walls are being caulked and seams spackled. I cannot believe that an infestation of fleas could ever get this incredibly out of control. Have you heard of this year being any worse for fleas in any state? I measured one flea over an 8th of an inch long!

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Hi there…I came across your and now better understand the flea cycle. I think with the help that you gave in it I have a good idea of where to start in order to rid the house of the pests.  But I have a couple more questions.  Let me fill you in on our problem first…We have 2 indoor cats and 1 primarily indoor dog (he goes out no more than an hour a day).  We have treated them all with Capstar and the monthly preventative Program.  It will be fine for several days and then all hell breaks loss.  I finally hit the roof the other day when I found one on my 5 year old while I was brushing her hair.  Our dog seems to not be as infested as the cats.  He does have some probably but he primarily stays in the laundry room and kitchen where the cats do not go.  However, the cats are COVERED and they are all over the house mainly in my room and my girls room.  I am going to purchase the items in our article (Precor, Permethrin, and the gallon sprayer). I am prepared and willing to spray once a week for as long as I need to spray.  But here are my questions…Since the cats sleep pretty much all the time on our beds can I spray mine and my girls beds and it not harm us?  Should I strip the beds and wash all sheets when I spray in hot water?  As for the cats…they HATE baths.  What can I go to get the fleas off of them?  Should I dose them with Capstar every time I spray the house?  I think they might let me spray them down but bathing is out of the question.  Also one last thing.  We have carpets.  We have hardwoods and tile.  Will the sprays I mentioned I am getting harm my floors?  Thank you Thank you Thank you so much!  I now have hope that we can defeat this nasty things!

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HELP.  We have a rental house.  Started bombing and spraying with (Walmart) over the counter sprays first of August (Bad infestation when renter moved out).  Then had the carpet steam cleaned, then had local pest control co. come and spray/bomb 2 times.  We vacume every day – still were gettin fleas so we at the end of August took out all of the carpet. (There is no furniture in the home).  Used sprays from the Co-Op.  Used Borax 3 times.  Now for over a week we have been using Precor 2000, Masterline Bifenthrin, and Martins IGR.  As we vacume each day we still get 3 or 4 fleas every day.  Scared to put back down new carpet.  How do we ever get rid of all these fleas.  We have sprayed every corner, cabinet, under the house and treated the entire yard (never seen any in the yard). Do you have any ideas or suggestions?  WE ARE DESPERATE!

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Which months are fleas active in Georgia?  I treat my outdoor cats with Revolution but I don’t want to use it unnecessarily – during the months that fleas are inactive.  Please advise.

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i am in desperate need of an answer (i have looked on many web sites) what to clean my hardwood floor with for fleas. there is a lot of information and products for carpeting but i can’t find an answer for hardwood flooring.  i also have my lower level of my home that needs to be treated and it is tile. please help. thank you.

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