When it comes to fleas, you should always be “concerned”.  As you know, flea problems can be a nightmare. To avoid another fiasco, get some FLEA TRAPS set up. They’ll work for you night and day and no doubt will catch fleas way before a full blown problem gets established. That being said, if you’re only finding 1-2 fleas in the trap per month, I would follow the treatment schedule you’ve been on. 1-2 fleas would be “normal” for any pet owner – especially during flea season – and finding a flea on any pet that goes outside doesn’t mean you’ve got a new situation that needs treatment.

But if you “all of  sudden” noticed 2-3 fleas in one week, I’d consider doing something. Surges are usually a sign something is developing inside the home. Since you’re pets seem to be protected, its not likely they’re dropping healthy flea larvae or eggs. That means if something was to develop in the home, it would have to be happening in an area you’ve not treated. And several flea traps set throughout the home will no doubt help to alert you should a new problem start to develop and based on what flea traps capture the fleas, you should be able to isolate the area needing treatments.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

More on Flea problem?

If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn fleas will gladly hitch a ride on any person that comes close to them. So if you have cats living under your house with fleas, they no doubt forage around the house and when they do, fleas will dispersed everywhere they go. In other words, they’ll be dropping flea eggs, pupae and adults where they walk. And this means when you pass a location where they’ve been, you no doubt will be in the range of getting a flea to jump on you.

At this point the flea will stay with you as long as they’re comfortable. So when you go inside, they’ll probably stick on you till you relax on a chair or couch or bed. So seeing them in your bed is no surprise and to be expected as long as you have cats living under the house and no flea treating is being done outside where it no doubt most matters.

To stop the problem, you’ll have to treat the key nesting locations (where the fleas are reproducing). This is true whether you get rid of the cats or not. You see, fleas will most likely thrive where a bunch of cats are living but they don’t need them to survive; they’d do fine on their own. So even if you were to remove the cats, you’ll still have the fleas and you’ll still have to treat. This is why almost half of our customers are people who don’t have pets!

So how do you need to treat? Several options listed in our article could be employed given your situation. For starters, I’d get as much of the are under the home treated. If you cannot access the area directly, use a HOSE END sprayer to spray the ESFENVALERATE and NYLAR. Do this every month and once the problem is under control, you can move to a once a quarter treatment so they don’t return.

For the home, I’d start with nothing more than some FLEA TRAPS. This way you can monitor the activity inside to determine if you do in fact have to treat. In our article we talk about vacuuming hardwood floors as a sure way to get rid of any adults, eggs and pupae so if you follow that regime, you should be able to keep them under wraps without having to spray. But if your traps start picking up more than 1-2 fleas a week, it would mean you’ve got something happening inside which would warrant a treatment.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article: http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Hose End Sprayer:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/sprayers/gilmour-20g-390

Esfenvalerate:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/conquer-esfenvalerate

Nylar:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/igr/igr-nylar

Flea Trap: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

You could have a flea infestation. And what I mean by “could” is that yes, fleas could be reproducing in the home. As you no doubt you understand from reading our article that fleas will commonly infest carpeting and furniture. Once this starts it’s safe to say you’ll have fleas and most definitely a flea infestation but the one thing I can also say about a flea infestation is that one can usually tell. That means if they’re actively living and breeding in your home, it would be easy to find one. Heck, it would be easy to find a lot! And here’s how you can try.

Simply put on a pair of white socks and walk around the home for a while. Do this on a day you plan on being around the house for a few hours. Don’t wear shoes but instead just the socks. No doubt any pupae waiting for a blood meal will hatch at some point or any adults in the living space will surely jump on you and if you’re wearing a pair of long white socks, they’ll end up getting stuck in the fabric and will be easy to see.

Why? Because fleas aren’t active only at night.  They’re active all the time. So that means if you’re experiencing something only when you’re on or in the bed, this pattern could be duplicated anytime of day. And to see if they’re in fact fleas doing the biting, try the white sock approach.

I also recommend setting out some FLEA TRAPS. These will work even better than a pair of white socks because they’ll work 24/7. So if you do in fact have fleas developing in the living area, one of these two approaches will alert you to the problem and from there, you can decide what to do.

The one mistake you don’t want to make is to assume you have fleas because you find some kind of skin irritation. There are so many things that can cause a skin irritation and randomly thinking one insect or another will not prove logical in solving the problem. So for now, you need to find  an insect of some kind before you do any kind of treating. This will enable you to use the right product applied at the right location. More importantly, it will insure you actually need to treat in the first place.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

This depends on what you mean by the word “work” as used in your question. As our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE explains, washing your pet is one way of having a big impact on the local flea population. In general this won’t solve problems but by removing and washing away all the pet dander, skin and other organic pet matter flea larvae need to eat, you’ll be thwarting their ability to grow into healthy, biting adults. Additionally, the cleaning of the pet will no doubt enable the pet to have a better chance at healing if it’s suffering from flea bites. These two results of washing your pet can make you believe things are okay but there are a few things to remember.

First, as stated above, the use of any shampoo – whether it’s Dawn or our TRIPLE PY FLEA SHAMPOO – by itself will not cure or solve any local flea population. If you have fleas active in the home, you’ll need to employ one of the methods outlined in our article.

Second, be careful not to “over do” the washing. In general, the frequency of pet bathing should depend mostly on the breed of animal, their skin and fur type and where they mostly spend their time. Some animals can be bathed twice a week and do fine; others can dry out and get irritated skin which tends to make any flea problem worse and more uncomfortable for them to endure. For pets that not do well with regular baths this can present a real problem.

Lastly, using a skin conditioner like the OXY ANTI ITCH can really help in between baths if the pet is suffering from flea bites. And again, treating them and the home with one of the flea control products listed in our article will be required if fleas are currently active and thriving.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Triple Py Shampoo:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page247.html

Oxy Anti Itch:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/oxy_med_itch_relief.html

At this time we don’t know anyone that has our FLEA TRAPS in your region. But you can get them direct from us and we ship within one day. To Southern California, it usually only takes 3-4 days to arrive. Here is a link to it in our shopping cart where you can order on line which gets you a 5% discount as well:  FLEA TRAPS

Conditions like this are ideal for fleas. The best thing you can do is set out the inside Flea Granules once a year anyplace where you have carpets or throw rugs. They do a great job of breaking the cycle. Additionally, you should have some Flea Traps set out to help monitor and collect any fleas which might be present not on your pets. This will help prevent them from laying eggs and in the long run, keep things limited to the pets if anything should happen. Lastly, use the Permethrin and Flea Fix for the other areas where the cats have access where you cannot use the Flea Granules. Remember, 1-2 pets with a problem is manageable; the house becoming a flea generator would mean all the pets (and people living there) will get bit. This means you must focus in on the house. Since the cats are limited to the house and don’t go outside, if you keep the house flea free you’ll be able to keep the pets flea free.

Now, for the pets, I suggest getting some of the Water Based Flea Spray. Cats typically don’t like being sprayed but many do like being groomed with a brush or comb. Use this “method” as a way to get the product into their fur. Lightly mist or dip the brush/comb into the Water Based Spray and then groom the pet; you’ll be able to control the fleas on them by using this approach at least once a week on as many as you can. To treat the ones which don’t like to be combed or brushed you’ll need to use more of a “shotgun” approach. First, lightly mist a large towel which you can then use as a “wrap” for these uncooperative cats. Once wrapped up, you can rub it on them transferring some of the product onto their fur. Another good option is to provide them with some kind of blanket or pet bed or even couch. Once they get comfortable using it, spray it directly with the mist once a week. This way you’ll be indirectly treating the pets which like to rest or sleep in it and this would prove to be a safe and effective way to indirectly kill off the fleas. Such approaches do take time but if you continuously apply product, you’ll be able to keep them under control by being persistent.

As our on line FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE explains, the cocoon or flea pupa (the third stage) can lay in a dormant stage on pets and in the home for a long time. Since the average adult flea only lives 7-14 days, pupae won’t hatch unless there are people in the homes you’re selling. In other words, the fleas that do come out will die off quickly if they don’t find a host on which to feed. And instinctively they know this so they won’t hatch unless they “feel” a food supply (a person or a pet) close to them and moving. Since you aren’t in every area of the home each time you visit, no doubt there will be pupae still dormant laying in wait for many months after someone with an active flea problem leaves a house vacant. Only after all the pupae on the property do hatch will the cycle finally be done and the problem will go away. Till then the best you can do is wear a flea repellent which will keep them off you when visiting a flea infested property.

The two actives you mentioned are in fact two really good flea repellents. We have a 100% ODORLESS DEET formulation which works quite well. Use it on exposed skin such as the ankles and legs below the knee if you’re wearing shorts. In the home one application a day should do the job. For clothing, we have a PERMETHRIN AEROSOL which should be applied to shoes, socks and pants. Fleas which hatch out onto treated skin or clothing will die. For your visits to homes with fleas a combination of these two products should keep them off you while on the premises.

Here are direct links to the products mentioned above:

Flea Control:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

100% Deet:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/100_deet.html

Permethrin Aerosol:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/741031.html