A farm cat that wanders the barns, a working dog that sleeps in the porch: fleas arrive on animals like these and quickly settle in the house.
The fleas you see are a minority. Most of the population is in the form of eggs, larvae and pupae scattered where the pet sleeps and walks. Eggs fall off the animal onto bedding, rugs and floor edges. Larvae avoid light and burrow into carpet fibres and gaps, feeding on debris. Pupae sit in protective cocoons, sometimes for weeks, then emerge when vibration signals a host. That is why a clear house can suddenly produce a crop of fleas after a few days away.
Meering is a small rural settlement in the Newark area, surrounded by farmland. Animals living there often have contact with livestock, wildlife and other animals, and can pick up fleas outdoors. Boot rooms, porches, utility rooms and kitchen floors where dogs and cats rest are the first places fleas spread. Hedgehogs, rabbits and rats can also carry fleas, so a home near barns and hedgerows needs regular preventive treatment of pets.
Pupae are protected from many products, so fleas can keep emerging for several weeks after a treatment. Their heat-seeking behaviour means they often hatch in response to footsteps, which is why you may be bitten while walking through a room. This is normal and does not always mean the treatment has failed. Continuing to vacuum encourages the pupae to hatch, which exposes them to the residual treatment.
If you have tried a product from the shop and the bites are continuing, a professional treatment for carpets and soft furnishings is usually the next step. We will talk you through how to prepare the rooms, how long to keep pets out and what to expect over the following weeks. Visits needed depend on how long the problem has run and how much soft flooring is involved.
Outbuildings can hold a hidden flea population. Straw, dog beds in sheds, and warm spots where cats sleep let flea larvae develop outside the house, and the new adults then jump on to the animal and come in with it. Cleaning or replacing bedding in outbuildings, and keeping animals from sleeping in feed stores, reduces the number of fleas that find their way to your kitchen floor.
Call 0115 937 5117 to arrange a visit. Appointments to suit you, including same day visits, are available.
Cat and dog fleas are the most common indoors, and they come from pets and wildlife. Contact with barns, hedgerows and other animals increases the risk of pets picking them up.
It depends on how well established they are. After treatment, fleas can emerge for a few weeks. If you are still seeing many after three weeks, let us know.
Tell us what you have seen and where, and we will come back to you. Prices are fixed and there is no call-out charge.
