# Still seeing fleas in the house, but not on pets?



## pastelcarly (Aug 29, 2017)

Hi guys, 

Roughly 2 weeks ago I spotted a few fleas on my dog. I treated him right away along with the two cats (who I checked and never saw any fleas on before or after treatment) and did a deep clean throughout the house. After 2 days the dog was free of them & I never saw any fleas anywhere but on the dog until tonight where I found 2 of them. 

One on my arm which I killed, then sprayed down my room with the product I used previously around the house, then a few hours later I saw another one on my bed. I checked the cats and the dog to make sure they didn't come back and infest them but I could not find any fleas or flea dirt after a thorough brushing with a flea comb. 

I guess I've got two main questions here, 1 why are they still hanging around if they aren't living on anything to feed off of? And 2, any tips on getting rid of them properly? I thought they were gone after the first cleaning but I guess not, unless they came back a separate time for whatever reason. Thanks in advance!


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## Mitaela Drayne (Aug 31, 2017)

You must clean your house again and spray the liquid that you were using. May be they go away after using it for 2-3 times. All you need to do to get rid of them is to keep the areas of your house clean and make sure that nothing feed able for the flies kept open.


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## NotyeruncleBob (Mar 9, 2017)

You have to break the cycle by using a treatment that kills the eggs too. 
You also have to do that deep clean over and over to get rid of the next generation. 
Then you have to figure out where they're coming from and break that cycle. If your yard is full of fleas then you're just going to keep on getting them in the house until the first freeze of winter unless you do something about it.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

pastelcarly said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> *Roughly 2 weeks ago*. . .I guess I've got two main questions here, 1 why are they still hanging around if they aren't living on anything to feed off of? And 2, any tips on getting rid of them properly? I thought they were gone after the first cleaning but I guess not, unless they came back a separate time for whatever reason.


Read up on cat fleas. They feed off of old flea excrement, which includes blood, in the carpet/floor/bedding. They can hatch for up to 2 weeks. Those fleas may have been dying at the time.

Do come back & say whether it got better.


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## KHouse75 (May 14, 2008)

It takes a while to get rid of them. In the last 20 years, I never had a flea issue with my pets until this year. My dogs were miserable. Fleas were everywhere. To get rid of them, I did the following:

-Gave my pets Capstar or Fastcaps (Nitenpyram) to kill feas that were on them
-Applied Petarmor plus or frontline plus (fipronil and (s)-methroprene) to all my pets
-Treated my entire yard with triazicide granules
-Treated carpets with Adams Carpet Powder with Linalool and Nylar
-Sprayed couches including in crevices with Adams Flea and Tick Home Spray

It took about two months to break the cycle and get rid of all the fleas. Capstar is said to work for about 24 hours. My dogs could go almost a week before fleas started bothering them again even though they had frontline plus on them so I'd give them capstar every 5 days for about a month. After that the fleas started getting less and less and were finally gone after a couple months.

All I do now is give them frontline plus or petarmor plus every 30 days and i'll reapply triazicide every 6 month or so.


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## XSleeper (Sep 23, 2007)

At night before bed when you have turned out the lights, put several pie pans of soapy dish water on the carpet and place a flexible light about 12" above each pan. Do this in various areas you suspect fleas. They like the heat and light and will launch themselves at the light, only to drown in the soapy water.

This is a good method to verify whether or not you still have fleas... and you can count how many you have killed. Each dead flea represents many eggs so it's worth it to give it a try. 

As mentioned, you may be fighting successive generations of fleas since the eggs can lay dormant for an undetermined time. Continue to treat the carpets and pets and vacuum often.

Combing cats with a flea comb over a white towel is also a good idea.


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