HELP! flea infestation and NO PETS

I've had cats all my life and they had fleas from time to time and it was NEVER that hard to get rid of fleas. 2 months ago my indoor cats got fleas dont even know from where. We found a new home for our cats (yeah, I know we are horrible) and started treating our apartment from fleas. Since I'm pregnant and have a toddler we tried all natural stuff first. You name it. NOTHING WORKED. we were eaten alive!! Especially my toddler and my husband. We ended up hiring pest control and this guy came and treated our whole apartment. We have wall to wall carpets and we were instructed to do laundry more often and vacuum a lot. We did. Fleas were gone. Now more than a month later they are back and biting us again. It's fleas for sure because I caught several of them on me and found one in our bed. We live in an apartment complex and none of our neighbors around us have pets. We live on 3rd floor so im pretty sure we are not bringing fleas from somewhere. I just dont know what else to do and how to get rid of fleas once and for all. This pest control guy was 100% sure his treatment will fix the problem because we don't have cats anymore but these are some super fleas and just dont wanna die. HELP!!!

Hi Dasha, I know this is a tough one, and what worked for me might not work for you, but I'll tell you my story.

Our old dog got fleas in the last year of her life, and though she died in the November, we still had fleas in May (this was several years ago).  We don't have carpets or any other pets, but were still getting flea bites and catching fleas in the trap overnight (a plate of water and a drop of dishsoap, with a small desk light shining on it, look it up online).  We had a small child in the house too so I didn't want anything nasty.  I tried DE dusted on the floors, and vacuuming every day, but vacuuming every day for a week is hard--for six months I just couldn't keep it up;  I just didn't have the time/energy.  

But in May we went away for a week to see my parents.  No one was home for a week, and all the pupae and breeding adult fleas died of starvation--only the unhatched eggs remained when we got back.  This meant there was a huge reduction in fleas from the start, though of course with the potential to breed more.  I vacuumed and kept the DE down on the floor, and washed bedding often, just like the advice says.  By another two weeks, there were no more fleas in the overnight trap, and no more bites on us.  They were gone.

That is my advice:  leave the apartment for a week, then continue with the vacuuming and extra laundry.  Oh, and make sure to empty the vacuum outside every time or into water so the fleas don't just hop out again.  I can't guarantee it will work, but it worked for me.

G Freden wrote:Hi Dasha, I know this is a tough one, and what worked for me might not work for you, but I'll tell you my story.

Our old dog got fleas in the last year of her life, and though she died in the November, we still had fleas in May (this was several years ago).  We don't have carpets or any other pets, but were still getting flea bites and catching fleas in the trap overnight (a plate of water and a drop of dishsoap, with a small desk light shining on it, look it up online).  We had a small child in the house too so I didn't want anything nasty.  I tried DE dusted on the floors, and vacuuming every day, but vacuuming every day for a week is hard--for six months I just couldn't keep it up;  I just didn't have the time/energy.  

But in May we went away for a week to see my parents.  No one was home for a week, and all the pupae and breeding adult fleas died of starvation--only the unhatched eggs remained when we got back.  This meant there was a huge reduction in fleas from the start, though of course with the potential to breed more.  I vacuumed and kept the DE down on the floor, and washed bedding often, just like the advice says.  By another two weeks, there were no more fleas in the overnight trap, and no more bites on us.  They were gone.

That is my advice:  leave the apartment for a week, then continue with the vacuuming and extra laundry.  Oh, and make sure to empty the vacuum outside every time or into water so the fleas don't just hop out again.  I can't guarantee it will work, but it worked for me.

Thank you for your reply. DE didnt work for us at all. I did everything that I was supposed to and it just didn't work. Also we left for a day when our house was treated with chemicals by professional pest control and they were gone for entire month and now they are back. We can't live our apartment for a week bevause we have nowhere to go and we don't have money for hotel, so that's not an option for us

How about a fun camping trip? :)

Due to the life cycle, it may be difficult to stay away long enough to get them all to starve. Can your family members tolerare large ammounts of garlic? It may deter them. Brewer's yeast has also been known to work. Maybe you can starve them without leaving.

G Freden wrote:How about a fun camping trip? :)

I'm super pregnant and can deliver baby at any time so I can't leave our apartment, especially with covid going on and our state is still in lockdown.

Jordan Holland wrote:Due to the life cycle, it may be difficult to stay away long enough to get them all to starve. Can your family members tolerare large ammounts of garlic? It may deter them. Brewer's yeast has also been known to work. Maybe you can starve them without leaving.

You mean eat garlic?! Or use it on carpets? Sorry, my pregnant brain is not functioning right. We love eating garlic and can totally eat it a lot, all of us. I also have brewer's yeast at home and we can try that one too. Will that make our blood or body smell different and fleas wouldn't want to bite us? If so i will eat as much garlic as I can lol

Yes, eating it. Though it may work on carpet, too! I've only heard of eating it, though.

I've had fleas, occasionally badly. My understanding and experience has been that laundry and vacuuming frequently, sometimes daily, are required. The cleaning is what does the job. Drying on Hot kills bugs and eggs, although eggs are usually found on the floor or some low horizontal place (pet bedding, human beds).

Poisons will get "most" of the bugs and a lot of eggs, but not all. Cleaning works, but it requires some diligence, patience and perseverance.

What about your pillows? Long curtains? Furniture? You could try dry cleaning or just run them through a hot dryer. Furniture would be part of the vacuuming drill; maybe the curtains, too.

If you're obsessive and stubborn (same thing?) and annoyed enough you could try putting some traps outside your doors and see if you're bringing fleas in from the hallways or stairs. Or maybe from further afield. Where do you and your partner go during the day? I have experienced flea attacks from "dog trees" I got too close to - I could see and feel the little bastards hopping onto me in seemingly unlimited numbers.  IOW, there can be places where _you_ will pick up fleas. Sitting with you back against that inviting tree in the park, for example; sitting on a bench one leg of which is popular with the neighborhood canines. The neighbor's hamster?

But cleaning, while straight-on brutal and simplistic has done the job for me. And this was during the time I lived with two cats in 150SF.


Best luck.
Rufus

It's harder to get rid of them without an animal to be honest, with an animal you can treat it so anything that bites it dies.

I would put down shallow bowls of warm water with a bit of soap and see what you catch, see if they are everywhere or more prevalent in some places around the flat, there might be somewhere that your vacuum is just not getting like inside the sofa, or on the bed frame For them to come back there must be some place you are not getting. You could well be bringing them in from outside, I've picked up rabbit fleas from an enjoyable pause on a cliff top.

Also wonder if there is a rodent nest somewhere in or near the building.  Fleas need a host.

I was thinking the same thing as MK ...maybe mice in the building?

Rufus Laggren wrote:I've had fleas, occasionally badly. My understanding and experience has been that laundry and vacuuming frequently, sometimes daily, are required. The cleaning is what does the job. Drying on Hot kills bugs and eggs, although eggs are usually found on the floor or some low horizontal place (pet bedding, human beds).

Poisons will get "most" of the bugs and a lot of eggs, but not all. Cleaning works, but it requires some diligence, patience and perseverance.

What about your pillows? Long curtains? Furniture? You could try dry cleaning or just run them through a hot dryer. Furniture would be part of the vacuuming drill; maybe the curtains, too.

If you're obsessive and stubborn (same thing?) and annoyed enough you could try putting some traps outside your doors and see if you're bringing fleas in from the hallways or stairs. Or maybe from further afield. Where do you and your partner go during the day? I have experienced flea attacks from "dog trees" I got too close to - I could see and feel the little bastards hopping onto me in seemingly unlimited numbers.  IOW, there can be places where _you_ will pick up fleas. Sitting with you back against that inviting tree in the park, for example; sitting on a bench one leg of which is popular with the neighborhood canines. The neighbor's hamster?

But cleaning, while straight-on brutal and simplistic has done the job for me. And this was during the time I lived with two cats in 150SF.


Best luck.
Rufus

We are very outdoorsy so we hike in the woods often. We always use bug sprays which claim to repel ticks so im not sure if we are bringing them from outside. I mean, we've always been outdoorsy but never had problems with fleas like that.

Cleaning is what I do all day every day just in general lol I'm a little obsessive with cleaning. Our problem is we have wall to wall carpets so its not always that easy to get into all the corners especially now when im 34 weeks pregnant.
I'll definitely continue cleaning and hope I can get rid of them annoying fleas before I have a baby

Mk Neal wrote:Also wonder if there is a rodent nest somewhere in or near the building.  Fleas need a host.

So I've been thinking about it. I live in apartment building and honestly I dont know much about rodents. We are all the way on the third floor so I feel like other neighbors would have this problems too, but none of them do. I've read everywhere that fleas can't survive on human blood but they definitely feast on us!!! It's killing me to see all the bites on my toddler

Multiple traps to try to localize the bad area sounds like a good idea.

Vacuum cleaners can be _very_ effective cleaning machines. With a good vacuum with a beater brush, I don't think _anything_ can hide in carpet. One of those complex creations, like the car and the sewing machine that actually work and change human life. If curious about brands, the old "gardenweb.com" site will give you an earful and more; I think it's a howz branded site now.

Care in emptying and the more frequently the better, of course. I did it outside and put the canister inside a new plastic garbage bag before I opened and emptied it. Then washed my head and all that immediately. A breeze blowing away you helps also.

> corners...
Attachments, of course.  But the vacuum needs a powerful enough "Suck" to make the attachments effective.


And a final disturbing thought:
Are you_sure_ it's fleas? Bed bugs? Rash? I guess the contents of the traps would help be sure.


Regards,
Rufus

Rufus Laggren wrote: Multiple traps to try to localize the bad area sounds like a good idea.

Vacuum cleaners can be _very_ effective cleaning machines. With a good vacuum with a beater brush, I don't think _anything_ can hide in carpet. One of those complex creations, like the car and the sewing machine that actually work and change human life. If curious about brands, the old "gardenweb.com" site will give you an earful and more; I think it's a howz branded site now.

Care in emptying and the more frequently the better, of course. I did it outside and put the canister inside a new plastic garbage bag before I opened and emptied it. Then washed my head and all that immediately. A breeze blowing away you helps also.

> corners...
Attachments, of course.  But the vacuum needs a powerful enough "Suck" to make the attachments effective.


And a final disturbing thought:
Are you_sure_ it's fleas? Bed bugs? Rash? I guess the contents of the traps would help be sure.


Regards,
Rufus

Yup that's the kind of vacuum we have and I do corners with those special tools that come with my vacuum. Lately I haven't been emptying canister after each use because I thought fleas were gone.

It's fleas 100%. I caught them on me the other day and yesterday I caught one in my bed.

There is such a thing as a human flea, so the tradition of "they can't survive without an animal host" is not strictly true.  Maybe your neighbours do have problems but don't want to admit it, or are too thick-skinned to notice.

We have been infested with fleas and tried everything mentioned here.
 Maybe not infested but after finding some you think there all over you constantly.
   Hard to believe but we got rid of them finally with salt.  Purchased one of those round things of cheap iodine Morton salt and spread it around floors everywhere.
left it down for about 2 days, vacuumed it up then did it again.  No more fleas in house.  I did not think it would work after all the DE and flea killer we had tried.   IT WORKED.

Ralph Sluder wrote:We have been infested with fleas and tried everything mentioned here.
 Maybe not infested but after finding some you think there all over you constantly.
   Hard to believe but we got rid of them finally with salt.  Purchased one of those round things of cheap iodine Morton salt and spread it around floors everywhere.
left it down for about 2 days, vacuumed it up then did it again.  No more fleas in house.  I did not think it would work after all the DE and flea killer we had tried.   IT WORKED.

I've tried salt too :( didnt work for us

Dip your flea comb in calamine lotion and comb
Only dip one time,your comb will fill with fleas,clean off comb and repeat

Calamine lotion is a drying agent,when applied it cakes on flea body,they dry up and can't move
Stuck.

I believe the trick may be that you get pest control, and then get them again 10-14 days later to get the ones that hatched after they left.

Gosh I just noticed how old this thread is. I sure hope they got rid of the fleas by now! lol