We recently (July 18) had friends stay with us for a week. They brought their 5 healthy well cared for dogs. The dogs have been on Frontline since May. The day after they left, we found fleas on the sofa.We flea bombed 2 times. Now we are having problems in the bedroom where they slept with people getting bit on their legs.Vacuuming revealed fleas in the carpet. I am ordering your sticky traps and the powder. I am vacuuming daily. How did we get fleas? The animals did not show signs of fleas from their reports and they tell us they do not have fleas in their homes. Could they be carriers? The incubation period seems too short ( the day after they left) for the dogs to be a problem. I need to understand to prevent this from occurring again. Thanks!
If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn how easy it is to get fleas. And in this case it’s just as simple: someone brought a flea into the home which laid eggs! As our article explains, once the eggs hatch it’s game over unless the area where the fleas are hatching has been treated. So lets go over the “short list” of how this could have happened. Mind you I’m keeping this “short”.
1) You or one of your family members brought into your home a flea which laid eggs or dropped pupae in your home.
2) A visiting person or pet brought in a flea that laid eggs or dropped pupae in your home.
3) A bit of clothing or other item transported a pregnant flea into your home which laid eggs.
4) A flea hopped into your home and started laying eggs.
That’s it. I know this doesn’t provide a precise answer but in fact if you have active fleas hatching out of your carpet it means one of the four scenario’s listed above played out (the only one I didn’t list is that it is possible a very evil person came and “planted” flea pupae in your home but this is highly unlikely). And as our Flea Control Article explains, it only takes one pregnant flea laying eggs for the home and/or yard to become a flea generator. This means the time involved is right on schedule as well. Let me explain.
The average yard has a flea or two active somewhere in the grass or mulch. This is especially true when it’s not treated for fleas and it’s warm outside. Squirrels, rats, mice, chipmunks, birds, neighboring cats, neighboring dogs, raccoons and many other wandering animals during the summer leave a trail of fleas and flea eggs where they’re active. That means most yards will have a flea or at least a flea stage in it. Now as our article explains, fleas really don’t want to be on people but in fact prefer animals. That means these common “yard fleas” are mostly never seen or noticed by the average home owner (they’ll choose the local animals over the residents of the home). But as soon as a pet comes to the area, the local fleas will be attracted to it like a magnet. If I was to guess, I’m willing to bet the visiting pets attracted some local fleas. This no doubt happened the very first day they went out in the yard around your property. These fleas hitched a ride on the visiting pets this is most likely how they got inside. Once inside most of them would die if they stayed on the pet AND the Frontline was still plenty active. But lets say the Frontline had worn off and lets say just one flea fell off the pet inside the home. If this flea had fed prior to coming inside it could be ready to lay eggs. That means it’s quite possible the very first day these pets came to your home they could have picked up a flea that was pregnant and hadn’t fed once on the Frontline treated animal. Now if it started laying eggs, these eggs would have been active and surely some of them could have fallen into your carpeting.
A similar scenario that’s even more likely is that the flea which came inside didn’t have to feed. If this flea had fed on another untreated animal but then got on one of the visiting pets, it would not be affected by the Frontline and could in fact lay normal flea eggs. No doubt this happens more than people imagine which is why it’s important to treat all areas where a pet has access.
Now going back to our timeline; our article clearly explains it only takes 7 days for fleas to run a full cycle and as your message states, your guests were there for one week. One week is 7 days which is plenty of time. Now when your guests leave and the developing fleas are ready to hatch, the pets are gone so what do you think the flea pupae will do? They’ll go to the closest alternate food supply and in fact that will be you and your family members.
In summary, what you’re describing is all too common. For some reason people conclude that just because an animal is using Frontline that everything else will be spared a flea infestation. But even the makers of Frontline want the home and the yard treated as part of a complete flea program and since neither of these areas were addressed before your guests arrived, it’s no wonder you’re infested. I suggest you get the Flea Granules for inside the home, several Flea Traps and get everything controlled again. More importantly, I’d be sure to do the same BEFORE you have guests arrive with a pet if you wish to avoid this problem again.
Flea Control Article: www.flea.net/flea-control
Flea Traps: www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap
Flea Granules: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-2-lb
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