Farking Fleas!

[jeebowhite]

So, I recently moved out of the parents place, and into my own with the family :D took us a couple of weeks to move in (shifting stuff, building furniture bla bla bla) and anyway, we moved in properly about 10 days ago. Started off well, until I found I was being bitten! looking down at my leg, I found a flea chowing down like it was an episode of man vs food! Seems that the former tenants outdoor cat has left us a pack of presents somewhere in the downstairs area!!!

So, having bought some flea treatment I set about spraying the place and trying to vacuum and massacre the little sods! unfortunately, having a hardwood floor can make this rather difficult.

So at the start of the week, I had the council come in and gave the house a treatment. Carpeted area's sprayed down, and the skirting boards also where treat. Monday night was bliss, no bites, tuesday night, the Mrs found one, Wednesday I got one, now I am back to how I was before.

The Mrs keeps saying we expect to see some as they hatch, but I thought they should hatch, leave there eggs, walk on the treatment and die!!! not live for a little while, bite the hell out of me and then eventually, maybe die?

The worst bit is, now that we have had this treatment down, we need to avoid hoovering and mopping etc for about another week! so I cant even go for the old hoovering tactic to kill them!

Has anyone had any experiences with a formal pesticide being used and should the little sods still be making a meal out of me? or should I notice nothing?

[jamesm182]

Ouch I feel for you. When we first adopted our cat she has fleas (presumably the previous owners didn't treat properly) and they were a pain to get rid of. Took a while but got there eventually with some decent treatment etc. I'm assuming you don't have an animal to treat?

[jeebowhite]

nope, I wouldnt mind so much if I did, at least there is a reason, but I think their cat left a flea that laid a few eggs, they moved out, then they hatched and started feasting upon my body!

I have a few idea's to try, I am going to lay a plate of soapy water underneath a desk lamp overnight and attract the little blighters to a drowning session. Then spread a little salt for now under our sofa's. If its still a problem after the weekend, will buy some diatomaceous earth (try saying that sober, let alone drunk!) and use that, if all else fails and they still feast on me next week, I will be calling the council to come back and kill the sods again!

Thankfully, I have got the letting agents to pay for the council visit, just waiting for the cheque!

If anyone has any other idea's please share! I am increasingly irritated by these bites, and I will soon set off a nuclear explosion in the house to fix it once and for all!

[issym]

Oh dear ! The trouble you have it that flea eggs can lie dormant for 6 months :( And anything can set them hatching , commonly vibrations from hoovers, walking on hard floors etc also heat and now were getting into winter you can't really avoid putting the heating on !! Providing the council fumigated properly I guess it will reduce the number but if you got eggs lurking around maybe you'll need another fumigation!

Just keep hoovering everyday and eventually they will go but keep changing the bags or emptying out side for you'll have a lovely warm little home for them to breed in!!

Good luck

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[Stoney871]

Buy room foggers.

One treatment and they won't come back again.

Had your ecperirnce when I was helping a friend renovate houses when I lived ib the US.

Walked into a place that had been empty for s couple of weeks, felt itchy and looked down to see my legs crawling with little brown dots.

Clothes went straight in a boil wash and me into a hot shower.

Foggers went in the next day and left everything closed up for 24 hours and problem solved.

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[Stoney871]

This kind of thing-

[jeebowhite]

Yeah I have thought about them, the problem is, with the kids around I cant really leave a load of poison over everything :( I am tempted if things get desperate, but I just cant take the risks with the kids!

[georgen]

Yeah I have thought about them, the problem is, with the kids around I cant really leave a load of poison over everything :( I am tempted if things get desperate, but I just cant take the risks with the kids!

Go back to your parents for the weekend whilst you treat, they will be missing you and you can go down the pub and leave them looking after kids, win win. :)

[jeebowhite]

Good Idea George, lol. On the plus side, I called the council and they are sending someone back as of Tuesday, so I will try a few tricks over the weekend, then let them come and massacre the little goits again.

I like the council (for a change!) called them up and spoke to the guy I booked with last time, told me that for my fee I have already paid, I can have them out up to 6 times to retreat the property to get rid of these little suns of guns if necessary! no extra fee! so I will probably look to abuse their services.

[georgen]

Good Idea George, lol. On the plus side, I called the council and they are sending someone back as of Tuesday, so I will try a few tricks over the weekend, then let them come and massacre the little goits again.

I like the council (for a change!) called them up and spoke to the guy I booked with last time, told me that for my fee I have already paid, I can have them out up to 6 times to retreat the property to get rid of these little suns of guns if necessary! no extra fee! so I will probably look to abuse their services.

Now you need to get rid of these in under 3 visits, so you can subcontract the council out to someone else that has this problem lol, go and invite yourself into you new neighbours house for some sugar and infect it, then by the time you have got rid of yours they will get the problem, then charge then 50% what you were charged to sort the problem out by swapping house numbers and calling back in the council, Simples

[higgsy]

itching after reading this thread......

[jeebowhite]

Haha Nice idea there George, and James, I cant say I blame you, its horrific!

I wouldnt be bothered if they were my fleas (so to say) but as they were left by someone elses animal....!

Well I look forward to seeing them massacred again, I hope I can kill them with slow agony, the same pain and discomfort that I am living with these damn bites that I need to scratch! My legs look a mess to say the least! I suppose I should at least be grateful they only appear to have affected the downstairs living area and (touch wood) have not ventured to the bedrooms!

[jeebowhite]

ARGH! If there was ever a time I wanted to massacre someone for getting me setup in the flea pit!

- Twice I have had the council come out and treat the house. This looks set to be a third time

- I have set off 2 lots of flea bombs / foggers (used 7 bombs all in)

- I have hoovered like never before

- I have laid salt and baking soda into the carpets and swept them in

- I have laid salt and baking soda in every crevice of the skirting board to try and kill them off

- All the bedding has been washed and rewashed on an almost every other day cycle then ran through the drier on high heat for 100 minutes

- All clothing that has been anywhere near a suspected flea has been immediately thrown into the washer and left to the washing machine fairies to drown the little goits.

- I have set out candles in a plate full of soapy water in the main rooms where the culprits are, I have drowned a few that have survived

And yet, I am still suffering! we managed 4 days without being bitten! then got one bite, then had about 3 days without being bitten and now we are back to looking like a flea buffet! Seriously getting irritated with these damned parasites!...

[georgen]

I would be speaking to my landlord now with something like, I dont think its fit to be lived in, failing that looks like back to parents while they deal with this problem once and for all

[Gary Minty Jupe]

should be able to get a house flea treatment from your local vets if you do make sure you turn your sofa and chairs over and put a couple of holes in the base fabric and give a blast in there !

[Stoney871]

If you can't get a solution from the landlord call Environmental Health.

[gregers]

worked in a council property years back,it had been treated numerous times,

tenants had been evicted and all there gear was still there on our 1st visit.no one had been in the house for a couple of weeks the little blighters were very hungry.we go in to do repairs was only in there minutes and the !Removed! things were all over us.in the end the council lifted all the carpets,binned em.and retreated the house.the eggs are dormant in the carpets/crevices etc.now that youve probably turned your heating on,OUT they come.

[Incontro]

Really sorry to hear about this James, if only I could offer you useful advice. :(

However if this is a private rental, I would probably be investigating your legal options by this stage.

[Stoney871]

Correct flea treatment should be active for about 6 weeks in order to get the adults, larva and all eggs as they hatch.

This was info from an experienced Rentokil Guy.

Worst ones are cat fleas as they aren't as fussy about the type of blood they take.

Most other breeds of fleas will take human blood if no other is available but the higher salt content isn't good for them.

[GrahamJC]

As somebody else suggested, put a lot more pressure on the letting agents. Make it very clear that you will not be paying the full rent until the house is properly habitable!

[jeebowhite]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I will be letting the council come back and see what they say and if they can offer any further advice or treatment. If the treatment fails further beyond this then I probably will be kicking up more of a stink. I think tolerating 4 weeks of living in fleas and treating them continuously in that time mostly at my own expense is enough!

I will have to see how it goes. the main issue is the flooring (hardwood) downstairs, normally they arent able to live on hardwood, but I wonder if they are hiding. I am at the point where I dont want to be a nuisance so that we lose the tenancy but I dont want to be walked on by them. It really is a hard line to tread, perhaps moreso for me as I am still new to all of this...

[b1g_dav3]

Sounds like someone had cats before you...

As said the fleas do prefer cats and dogs (the cat flea is just as happy on dogs as it is on cats) but can bite humans a good deal, and if left for 12 hours the female can lay eggs that will hatch.

My cat got 2 fleas, and I literally had to gut the house of soft furninshings in order to clean them all, and they still persisted, and this was finding 2 fleas on a cat the size of mine >_>

There's no need for it either, my animal's are frontline'd as it's the best stuff by a mile, and for my 1 cat it costs £25 for 4 treatments, that last around a year. If people can't afford or aren't willing to pay that for their cat (or dog) then what else are they not paying for... They don't deserve animal ownership at all.

Yes, there's a chance your dog may have a set about with a fox, get a hedgehog or something else and catch some fleas, but then you treat it and hey presto you're sorted again without having to get hazmat suits and irradiate your house >_>

[jeebowhite]

True that Dave!

Well the council is coming back tomorrow with another chemical.

Dont get me wrong, its improved significantly since how it was in the early days, but we still have these damned stragglers that make life difficult. But I am getting ever closer to setting off a nuclear bomb in the place! Irritatingly (perhaps to our benefit) the furniture is all new, so it isnt damaged where the little blighters could sneak in through a rip or something...

[Stoney871]

You could all wear flea collars. ;) :p :d

(Running away now)

[gregers]

or treat yourself to a flea'tick shampoo,your coat will look lovely.