Oct 4, 2011 – The Fleas Won’t Flee
QUESTION:
I am having a problem with fleas in a 2 room apartment where a dog is present. Returning and still biting. What do you suggest as a good treatment?
ANSWER:
I'll admit a little confusion with your question Mike, where you say "returning and still biting". My question is whether you mean YOU are returning and continuing to have fleas hopping on you or if it is the customer who is returning following your treatment and claiming they still are getting bitten by the fleas. If it is the customer then it always is important to verify the presence of the fleas, as we all have seen those circumstances where homeowners believe something is biting them, never actually see a biting pest themselves, but pin the blame on some arthropod whose name they know. Now, of course, if these folks have a dog the likelihood is much higher that fleas could be present in this apartment, but even so your next visit should be to verify this presence of fleas. Inspect the dog carefully and if fleas are still on the dog ask the owners what steps they have taken to have the dog treated for fleas - flea "dip" bath, flea collar, flea powder? Since the dog is the epicenter of the problem initially it is imperative that fleas be eliminated from the dog, as this is where fleas will lay their eggs to continue any infestation.
If you yourself have never seen any actual fleas it also would be important to place a number of insect glue traps around the home where the dog won't stick its nose or paws on them. You then can look at the traps a few days later and might be surprised by the results. If there are absolutely no fleas on the glue that might suggest that no more fleas are really present, unless of course the dog still has them. But, as I have seen a couple of times, the traps may be FILLED with fleas in one location, telling you that there is some other source of the insects. Perhaps there are feral cats outside, wild animals like raccoons living under a deck or in the crawlspace, and these infested animals could be seeding the area with eggs and hundreds or thousands of adult fleas as a result. Determining the source is important in any pest management.
Also very possible is that you never eliminated all of the fleas the first time, and the tough part of the flea life cycle is their pupa. According to some experts on flea management you will be unable to kill the pupa of a flea while it is encased in its pupa case. This covering keeps your sprays off of the pupa, which is the actual insect. Therefore, since that developing flea inside that pupa case can emerge within seconds when some stimulus affects it, people walking or sitting on the pupa could quickly get a new, hungry flea on them before that flea has any opportunity to contact the insecticides you applied earlier. You need to get all of those "pre-adult" fleas in their pupae out of the pupae and to the exposed adult stage, and this is done with THOROUGH vacuuming. Your customer should have vacuumed every square inch of carpet and upholstered furniture in the home before your first visit, as this would have caused most of the pupae to hatch. Without physical stimulation (touching or strong vibration) many of the pupa could sit there up to 6 months before the adult flea emerges.
So, now before you spray again tell this customer to vacuum every square inch of the apartment, including the edges of hard floors where hair accumulations may be, all carpet including under all beds and furniture, behind drapes, etc., and all upholstered furniture including under the cushions. They also need to take the dog's bedding and wash it all in hot water and hot dryer. They should continue to vacuum DAILY for the next week to keep pushing all the pre-adult fleas out of those dormant pupae, but you can come in after the first vacuuming and do a repeat treatment with a labeled product that allow you to use it again within this time interval. Be sure to include an IGR such as methoprene or fenoxycarb, as the IGRs will keep eggs from hatching and prevent larvae from developing to the adult stage. Permethrin is an excellent residual active ingredient for the inside, but other products also work well.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
I am having a problem with fleas in a 2 room apartment where a dog is present. Returning and still biting. What do you suggest as a good treatment?
ANSWER:
I'll admit a little confusion with your question Mike, where you say "returning and still biting". My question is whether you mean YOU are returning and continuing to have fleas hopping on you or if it is the customer who is returning following your treatment and claiming they still are getting bitten by the fleas. If it is the customer then it always is important to verify the presence of the fleas, as we all have seen those circumstances where homeowners believe something is biting them, never actually see a biting pest themselves, but pin the blame on some arthropod whose name they know. Now, of course, if these folks have a dog the likelihood is much higher that fleas could be present in this apartment, but even so your next visit should be to verify this presence of fleas. Inspect the dog carefully and if fleas are still on the dog ask the owners what steps they have taken to have the dog treated for fleas - flea "dip" bath, flea collar, flea powder? Since the dog is the epicenter of the problem initially it is imperative that fleas be eliminated from the dog, as this is where fleas will lay their eggs to continue any infestation.
If you yourself have never seen any actual fleas it also would be important to place a number of insect glue traps around the home where the dog won't stick its nose or paws on them. You then can look at the traps a few days later and might be surprised by the results. If there are absolutely no fleas on the glue that might suggest that no more fleas are really present, unless of course the dog still has them. But, as I have seen a couple of times, the traps may be FILLED with fleas in one location, telling you that there is some other source of the insects. Perhaps there are feral cats outside, wild animals like raccoons living under a deck or in the crawlspace, and these infested animals could be seeding the area with eggs and hundreds or thousands of adult fleas as a result. Determining the source is important in any pest management.
Also very possible is that you never eliminated all of the fleas the first time, and the tough part of the flea life cycle is their pupa. According to some experts on flea management you will be unable to kill the pupa of a flea while it is encased in its pupa case. This covering keeps your sprays off of the pupa, which is the actual insect. Therefore, since that developing flea inside that pupa case can emerge within seconds when some stimulus affects it, people walking or sitting on the pupa could quickly get a new, hungry flea on them before that flea has any opportunity to contact the insecticides you applied earlier. You need to get all of those "pre-adult" fleas in their pupae out of the pupae and to the exposed adult stage, and this is done with THOROUGH vacuuming. Your customer should have vacuumed every square inch of carpet and upholstered furniture in the home before your first visit, as this would have caused most of the pupae to hatch. Without physical stimulation (touching or strong vibration) many of the pupa could sit there up to 6 months before the adult flea emerges.
So, now before you spray again tell this customer to vacuum every square inch of the apartment, including the edges of hard floors where hair accumulations may be, all carpet including under all beds and furniture, behind drapes, etc., and all upholstered furniture including under the cushions. They also need to take the dog's bedding and wash it all in hot water and hot dryer. They should continue to vacuum DAILY for the next week to keep pushing all the pre-adult fleas out of those dormant pupae, but you can come in after the first vacuuming and do a repeat treatment with a labeled product that allow you to use it again within this time interval. Be sure to include an IGR such as methoprene or fenoxycarb, as the IGRs will keep eggs from hatching and prevent larvae from developing to the adult stage. Permethrin is an excellent residual active ingredient for the inside, but other products also work well.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
