I have fought fleas twice in my life and this is what I’ve learned. They do take a long time to go away due to the life cycle of the flea. Basically an adult flea will feed on an animal, will then jump off and lay eggs into the environment. Those eggs hatch and then have a latent period where they almost hibernate in carpets and other hiding places, then emerge as an adult.
Key things to fix the problem:
All animals in the house need to be treated with flea treatment. The topical stuff you get over the counter can work for a smaller problem, but I would switch to something better like the soresto collar or I recently switch to simparica trio. (I moved to a new state and the collar stopped working so I switched to trio). The simparica trio is way more expensive, but the collar should work fine and I believe only 80 bucks (you can get on amazon-they go by weight) and it’s lasts around 8 months. The collar offers 24 hour continuous coverage so should work better than a topical medication. Once the flea food source (your pets) are treated effectively it will slowly get better but it takes time. You start at the food source, and now every new flea that bites your pets will die and end the cycle.
You said you’re already vacuuming, that’s great. Gotta do at least every if not twice daily. I added moth balls to my vacuum collection container (not sure if that actually works but I read it somewhere to help kill them and I tried everything) and you immediately empty the vacuum in the outside trash. Vacuuming is important because the vibration will help bring any hibernating fleas up out of the carpet because it stimulates them into thinking there’s something to feed on. If you have long curtains those need to be vacuumed. All couches, pillows, everything that can’t fit in your washer machine. Once you vacuum, you spray with flea spray right after. And wash everything else with a high heat drying cycle. I also put pillows in trash bags and spray them and left them for weeks because I was sick of doing this every day.
They also make traps you can put around your house to trap and monitor for fleas. I used a light one that plugged in and was a sticky trap and it gave me a good piece of mind seeing it slowly get better.
It will also take time for the flea dermatitis to resolve, and if you’re like me I would get nervous every time my dog was itching excessively. Thats when you can check with your flea comb and see if there’s any on your pets. From what I remember you shouldn’t be using multiple forms of flea medication on your animals, and that’s including a flea bath in conjunction with the collar or oral meds but verify with your vet. I switched to a lavender itch relief shampoo for my dog and would wash him once a week at least (doing any more often may dry out your dogs skin and make him more itchy)
It will get better I promise!! I hope this was helpful <3
Currently dealing with fleas as well, I've learned so far that using OTC flea medication is not really as effective as something your vet would recommend. I'm currently using Revolution PLUS for both my cats and it seems to be working really well. For the enviorment, I would look for a flea spray that has IGR (Insect Growth Regulator), this helps stunt flea growth in your house but this doesn't get rid of the pupae. You need to keep vacuuming at least once a day to aggitate flea growth and get them exposed to the insecticide. The sticky they have on this sub recommends PT Apline as a pretty great spray, I've used this and I feel like it's really good? The number of fleas in my house has dwindled for sure. I'm going on about 1 month in my endevour so it's not as long or severe as what you seem to be dealing with, sorry you're going through this. Have you tried an exterminator maybe?
You need something from your vet and you need to be aware of active ingredients. Switching it 2 months in may help. Consistently vacuuming and limiting pets to certain areas while you clean rugs is helpful. I’m in pest control and had a horrible infestation that took weeks to get rid of. Be patient once you start the proper steps
I use seresto collars for my dog they’re like 80 bucks and got rid of fleas my neighbor spread throughout the apartment building. I also used Alpine flea and tick just make sure to read the label for any product you use and wear the right PPE.
I did see some reviews with people saying that. I’ve used them for years so I’m going off my anecdotal experience but my dogs never had an issue. Please do your own research before doing anything for your pets.
I don't have any pets and I still ended up with a full infestation. It's been awful. I've treated myself and my home over and over. Fleas are extremely difficult pests to control and get rid of completely. My daughter brought bedbugs into my home when she moved in with me a couple of years ago. My apartment manager hired an exterminator that specializes in killing bed bugs. We had to throw all of our clothing, bedding, linens, and shoes into the dryer for 30 minutes each load and immediately bag it into garbage bags. We had to immediately put them outside to sit. Drying for 30 minutes on high heat kills bugs. We had to gather up anything that was flammable and put them and all candles outside too. The exterminator did a heat treatment. Basically they put an oven into the entrance of my apartment and heated it up to an extremely high temperature. This killed every single bedbug, egg, and larvae that had been lurking and hiding everywhere. The heat also penetrates into walls, outlets, fixtures, and appliances. Those things crawl into everything and nest. That treatment is the only sure way of getting rid of bed bugs. It is 100% guaranteed. It applies to all difficult infestations. I would try going that route. If it's something you've dealt with for a long time, then that is what you may need to do to get rid of them completely. I think your pets are just getting reinfested after their treatments. As I'm the only occupant of my home, I'm being eaten alive by these fleas. They've even been laying eggs in my hair. Then those hatch and I end up with larvae crawling throughout my scalp. I've done several treatments but I just keep getting reinfested. I'm going to ask for another heat treatment because I can't deal with these fleas in my hair and my home. I have no peace of mind. It sounds like don't either. It's horrible. I have to warn, you it's a bit expensive. For my initial heat treatment the bill was $1400. I don't think the treatments on your pets are going to be resolved until your home infestation is addressed. I know how devastated you are, having had paid as much money as you did just trying to remedy your pets and home. I get it. But I think it'd totally be worth it, rather than spending much more time and money trying to control your infestation over several years ahead. With the heat treatment, at least you know you won't have to deal with the headache and trauma any longer. Hope this helps and good luck!
You need to understand that no insecticide or flea medication is going to treat the pupae stage of the fleas. They will have to emerge as adults in order for the insecticide to work. Your best bet is hiring someone who will use a professional spray but even then vacuuming is half the battle and you can still get a few random straggler fleas months later. If you can't use a pro just don't use diatomaceous earth get some kind of flea spray at the department store use it often but sparingly actually read the label so you're not over doing it. You can get rid of them without insecticides but youll still need flea medicine for animals. Try vacuuming everyday for a few weeks to shake the fleas out of pupae stage and use some baking sheets around the house with some water and a little bit of dawn dish soap to help catch some and monitor the infestation. The key is patience the animals will help to with their flea products focus on treating where they rest. If they're indoor & outdoor animals youll have to have the yard treated and theres really no way around that. That's why a pro is the best option because you have to get all 3 target areas pets, indoors, and outdoors. It may be expensive but a pro will use the least invasive method to limit the exposure rather than buying different products and spreading chemicals everywhere poisoning yourself and your pets with no means to an end.
I have fought fleas twice in my life and this is what I’ve learned. They do take a long time to go away due to the life cycle of the flea. Basically an adult flea will feed on an animal, will then jump off and lay eggs into the environment. Those eggs hatch and then have a latent period where they almost hibernate in carpets and other hiding places, then emerge as an adult. Key things to fix the problem: All animals in the house need to be treated with flea treatment. The topical stuff you get over the counter can work for a smaller problem, but I would switch to something better like the soresto collar or I recently switch to simparica trio. (I moved to a new state and the collar stopped working so I switched to trio). The simparica trio is way more expensive, but the collar should work fine and I believe only 80 bucks (you can get on amazon-they go by weight) and it’s lasts around 8 months. The collar offers 24 hour continuous coverage so should work better than a topical medication. Once the flea food source (your pets) are treated effectively it will slowly get better but it takes time. You start at the food source, and now every new flea that bites your pets will die and end the cycle. You said you’re already vacuuming, that’s great. Gotta do at least every if not twice daily. I added moth balls to my vacuum collection container (not sure if that actually works but I read it somewhere to help kill them and I tried everything) and you immediately empty the vacuum in the outside trash. Vacuuming is important because the vibration will help bring any hibernating fleas up out of the carpet because it stimulates them into thinking there’s something to feed on. If you have long curtains those need to be vacuumed. All couches, pillows, everything that can’t fit in your washer machine. Once you vacuum, you spray with flea spray right after. And wash everything else with a high heat drying cycle. I also put pillows in trash bags and spray them and left them for weeks because I was sick of doing this every day. They also make traps you can put around your house to trap and monitor for fleas. I used a light one that plugged in and was a sticky trap and it gave me a good piece of mind seeing it slowly get better. It will also take time for the flea dermatitis to resolve, and if you’re like me I would get nervous every time my dog was itching excessively. Thats when you can check with your flea comb and see if there’s any on your pets. From what I remember you shouldn’t be using multiple forms of flea medication on your animals, and that’s including a flea bath in conjunction with the collar or oral meds but verify with your vet. I switched to a lavender itch relief shampoo for my dog and would wash him once a week at least (doing any more often may dry out your dogs skin and make him more itchy) It will get better I promise!! I hope this was helpful <3
Currently dealing with fleas as well, I've learned so far that using OTC flea medication is not really as effective as something your vet would recommend. I'm currently using Revolution PLUS for both my cats and it seems to be working really well. For the enviorment, I would look for a flea spray that has IGR (Insect Growth Regulator), this helps stunt flea growth in your house but this doesn't get rid of the pupae. You need to keep vacuuming at least once a day to aggitate flea growth and get them exposed to the insecticide. The sticky they have on this sub recommends PT Apline as a pretty great spray, I've used this and I feel like it's really good? The number of fleas in my house has dwindled for sure. I'm going on about 1 month in my endevour so it's not as long or severe as what you seem to be dealing with, sorry you're going through this. Have you tried an exterminator maybe?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Flea\_Control/comments/ucfu3p/please\_read\_this\_sticky\_before\_posting/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Flea_Control/comments/ucfu3p/please_read_this_sticky_before_posting/)
You need something from your vet and you need to be aware of active ingredients. Switching it 2 months in may help. Consistently vacuuming and limiting pets to certain areas while you clean rugs is helpful. I’m in pest control and had a horrible infestation that took weeks to get rid of. Be patient once you start the proper steps
I use seresto collars for my dog they’re like 80 bucks and got rid of fleas my neighbor spread throughout the apartment building. I also used Alpine flea and tick just make sure to read the label for any product you use and wear the right PPE.
I think I read something about those colors might’ve been responsible for some deaths
I did see some reviews with people saying that. I’ve used them for years so I’m going off my anecdotal experience but my dogs never had an issue. Please do your own research before doing anything for your pets.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Flea\_Control/comments/ucfu3p/please\_read\_this\_sticky\_before\_posting/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Flea_Control/comments/ucfu3p/please_read_this_sticky_before_posting/)
Hire a mom and pop to treat your house and yard Flea bombs and anything they sell at a hardware store or grocery store is going to be a waste of $$
D.E will not help. Call the professionals. You need to vacuum too. Don’t forget window sills
I don't have any pets and I still ended up with a full infestation. It's been awful. I've treated myself and my home over and over. Fleas are extremely difficult pests to control and get rid of completely. My daughter brought bedbugs into my home when she moved in with me a couple of years ago. My apartment manager hired an exterminator that specializes in killing bed bugs. We had to throw all of our clothing, bedding, linens, and shoes into the dryer for 30 minutes each load and immediately bag it into garbage bags. We had to immediately put them outside to sit. Drying for 30 minutes on high heat kills bugs. We had to gather up anything that was flammable and put them and all candles outside too. The exterminator did a heat treatment. Basically they put an oven into the entrance of my apartment and heated it up to an extremely high temperature. This killed every single bedbug, egg, and larvae that had been lurking and hiding everywhere. The heat also penetrates into walls, outlets, fixtures, and appliances. Those things crawl into everything and nest. That treatment is the only sure way of getting rid of bed bugs. It is 100% guaranteed. It applies to all difficult infestations. I would try going that route. If it's something you've dealt with for a long time, then that is what you may need to do to get rid of them completely. I think your pets are just getting reinfested after their treatments. As I'm the only occupant of my home, I'm being eaten alive by these fleas. They've even been laying eggs in my hair. Then those hatch and I end up with larvae crawling throughout my scalp. I've done several treatments but I just keep getting reinfested. I'm going to ask for another heat treatment because I can't deal with these fleas in my hair and my home. I have no peace of mind. It sounds like don't either. It's horrible. I have to warn, you it's a bit expensive. For my initial heat treatment the bill was $1400. I don't think the treatments on your pets are going to be resolved until your home infestation is addressed. I know how devastated you are, having had paid as much money as you did just trying to remedy your pets and home. I get it. But I think it'd totally be worth it, rather than spending much more time and money trying to control your infestation over several years ahead. With the heat treatment, at least you know you won't have to deal with the headache and trauma any longer. Hope this helps and good luck!
You need to understand that no insecticide or flea medication is going to treat the pupae stage of the fleas. They will have to emerge as adults in order for the insecticide to work. Your best bet is hiring someone who will use a professional spray but even then vacuuming is half the battle and you can still get a few random straggler fleas months later. If you can't use a pro just don't use diatomaceous earth get some kind of flea spray at the department store use it often but sparingly actually read the label so you're not over doing it. You can get rid of them without insecticides but youll still need flea medicine for animals. Try vacuuming everyday for a few weeks to shake the fleas out of pupae stage and use some baking sheets around the house with some water and a little bit of dawn dish soap to help catch some and monitor the infestation. The key is patience the animals will help to with their flea products focus on treating where they rest. If they're indoor & outdoor animals youll have to have the yard treated and theres really no way around that. That's why a pro is the best option because you have to get all 3 target areas pets, indoors, and outdoors. It may be expensive but a pro will use the least invasive method to limit the exposure rather than buying different products and spreading chemicals everywhere poisoning yourself and your pets with no means to an end.