fleas???

Ive never had a flea problem before (knock on wood).

but in the last few weeks - on not so freezing days (im in S. Jersey) ive seen tiny black dots jumping ON the empty cat food dishes.

Now I havent seen these on the cats or even on my pets.... although my dog was itching for about a week- i applied Diatomaceous earth to her and she was ok... but I saw nothing on her - and i checked daily.

Is this the time of year for fleas??? and i didnt think they would live in an empty food dish - i htought they were all about living on animals....

im just confused (again)...

thanks!!

They jump off to lay eggs and hide in the environment. If you're seeing that many jumping around it suggests you might have them pretty badly.

I suggest you treat the areas you're seeing them in the most with DE and any carpets you have. Plus use the flea collar in the vacuum trick.
You'll probably need to use some flea treatments to break the cycle. But the main problem will be that you have a dog. Even if treated the fleas can still hitch a ride on a dog (even if they don't live long) and if you're yard has them from the dog, they can come in on you.


And yes, they can survive winters. Usually they'll go dormant outside when it freezes, but that doesn't help much once they're inside.

The adult fleas are really only a manifestation of the problem; the real problem is the constant and increasing regeneration of their population. Fleas will out-reproduce any attempt to control them by simply killing the adults, and just treating the animals does not solve the problem--it's only a part of a long and tough process.

If you suspect that you have a flea infestation you first need to take control of their environment--your house. It will need to be cleaned from top to bottom thoroughly; pay especially close attention to high-traffic areas, carpets and furniture, and pet bedding. Once the house has been cleaned, it's a good idea to invest in a sprayer and some DE--mix the DE with water and spray it wherever you can (this will also help control other insect pests). Then go after the adult fleas.

First, get an insecticide you can dilute and spray using the same sprayer you used with the DE, but be sure to mix it with Precor or a similar substance.

The key here is to break the flea's reproductive cycle. Precor interferes with that cycle by causing flea eggs and larvae, which survive the insecticide, to develop incompletely and unable to reproduce. Then you deprive the survivors of their primary food source by treating your pets.

I really can't speak about dogs, but DO NOT USE flea collars on cats--they are hazardous and largely inefficient. At our spay/neuter clinics we treat the cats with Advantage, but if you can afford it Revolution is also a good product--fleas seem to be becoming resistant to Frontline.

Once the intital infestation has been defeated it's important to keep in mind that you have only won a temporary victory--if your pets go outside you run the risk of reinfestation, so it's best to maintain a regimen of treating them and making your home as inhospitable to fleas as possible. This has the added bonus of making your pets safer from tapeworms, which can be transmitted to them by fleas....

It's not flea season yet, particularly if you are in an area where you still are prone to freezing temperatures. Are you sure that they aren't a type of gnat? Fleas don't typically hang out in food bowls.

Hi -- we took our maine coon cat to the vet Saturday for his annual checkup and we were shocked to hear he had fleas. He is an indoor cat, but we do feed some ferals outside and the fleas must have come in on my clothing or their food bowls. We're in Ohio, so it's pretty cold here. Our Saturday plans sure changed in a hurry!!

Im still pretty confused. Im assuming they are fleas based on whats been said here and my neighbor said he had a flea problem. Although when my dog was having an itching fit - I found 2 tiny WINGED bugs on her - bigger than what ive seen in the food dishes (they jump which I know fleas do) Are these a type of flea????

What I dont get is the fleas arent in the woods where I feed the cats also - they are in a path between two of the condo buildings - surrounded by woods. I thought I should maybe not feed them there anymore- although they are very used to it - PLUS they hang out there and use the path anyway. Should I spray the water/DE around that area??? ive been dusting the food dishes - and the area around the dishes....and of course there of more the next day

I just dont know what to do about this in the spring/summer - wont it get worse outside???? Is there such a thing of a bad flea epidemic??? Ive had a dog for 4 years - have been feeding these cats over a year and this is hte first time Ive ever seen fleas... Just dont get it.

But thanks for the help - will use it... although not looking forward to having this maybe get worse...

Originally Posted by m935

Im still pretty confused. Im assuming they are fleas based on whats been said here and my neighbor said he had a flea problem. Although when my dog was having an itching fit - I found 2 tiny WINGED bugs on her - bigger than what ive seen in the food dishes (they jump which I know fleas do) Are these a type of flea????

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It doesn't sound like fleas. I think you've got a type of gnat. I've seen those winged critters on my dogs before and they weren't fleas. I'm not sure what they were, but a good bath with dawn dish soap solved the problem.

Not if your house has had a previous infestation and you haven't denied the fleas an environment in which to live. Flea eggs are incredibly tough and can tolerate very cold temperatures, a problem not faced when they are laid inside a warmed house occupied by humans and/or pets. In the middle of the winter I constantly see adult fleas on the cats that come to our clinics--many of them are indoor housecats.

Once the fleas get in your house you must kill them and take measures to keep them from reproducing--otherwise you will have a problem that knows no seasons....