Flea Infestation

Flea Infestations

Fleas can ride in on clothing or a secondhand rug, but most household problems start with a pet. A dog or cat picks up fleas outside or from another animal and brings them in, where females lay eggs that drop into bedding and carpet. Your pet is usually where the problem shows first. More scratching, licking or chewing than normal is a good reason to look closer. If you find fleas on the animal, check the house next, since eggs and young fleas are probably there already. Some people notice first when a flea lands on them or when small itchy bites appear.

What to Look For

Fleas can also come from animals you do not own. Opossums, raccoons, feral cats and roaming dogs drop flea eggs wherever they rest. Fencing gaps, closing off the space under decks and porches, and not leaving pet food outside all help keep these visitors away.

Signs of Fleas Beyond an Itchy Pet

Fleas are small, fast and dark, so you often find their traces before the fleas themselves. These checks take only a few minutes:

• Flea dirt. Part your pet’s fur near the tail base and look for black, pepper-like specks. Put a few on a damp white paper towel. If they smear reddish-brown, it’s digested blood left by fleas.
• The white sock test. Pull white socks up to your knees and walk slowly across carpet and rugs, especially where pets nap. Fleas that jump on stand out clearly.
• Bites on your ankles after time in a particular room or on a certain couch.
• A sudden burst after a trip. Adult fleas can wait inside cocoons in an empty house, then hatch all at once when footsteps and body heat return.

Where to look indoors: pet beds, carpet along walls and under furniture, upholstered chairs, rugs and car seats.

Where to look outdoors: shaded, moist spots where animals rest, such as under shrubs, porches, decks and raised homes. Sunny, open lawn is rarely the source.

No pets? Fleas can still show up. Wildlife or stray cats sleeping under a house or porch can leave enough fleas behind to start an infestation.

Season: fleas thrive in warm, humid weather, so Florida summers are peak time, and across much of the state they never fully go away in winter. Treatment steps are on how to get rid of fleas, and bite details are on flea bites and treatment.