HELP - flea bites?

[Cattia]

OK this is a bit embarassing but I think we have a flea living in our bed! We don't have pets so no idea where we would have got fleas from, but every morning I wake up with another bite and this morning I actually felt myself getting bitten as I lay in bed! I have never seen any fleas but I don't know what to do about this problem. Can flea bites carry disease? Are they dangerous? What can I do to get rid of them and how do I know it even is a flea? Could it be something else living in the bed? HELP!!!

 

[Savannah11]

Hi hun,
not sure on the flea front but could it be a mosquito do you think?

or perhaps bed bugs? how long have you had the matress?
xx

 

[Cattia]

We've had the mattress about 4 years and we have a 4 inch memory foam topper on it. I am going to strip the cover off that and wash it. It could be bed bugs? Do they bitr? Funny thing is that DH doesn't have a single bite! It's just me who is waking up with them every day

 

[Wispyshadow]

Oh, no. Yeah, bed bugs do bite and they like to hide around the edges and seams of mattresses, especially up against the wall and usually only come out when its dark. That is odd that your DH doesn't have any bites. Hopefully just washing and drying your sheets will do the trick but I would really inspect the mattress all over.
Hope you figure out what it is.

 

[Skye1]

Bed bugs can do the same thing.

Strip your bed down and get hubby to spray it with a good house flea spray - just you stay out the room till it's settled Get the trigger spray the aresol (sp) is crap

 

[Savannah11]

hmm maybe your tastier than OH! haha.

yeah i'd say strip everything off and give it a good wash and airing then try it again.
could be that memory foam thing if you have one of those on.

sorry cant be much help but i'd just give everything a good once over and see if it helps xx

 

[lisabee]

It wont be fleas at this time of year its too cold and the fact u have no pets makes the chances even slimmer!

However I did watch a science program a few years back and it showed u how to tell if you had bed bugs - Here comes the science bit -

If you took your mattress out in the midday sun every single bed bug on that mat would rise to the surface, they are attracted by heat but as soon as they rise to the surface they die because the sun is way hotter than body heat!

I seen it with me own 2 peepers and it gave me the heebie jeebies!!!!

Obv noone is gonna drag their mattress outside but what you can do is hoover your bed - yes hoover!! Boil wash sheets and blankets and anything that can be washed that lies on your bed - even pillows!!! AND if possible wash your quilt

I sound like Kim n Aggie!!!

But also to answer your question fleas, bed bugs etc cant harm you they r just a pain

Hope u get it sorted

 

[PeanutBean]

What do the bites look like and where are you getting bitten? Bed bugs can be a serious problem (not in a disease way, in a getting rid of them way). They often live in the actual frame of the bed. They don't like being under the covers so bites on your legs (unless they are sticking out) or torso are unlikely to be bed bugs but if they're mostly on your arms they could well be. They have a very distinctive bite nothing like a flea bite (which will be a small red lump), google images to see. They ar easily picked up from hotels travelling back with you in your luggage - have either of you been away recently? If you really think it is bed bugs I would call in the professionals.

If it's a flea I really wouldn't worry. With no pets to live off it'll die. They don't live forever and (with the exception of human fleas which it will NOT be!) can't reproduce on humans. They can carry disease but the diseases they carry will be host-specific so shouldn't be anything to worry about.

 

[Mum2MJ]

You should regularly hoover and turn your mattress to keep rid of mites and bed bugs etc and wash sheets on 60 minimum. It could be a rogue flea if someone you know has pets or you've been petting animals and fleas can live awhile without animals being around if they're biting you. It's also worth popping a cat flea collar in your hoover bag in case it is a flea problem - good luck

 

[Cattia]

Thanks everyone. Well, I stripped the bed, took the mattress cover off the memory foam topper and I inspected it very closely. I found two creatures in there that were tiny tiny, like pin prick size and the jumped! Would they be fleas or bed bugs? I can't imagine where they could have come from! Have hoovered the mattress and topper both sides and also the whole carpet and washed everything. will that do the trick? I just can't believe it, never had anything like this before and OH and I are going to fall out over it as he thinks I am over reacting!

 

[kittenattacks]

My DH has a friend that has cats (and is someone that really doesn't clean!) and when they come over, I always end up with bites on my legs. Fleas love me and don't touch DH so it could be a flea that has been brought in from someone else's house.

 

[PeanutBean]

Bed bugs are small but not that small, they don't really jump. They're kind of roundish. Cat fleas are pretty tiny but I wouldn't say pin-prick small even when newly hatched. They obviously jump, a lot! They are very black.

Have you had any mammals in the house or been in contact with anyone who has them? It could be as simple as visiting someone with a cat and sitting on their floor, picking up a couple of flea eggs, then them hatching in the warmth of your house. No animals menas no reproduction or new eggs so if I were you I wouldn't introduce any nasty anti-flea chemicals into your bedroom as they will just die out anyway.

If they're fleas but really very tiny it is possible they are off a smaller mammal...

 

[Cattia]

Bed bugs are small but not that small, they don't really jump. They're kind of roundish. Cat fleas are pretty tiny but I wouldn't say pin-prick small even when newly hatched. They obviously jump, a lot! They are very black.

Have you had any mammals in the house or been in contact with anyone who has them? It could be as simple as visiting someone with a cat and sitting on their floor, picking up a couple of flea eggs, then them hatching in the warmth of your house. No animals menas no reproduction or new eggs so if I were you I wouldn't introduce any nasty anti-flea chemicals into your bedroom as they will just die out anyway.

If they're fleas but really very tiny it is possible they are off a smaller mammal...

I guess pinprick small was a slight exageration! They were pretty tiny but not round, more long and I would say a dark brown sort of colour. I suppose they could have come in on someone's clothes easily enough as I know lots of people who have pets to that's certainly possible. I hope I have solved the problem but we'll see....
All the bites were on the bottom half of my legs and I only every get them at night so hopefully that means they are just in the bed and not all over the house.

 

[PeanutBean]

Sounds like cat fleas to me then!

 

[PeanutBean]

https://www.allpropestmanagement.com/Cat_Flea.jpg

 

[emmamc28]

we had a big problem with fleas when we rehomed pour cats. they used to sneak into our kids room and sleep on the beds and as a cosequence(sp?) my sons bed and the bedroom carpet got infested. the cats were all regularly flead and had flea collars but we have a big feild behind our house so i think thats how they got in the house. anyway we tried everythin.. we changed beds everyday hooverd religiously everyday, flea powders, flea sprays more hoovering bought new quilts and pillows washed and washed and washed and nothing seemed to work and the only person who seemed to be getting bitten was my 4 yr old son. anyway we found an organic flea spray i think it was at pets at home and it worked after 2 uses of it and we have never looked back no more fleas!!! its in a big pump spray bottle thats white and yellow and i think it was about 8 or 9 quid and well worth it. my advice is that if it is fleas then get it sorted as soon as cuz they breed VERY quickly!! and can easily get out of hand if you dont. hope this helps and hasn't completly freaked you out lol.


https://lmtf.lilypie.com/OQsi.png

 

[Leanne87]

It does sound like Fleas from a cat.
In the summer we had a problem with a few in my living room carpet.
there was a stray cat that used to hang about in the garden and kept brushing up against our legs when outside...and a few of the little buggers came in on our clothes.

Only i and my 3yr old got bit on the lower legs.
We bought a Strong flea spray from the vets Cost around a tenner and was told to spray all the carpets and soft furnishings in the house incase any eggs had been walked around the place.

It stopped the next day as was really strong stuff.

For the bites any antihistamine cream should stop the itching and prevent any infection x