It’s no secret that fleas prefer to feast on the blood of dogs and cats. After all, this is where most people first spot them. Form the moment they emerge from their eggs, these parasites actively seek out warm-blooded hosts on which to feed. Treating the host with a flea medicine, such as FrontLine or Advantage, will often eliminate the problem. But what if you are experiencing a flea infestation without the presence of dogs, cats or other pets inside your home?
The bottom line is that you can experience a flea infestation without pets inside your home. Fleas require a warm-blooded host to live and thrive, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a dog or cat. If you recently moved into a new home only to discover that it’s infested with fleas, the previous tenants may have owned one or more dogs. This is an all-too-common scenario that can turn an otherwise joyful relocation into a nightmare. This is why it’s a good idea to have the new residence inspected and treated by a professional pest control company before moving.
Rather than blindly moving into a new home, hoping that it’s free of fleas or other pests, you should hire a pest control company to check it out beforehand. Doing so will prove to be a smart investment that will give you the peace of mind knowing your new residence is flea free.
Another possibility is that the fleas inside your home are feeding on you. It’s not something most people want to think about, but fleas may be receiving their nourishment by feeding on family members living inside the home. If a flea bites you while you’re sleeping, you may not feel it until the following morning. Flea bites are small, red and won’t swell much unless the individual suffers from an allergic condition known as flea allergy dermatitis (FAD).
When you wake up in the morning, inspect your body thoroughly for any signs of flea bites. Granted, flea bites are often mistaken for mosquito, bed bugs, or other insect bites, but this will give you a better idea of where the problem is coming from. And if you find any signs of bites on your body in the morning, you know that you are the host.
Like all parasites, fleas need a host to nourish their bodies and survive. Once you take the host out of the equation, the infestation will begin to go away.