This seems like a silly question, but would I see the mice IN my unit? I have a relatively small apartment, only one bedroom, and I haven’t noticed any rodents inside, ever. I am on the first floor. I can’t say that I’ve heard any rustlings in the walls or anything either. As I said earlier, there are definitely stray cats in my neighborhood…at least one. There are also squirrels that crawl in the trees around my unit sometimes. I figured these had to be the culprits, but the property manager explained that pest control is in the complex twice a month and that will include some sort of exterior spraying, although I have no idea what that means. Anyways, I appreciate the suggestions.
If mice was causing the flea infestation, yes, you’d know you had a mouse problem …
I think the most likely scenario here is these stray cats come and scratch themselves on your front door stoop … dislodging flea eggs which you pick up with your shoes and grind into your carpet … eggs hatch, feed on the feces you tracked in and soon enough they’ll molt into adult fleas …
How feral are these stray cats? … will they come to you with the offering of food? … will they let you pet them? … what you’re looking for (or feeling for I guess) would be what seems to be scabs on their skin … typically on the back of the neck and behind the ears … these would be the egg/poop clusters on the cats … that would be the “smoking gun” …
I only have tile, no carpet. I don’t know enough about the cats because I don’t feed them, I only see them around the cars in the neighborhood, or sometimes they’ve been near my specific unit because there’s like a big patch of mulch in front that I’ve seen it (or them) crawling on now and then. So there are two units on the first floor and two units on the second floor of my “block” in the complex. No pet owners in the block of four. If I’m the only one complaining, I could just be in an unfortunate location in the block in that I’m closest to this mulchy area and the bushes. Two apartments on the second floor probably are far enough up that they aren’t affected, and the tenant next door to me may just not notice (or not care, or has no problem.) I think I’m just going to check again with the property manager that the pest control company can’t do some sort of outdoor treatment, that would help. I might try walking around outside my unit with white socks too, to see if I can’t spot a bunch jumping on me. If anything, I might ask if I can switch units if a vacancy opens up, or I guess just move if that’s the only way I can get any attention! Thanks for your help!!
I second someone else has a worse problem they won’t admit to.
When we moved into a new place, our cats got fleas, probably from previous pets. Probably dog fleas that will settle for cats, but don’t breed on them as readily, because we got rid of them fairly easily. We combed fleas off the cats, so they were there, and one cat had scabs. We used Comfortis, an internal treatment, plus an external treatment-- a generic Sentinel. One treatment of each, and the fleas were gone. In two weeks we couldn’t comb any off the cats. We treated again this month, because we had extra doses of the stuff, and why not be sure? but the scabs had totally healed on the one cat, and we couldn’t comb a single flea (yes, using a flea comb).
My point is, if we got rid of them that easily with pets in the apartment, then I think you have some source close by. I can’t believe they are all just coming in with you, if you don’t work at the animal shelter, or some place like that. I also can’t believe they live in your car: they’d starve.
I’m going to second asking for another unit in your complex. You won’t have to reapply, and make another deposit. Or maybe you can get them to inspect for illegal pets.
One thing I love about my complex is that they require tenants with pets to submit up-to-date vaccination records. I wish other places made sure pets in residence were taken care of.
Yes, you could be tracking them in from outside … but you could also have flea larvae in your floorboards. Those buggers can live like that for a long time and them rise up and hatch. There’s been documented cases of them hiding out for years.
When you vacuum, do you empty or change the bag immediately? Because if you don’t they will hop out of the bag … if you vacuumed up larvae they will hatch. If it’s a disposable bag take the bag out and dispose of it as soon as you’re finished. Don’t leave the bag in the machine, take the entire bag out and put it in the dumpster. If it’s a cup that needs emptying, empty that into a trash bag, seal the bag, and take the bag to the dumpster.
Some people say using diatomaceous earth helps … put some in the vacuum bag. Supposedly it cuts the fleas to pieces. I dunno about that one.
You may need another treatment or two from the pest control company. They need to do your apartment and the immediate vicinity outside too.
Good luck to you, fleas can be tenacious.
Have you asked any of the other tenants if they’re having a problem? Because I wouldn’t take the manager’s word for it. However, fleas can be oddly picky, I’ve found. I get a bit a lot when we get an outdoor infestation, my wife and daughter not at all.
Does your apartment have common outdoor space, and do you spend time there? If so I would expect that you’re picking them up from the strays, or possibly other creatures like rats, mice, or raccoons (as suggested) and they hitch a ride inside with you.
It could be the squirrels, if you’re seeing those. If the cats aren’t actually coming in and out of your unit, I can’t imagine that you’re really getting that many fleas from them.
Mice you might be seeing and you might not, especially if you’re not looking for them, or don’t know what to look for.
The other thing to investigate is what pesticide was used when your unit was treated for fleas. It could be that it’s a type that is no longer fully effective in your area, and that you’ve still got fleas laying eggs in your apartment. You might need treatment with a different pesticide and it will need to be repeated at least once, and possibly twice more, to make sure that you’ve caught any hatching fleas and interrupted reproduction.
I had something similar happen with my dogs when Frontline stopped working as a treatment and I had to switch to another treatment for them. It still works in some parts of the country, but not here. Just a thought.
I don’t know why it took me so long to do this but…not owning any white socks, I went out and bought some. I put them on and just walked around in the path leading up to my apartment…kind of lingered around, stomped my feet, walked by the various bushes, etc. Anyways, about three or four separate times, I looked down at my feet and saw a flea crawling all along the sock. Each time I’d squish the flea. So I think what everyone has suggested is absolutely right…they’re just outside my door, likely the result of a stray animal or rodents hanging around right outside. I must be bringing them in on my clothes and then once inside they must fall off. That would probably explain why they’re in the bathroom and bedroom and the living room…some days I might get home and head straight for the bathroom and they might just hop off there. I guess I’ll just have to tell my property manager about this. Honestly, based on when this started happening, maybe it has to do with leaves piling up in the path in front of my apartment. Here in North Florida the fall-winter season sees a lot of leaves fall off trees. Maybe the leaves are a good place for fleas to hide. I’ll have to focus on raking the leaves away too. Thank you all for your help!!
This makes sense to me based on my own experience, and I should add that I’ve seen fleas hopping around in the bathroom before, where there really isn’t anyplace for them to hide/live/survive–it’s because they hopped off ME when I brought them in.
If your apartment manager isn’t helpful, you can try some inexpensive non-toxic remedies–diatomaceous earth was mentioned, but DO NOT buy the kind used for pool filtering, you want the food-grade kind. I’m skeptical myself based on poor results, but it won’t hurt humans or other animals. You can also try Neem oil, which might need to be diluted with water and a little liquid soap depending what type you buy. Spray it on the foliage. It has a tangy, peanutty smell but won’t hurt anything except, one hopes, the fleas (meaning it’s not going to kill a pet or small child who ingests it). I feel I had better results with Neem.
OP lives in florida.
Does the OP have and semi dry sandy areas near?
Because florida is Land of the Sand loving cat fleas, and the little vampires
will hop up and attempt a ride on anything warm that moves.
They will starve on a human, but they try anyways.
Permethrin, diluted one ounce per gallon of water is very fatal to them.
But do not get Permethrin on cats, it is equally fatal to them, fine on dogs, not on cats.
Modern once-only flea control worked for me in the mid 90’s when it first made it to Melbourne. You only have to repeat spray when you are introducing new fleas.