I’ve seen one flea; should I be worried?

If you have seen a sole flea flicking around your home and jumping from spot to spot, you might be wondering whether that’s a cause for concern.

Is just one flea anything to worry about? Can you ignore it, or do you need to take action?

Unfortunately, if there is one flea in your home, you need to act fast. It is quite likely there are already more, and if there aren’t, there soon will be!

If you’ve got fleas in the house, it’s likely they have come in on a dog or a cat, and that means you need to treat both your furry friend and your furnishings to kill the fleas.

Is Seeing One Flea Normal?

Seeing one flea is not good, although anyone who has pets takes the risk of having to deal with them from time to time.

Fleas are fast-breeding and fast-spreading insects that can leave you itchy and uncomfortable. In addition, a serious infestation is a big challenge to deal with.

Seeing just one flea on your pet from time to time is fairly normal, especially in summer, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it.

If there are fleas, that means the flea treatment you use has stopped working, and you need to treat your pet to stop them from getting covered in more.

You also need to treat your home, as fleas will happily hop off your pet and lay eggs around the house, and hop back on when they want another feed of blood.

One flea is not a problem, but one flea will very quickly become more, and soon you’ll be dealing with a very serious issue.

What Is A Flea?

Fleas are a wingless insect that survives by drinking the blood of other creatures. Often, fleas are found on cats and dogs and rabbits, especially those that are not regularly treated with a flea control method.

If your untreated pet spends any amount of time outdoors, particularly in the summer, it will pick up fleas and bring them into the home.

There are many kinds of fleas, and some are specific to their hosts, while others are less selective and will jump onto any creature that they can feed on.

Fleas can jump around seven inches high and thirteen inches horizontally, so they can easily get around in the home, hopping onto and off your pets at will.

Female fleas in some species can lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs in their lifetime, and as a single flea only lives for a few months, that should give you an idea of just how fast they can multiply.

You do not want fleas breeding in your home!

Flea eggs may be laid on surrounding material or directly on the host animal. As eggs then often drop off, you are likely to find that areas, where your dog or cat lies down, are rife with breeding fleas and their larvae.

Do Lone Fleas Exist?

Not really, no. While it is theoretically possible for an isolated flea to appear on your pet, it will soon be laying eggs and breeding, and it won’t be long before you have a whole infestation of fleas.

Fleas aren’t communal insects in that they don’t depend on a group for survival, but you will not really ever get a single flea living on your pet.

If your pet is not being treated for fleas, others will be joining the first, probably before you are even aware of its presence. If the pet is being treated, there shouldn’t be any fleas.

It’s a safe bet that if you have found one flea, there are other fleas – even if there are only a few so far. The numbers will increase within a week or two as the flea eggs hatch, pupate, and turn into adult fleas.

Are Fleas Dangerous?

Fleas are not particularly dangerous to people; they may occasionally bite, but they don’t live on humans.

This is because humans don’t have hairy coats that would protect the fleas and allow them to lay their eggs. They are exposed when they cling to people, and therefore they don’t generally choose to stay on them.

However, fleas may bite you. This isn’t dangerous, but it is itchy and unpleasant, and if fleas are attacking you, you definitely need to take action to get rid of them.

Fleas can be harmful to pets. Some animals are allergic to the saliva produced by fleas, meaning that every bite will become inflamed and extremely uncomfortable for the cat or dog.

If your pet is scratching a lot, you need to treat it to get the fleas off it.

If your pet is allergic to the fleas, it is likely to scratch so much that it breaks the skin, and this may require a vet trip to treat the infection and get rid of the fleas.

Pets are also vulnerable to internal problems as a result of flea infestations. Fleas can carry tapeworms, and if your pet eats fleas, these parasites can be passed into their guts. Tapeworms sometimes grow very long and will feed on organic matter in your pet’s guts.

Tapeworms can cause weight loss and itchiness for your pet, and they need to be dealt with quickly as they can, in rare cases, pass to people from animals.

It is also possible for humans to get tapeworm if they accidentally ingest a flea, although this does tend to be rare.

Why Are There Fleas In My Home?

It is likely that there are fleas in your home because they have been brought inside by your pet, hiding in their shaggy fur.

It is rare for fleas to come inside on people. Although this can happen, without a regular source of food, they will die, and you don’t need to worry about them too much (unless you have pets).

On the whole, fleas rely on an animal host for transport, and they won’t travel on you, even if they will occasionally bite you. It is rare for fleas to enter your home in any other way than by clinging to an animal of some sort.

Is Having Fleas In My Home Bad?

Yes, having fleas in your home is certainly bad. Although they are not harmful to humans, on the whole, you don’t want to be cohabiting with them.

They will make any pets uncomfortable, and if you don’t have pets, they will turn to bite you instead.

Fleas will make you itch horribly, and they live in the furnishings, constantly breeding and increasing their numbers as long as they have a reliable source of food.

They are a very uncomfortable guest to have in your home, even if you discount the (admittedly small) risk of contracting tapeworm from them.

What Should I Do If I Have Fleas In My Home?

If you have fleas in your home, the first thing you should do is treat your pets with a veterinarian-approved medication.

This should prevent the fleas from getting back onto your pet. Unfortunately, however, this is only a small part of the problem, as it is thought that the majority of fleas are spread throughout the home once an infestation is established.

There will be eggs, larvae, cocoons, and pupae all over your home, and these are often too small for you to see them.

Flea eggs and larvae may remain dormant when conditions are not favorable, so you will have to persistently treat your home for months on end in order to truly get rid of an infestation.

If you get a little lax and stop treating your pet, the fleas will come back full force very quickly.

In order to truly deal with a flea infestation, you need to take a two-pronged approach, treating both your pets and your home.

Pets should have a regular flea treatment as recommended by your veterinarian. Set a reminder for yourself so that you do not forget to treat them. Keep this up religiously if you want to be successful in getting rid of the fleas.

Secondly, the home. You need a powerful vacuum cleaner to start with. This needs to be used on any soft furnishings that it can safely be used on. Floors, curtains, mattresses, rugs, cushions, cloths, etc. all need to be vacuumed thoroughly and very regularly.

Some people vacuum every day in an attempt to get on top of flea infestations. You should dispose of the bag to prevent fleas from hatching in there and climbing back out, or you won’t be gaining any ground.

You should also boil wash any soft furnishings that you can, such as bedding, blankets, cushion covers, clothing, and so on.

This will kill eggs that are living in the fabric, as they can’t deal with the heat. You can use a steam cleaner too, which will also kill them through heat.

Pay particular attention to areas where your pet sleeps, as these are common breeding grounds. Pet beds need to be washed daily to kill fleas and stop them from reinfecting your pet.

If you cannot clean something, you should bag it and freeze it. This should kill any fleas or their eggs that are on the item, although it is better to wash it if you can.

You may find that some items need to be discarded if the infestation is really severe. You won’t always be able to get on top of it.

Chemical treatments are another option for killing fleas in the home, but you should do this with some care. Do not use them indiscriminately; choose ones that are safe for you and your situation, making sure that you keep your pets in mind. Some chemical treatments are very harsh, and you will often need to leave the home for a few hours.

How Do I Prevent Fleas In My Home?

You can prevent fleas by keeping your pet’s flea medicine up to date and keeping your grass nice and short. Fleas thrive in long grass.

You should also discourage wild animals from visiting your property, as these are likely to spread fleas, which can then jump onto your pet. However, be aware that anything can carry fleas, including birds – so this only goes so far.

Really, the only way to prevent fleas is to prevent them from getting on your pet by regularly treating it for fleas.

Is One Flea a Reason To Worry?

One flea is usually a sign that there are more, so yes, a single flea can be a significant cause for concern.

Don’t ignore it, but act!

Alright, that’s it for this article, here are a few hand-selected articles that you might also find interesting reads:

Can Fire Ants Kill Your Pets?

THE JOYS OF OWNING A PET TARANTULA – PART I of II

How to Keep Insects out of Your Porch! Easy Steps