Healing flea bites? Tips/Tricks?

May 16, 2014

Caitlin M.

Every spring and summer we get a flea infestation. This year I'm putting all the animals in the house on oral medication because bathing 4 animals every few days is not possible and it does nothing. I have it under better control so far but I still am getting the occasional bite and I'm not sure how to treat them to get them to go away and not scar too badly. It seems like no matter what I do, it never stops itching and it quickly goes from a small bite to a full blown open wound that just never seems to dry out, even if I don't touch or scratch it. (I have considered that I may be allergic to flea saliva, I'm not 100% sure that's a real thing.) Does anyone have any tips or products they recommend that will help heal the bites faster? I have tried lots of stuff already; neosporin, an anti-microbial wound treatment similar to neosporin, After Bite (the stick/pen you press onto the bite...it stings so badly I can't use it much.), Benedryl cream, Aveeno anti-itch cream, and at the end of the summer last year I had resorted to calamine lotion.

May 16, 2014

M G.

For the bits try Witch hazel. I use thanks and use it on my kids and it helps with the itching:)

May 16, 2014

M G.

*this

May 16, 2014

Caitlin M.

I've found that if I apply a body lotion before going to bed I don't get bit as much. I have only gotten bit twice so far, both on places I didn't lotion. I've tried spray repellants but I really don't want to rely on them too much because they're kind of toxic smelling and I don't want to have to bathe in it each night before bed. I've been using flea powder before vacuuming and washing the bedding more frequently and it has helped enormously though. But thanks for your suggestion :)

May 17, 2014

Caitriona H.

They hate tea tree, when our cat brought in fleas I'd rub tea tree through my hair and on my body right before I'd get out of the shower. You can also try tucking your pjs into your socks, Its a pity you have to go through this all the time, fleas are such a pain in the ass to get rid of. Tbh I would confine the pets to one or two rooms when they're in the house to contain any flea infestation

May 17, 2014

Caitlin M.

I'd confine them all but we don't live on our own and my boyfriend's grandparents don't really do anything with their dogs :/ (they have 2 older shih tzus and we have a husky and a one year old cat.) they are too old to give them proper care and they will brush this off as "oh it's fine, they don't have fleas" because they won't want to deal with it. But honestly it's gotten a lot better since I have gotten an early start on it this year. I have found if I apply lotion each night I don't get bitten much, they must not like it lol. It's been a constant battle for the last 2 summers though. The animals really aren't in our bedroom much anymore so that does help. And once I get them all on the oral medication I'm sure things will settle down even more because we will be flea bombing/cleaning the crap out of the house and bathing the animals after the medicine takes effect. We also had a much harsher winter so that helped. The last 2 were mild and didn't kill off much of the population so it was no surprise it was horrible the last 2 summera.

I just need to find a trick to prevent the few bites I have ended up with from getting out of hand and causing scarring lol

May 17, 2014

Brooke B.

Caitlin M. I'm a Veterinary Technician and get this question on a weekly basis. Unfortunately if the dogs aren't treated you aren't going to ever get rid of the fleas they're bringing them inside every time they go outside and infesting the home along with the cats. Fleas love carpet and dark places, they trive under furniture. The house needs to be treated. Ultimately the dogs need to be on a monthly flea preventive whether it's topical or oral if your grandparents can't get it for them from a vets office your local pet store or grocery store will have the topical called Frontline (do not use any Hartz products it can be toxic) You already know your cats need to be on a monthly flea preventive. As it heats up outside your flea problem will multiply. As far as fleas biting you yes it is the saliva that's bothering you you aren't crazy it's the saliva that bothers the animals as well for you I would spray yourself with a bug spray or a spray called skin - so - soft from avon. And you can put benadryl cream to your bites.

May 17, 2014

Brooke B.

And btw confining all the animals will not stop the fleas from traveling they'll climb through carpet and furniture on their own as well as your shoes and clothing there's no point.

May 17, 2014

Cynthia H.

Tea tree oil!!

May 17, 2014

Krista S.

Put animals on topical treatment advantage II, will fix an infestation in just a few days. Benadryl anti itch for bites (clear liquid)

May 17, 2014

Jamie D.

I personally like the gold bond anti itch creams. I don't remember exactly which one I used (sorry!) but it had a kind of cooling effect that helped with the itching and made my bites heal faster. Also, just putting on ice will help a lot with the itching.

May 17, 2014

Jocelyn S.

Try putting deodorant on your bites. Helps me stop itching.

May 17, 2014

Diana T.

Omg I recently had them too I just washed the area n put some tea tree oil n it helped with the itchiness, swelling n redness - otherwise calamine lotion always works well for bug bites

May 18, 2014

Caitlin M.

Brooke, thanks for your in depth response! I've done most of what you've suggested actually. They are mostly under control in the house because luckily we don't have much carpet and what we do have is short fiber so it's much easier to get them all out. Each week I wash our bedding and vacuum after using a flea powder on the carpet. It helps a lot, I've only gotten 2 stray bites so far where as last year I was already a mess. So that has improved greatly. I have tried the topical flea medicines for both the cat and our husky and they did nothing for the cat and have never done anything for our husky. I will be putting them all on an oral medication as soon as possible but that may still be a couple weeks from now because I don't start work until next weekend. Until then the cat has a flea collar now (they aren't the best but we saw decent results with it last year so its better than nothing. At most it keeps him from clawing at his face so much. He's given himself quite a scratch or two in the past with his claws. They need cut but he is not patient at all lol.) and I'll continue to vacuum like crazy haha. The husky is a lot easier to deal with because he can be bathed, where as we all know how it is to try to bathe a cat lol.

Thank you all for your advice! I luckily haven't had another bite since posting this so maybe I've got the upper hand for now :)