Hi Guys.  My sister has had numerous bites on her stomach over the weekend.  They were intensely itchy and she scratched them.  This morning she saw three tiny black things which she believes were fleas on her slipper/legs.  She said they were hard to kill as they jumped quickly.  I cannot recall ever actually seeing fleas before but this sounds like the little critters to me! 
The strange thing is she doesn't own any pets so they've obviously come into the house some other way.  She's  cleaning like never before and washing everything to try and get rid of them.  I'm doing the same as she thinks that they must've come from here.  The question is - is it possible to have fleas and not know you have them?  None of my pets are showing any signs, they have all been Frontlined within the last two - three months and no-one else has been bitten (in her family or mine).  Are some people more susceptible to flea bites than others?  Any extra info would be much appreciated.

It does sound like fleas, and yes, some people are more prone to bites than others :-( Guess who's one of them? ;-)

If the fleas are in the home then she will need to get a spray (can't remember the name, I ran out recently and threw the tin out). The vet will have the correct product. I wouldn't try a product from the pet shop, they don't always work as well. She will need to spray the whole house.

If she has visited a friends house recently that has cats then they probably have fleas. Cats tend to get them more than dogs, just because they are outside rummaging more. Cats also tend not to sit still long enough to comb them properly, unlike dogs :-)

Edited to add: fleas can be in the grass so may not have come from you or your pets. :-)

Thanks for the advice LindyLou.  I didn't know about the spray, I'll pass that on.  :-)

They say! that garlic in the animals food reduces fleas.
There is a spray you can buy. I have see it advertised can't remember the name though!

Denese

Oops! The spray is for the house (carpets, furnishings) not the dogs ;-) Forgot to mention that. :-D

The easiest way to find out if your dogs have fleas is to use a nit comb (cheap from the chemist :-) ) Brush your dogs coat and dip the coat into water. If the water has blobs that turn red, you have fleas :-( You can then treat the dogs. I tend to comb my dogs every week (I have a cat :-) ) and so I can catch any fleas before it gets bad. I usually just drown any fleas caught in the comb, after placing a thumb over them so they can't jump :-D

> and dip the coat into water

dip the comb :-D

I take sick pleasure in popping the little devils :-)

> and dip the coat into water

OOPS!!! Brain not working as fast as the fingers.......... ;-)

Lol.  At first I conjured up visions of dipping my 35kg Golden in a bucket of water!!!  These typos always make me laugh :-D
I had heard of wiping the comb on damp kitchen towel so I tried that and the black specks stayed black so I  guessed they were just specks of dirt!  Still no evidence of the little critters here and both dogs and cats have been meticulously combed and Frontlined. 
House been throughly vacuumed and most loose furnishings been washed just in case. 
So much for a day off - I'll be glad to go to work for a rest!

Once in a while I get flea bites on my ankles.  The little blitters jump up from the lawn in my garden for a quick munch!