# How can you tell whether it's flea bites or bed bugs?



## jlpumkin (Oct 25, 2005)

My dd has some bites on her legs. One she scratched raw before she showed us. I hate to admit that we haven't been outside much so I don't see how they could be mosquito bites. My dog doesn't seem to have fleas and none of the rest of us have any bites.

Her mattress is covered in an allergy bag, but she does sleep with stuffed animals. I am at a loss of how to make sure she doesn't get anymore. Any suggestions of identifying one from the other and/or prevention of bed bugs?


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## Rachel J. (Oct 30, 2005)

It could be scabies. From the TV shows I've seen on bed bugs they leave nasty welt-like bites.


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## jlpumkin (Oct 25, 2005)

Thanks for the reply... totally not scabbies though. That was my first fear because of the mats at gymnastics. I think it was fleas but they are gone now. Thanks though!


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## NoMoreBugs (Aug 27, 2006)

Hi. We've been fighting fleas since the beginning of the summer and I've learned a little bit about them.

First of all, we're very clean people and our cat is an outdoor cat, but we were dosing her with some over the counter anti-flea stuff. I later learned that if you want to really keep a pet flea-free, you need to use Frontline or Advantage. But you said your dog doesn't show sings of flea infestation, so.......

Flea and bed bug bites look very much alike, but bedbug bites usually travel up the stomach or trunk in a row. That's because they bite, you shift in your sleep, and they move up an inch or two. Flea bites are more often on the legs, though they can actually appear anywhere and usually the bites are random and don't seem to have a pattern such as a straight line.

Fleas are much smaller than bedbugs. You can actually see bedbugs (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww). They are I think the length of a couple grains of rice, IIRC (ours didn't turn out to be fleas so I didn't bother reading after that point). You can hardly see fleas, if at all (on a pet, often you can't see them at all, especially if the pet has dark or marbled coloring).

I don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings, but if you have a few fleas, you can end up with a few thousand. One flea lays hundreds of eggs. However, *only* the adults bite. Not the babies. If you have an infestation you need to take a two-step approach. You need to kill the adults, but also the larvae and eggs, which are much harder to kill. If you find that the fleas are not all gone (or if they "come back", which actually is usually the dormant eggs hatching later...sometimes months later), sprinkle 20 Mule Team Borax over all your rugs and on your couches and chairs if they're made of fabric. Leave for a day or two and then vacuum. This should *not be straight Borax*--STRAIGHT BORAX IS POISON. Use ONLY 20 Mule Team brand Borax, a laundry brightener.

You need to dose your pet *at this same time*. You NEED to do this because fleas in danger of dying will jump to your pet. If they jump, and bite poison (Frontline), then they'll die, hopefully before they can lay eggs. The key is in breaking the flea's life cycle.

We also had to wash all bedding daily in hot water (God this has been a chore), and I even sprinkled the Borax on the beds even though they say not to, and then double-bottom sheet the beds. I used sprays, too, which can also be dangerous, so read up before doing this.


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## NoMoreBugs (Aug 27, 2006)

Oh, p.s...this isn't why I called myself NoMoreBugs! LOL! I just realized that. I chose NoMoreBugs as a reference to no vaccinations. Long story.


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