If you have been putting flea oil on your cat and she hasn't been out and it's winter....chances are huge it's not flea bites.
Perhaps dry skin? allergies?
Take your kitty to the vet or someone who knows and see if they see signs of fleas.....the little "flea poop" in the fur is unmistakable.
Linda C

If you are getting bites, that kitty would be covered, and they would be easy to see. I'd say it's something else.

You should be able to see fleas on you if you have fleas. They really like ankles. Walk around the house in white socks and you'll be able to see them for sure (if fleas are what you have).

Since the cat is being treated for fleas, getting rid of any fleas in the carpet should be relatively easy. Get some flea powder for the carpet (available at walmart or a pet store). Generally you clear the room of pets and kids, sprinkle the carpet, wait 30 minutes, and vaccuum. If you can stash the kid and cat at a friends for a little while, you can do the whole house at once. Then as soon as you vaccuum, take out the vaccuum bag and throw it away outside.

If the fleas are bad, you will need to repeat this weekly for a few weeks, but if the fleas were that bad you'd probably have seen them on you by now.

Look around kitty's ears and on her tummy for fleas.
You can tell if you have flea dirt on your cat by combing (preferably with a flea comb)towards his tail area with the cat on a light colored surface. Flea dirt is black specks kinda like pepper, so if you see it coming off the cat, then you have fleas. But if you've been using one of the flea products like Advantage or Frontline, you should not have fleas. But you do need to use one of those better products, not something from the grocery store.

Previous poster mentioned sprinkling flea powder and vacuuming. I always hate to use that type product around kids. When I had fleas with my 8-month crawling on the carpet, I vacuumed every day and finally got rid of the fleas.

Buy a flea collar...put it in the vacuum cleaner bag..NOT ON THE CAT. That will kill any fleas that may be in the bag...if it's indeed fleas.

Vickey-MN

There has been a resurgence of bed bugs in this country from travelers. Hotels have a problem with them now, and when you pack your bag and return home, you might bring them with you. Could that be the problem? Check your bed and sheets.

i was just about to mention the bedbugs... i watched a special on it the other night.... they say to check they back of your headboard for hideouts. you'll see tiny black dropping type things, or perhaps even the shedded skin. They say hygiene plays no factor in where they call home.

I agree that you'd SEE the fleas if you really had them. Even when the case was very minor on our indoor cats, I saw one jump onto my arm from the couch one time. And while Ashes was sleeping on my lap I saw one crawl across her nose *blecch* ...One dose of Frontline took care of everything.

As for cold weather, it does not matter. Another possibility is chiggers from the yard.

I have read nothing but horror stories about flea collars, flea powders, shampoos, dips, and anything you can find at the grocery store, so be warned to stay away from that stuff. If you truly know it's fleas, get a pack of Frontline from the vet. I didn't even have to take the cats to the vet to get it. I just stopped by & bought a pack.

Borax powder sprinkled on upholstry and carpet will get rid of infestation. I has to be left for several days, then vacuumed. It dehydrates fleas and flea eggs.

I just had an exterminator over for a mystery infestation. To check for fleas, he recommended putting a pie tin (low dish) of water on the floor and check it everyday. If there are fleas they will jump into it and drown. (I forgot why.) If you have fleas you'd see them on your ankles. Vacuuming is really all you need to do once you get your pet on flea meds.

Flea collars will keep the fleas off your cats collar and poison your cat. Fleas can not handle human blood and will die if they bite you. Fleas hate strong smells. My dogs and cat had fleas really bad so I put drops of eucalyptus oil in the rooms furthest from the door used most and every day after did one more room til I got to the door. I also put a very small amount on the cat where it was least likely to lick, it is irritating to cats and not so much dogs. Just keep it off the animals skin.

Bed bugs make really large bloody spots and you would know that you have a problem.
I don't think you have those. They are not like fleas they are much worse!!!
Fleas can bite humans but they prefer not too. I am not sure if they die or not when they do. Regardless, they can live in rugs and fabric items for a very long time without a feeding therefore you could have brought them in a while ago and you never noticed them maybe. My sister had this same problem and by the time she noticed her neighbors cat had fleas and decided that she wouldn't allow it inside anymore her apartment was so infested that it took her a very, very long time to get rid of the fleas. Now she will never allow a stray or someone else's cat into her house.
I think that if your cat is being treated and you do not see the fleas on the cat then vacuuming and cleaning really well very often should help reduce the population and then hopefully they will all go away in time. They don't like humans and if they can't feed and multiply on your cat then they will diminish in number.
-renee

What really works is regular table salt ground up in to flour...Sprinkle it out on your furniture and carpets and a couple days vacum...This really does work ... Make sure you got a good grinder or use small amount of salt at a time..My mom burned her blender up by putting to much in at once.... This does work and no chemicals involved..

My house had a flea infestation some years ago, after we inherited an oriental rug that came from a house where the dog had fleas. Here's how I got rid of them:

First, I arranged for the rug to be taken away for a through professional cleaning, and when I called I told them it had fleas, so they were prepared to handle it. Basically, they took it outside on the lawn, wore tall boots, and sprayed it thoroughly before putting it in the truck.

After it was removed, I gathered up all sheets, blankets, pillows, and laundry and put them in plastic bags in the trunk of my car.

Before I headed to the laundromat, I closed all the windows and set off several aerosal bug bombs. I don't recall if they were specifically made for fleas or whether they just included fleas on the list of bugs they would kill. While the bombs were doing their thing, I took all the washables to the laundromat and washed them in water that was as hot as the items could stand.

Doing all this worked really well, as we never saw, or were bitten by another flea.

Good luck to you.

Been there done that a couple of times! It is a big process but worth every moment. This is how I did it. Remove all humans and pets first. Then use the house fogger for fleas. Make sure you have enough for the size house you have. It has to set for about 3-4 hours and then you need to air it out before you into the house again. I removed all the linens off the bed and put them in the washer during this fogging. I also took all cushions of the furniture and had them lean against a wall.
Vaccuum well after it's been fogged.
Now for the cat, take her to get a flea dip While you are fogging the house. Make sure you take her home in another vehicle so she does not get reinfested.

After this you will not have a living creature in your home. All spiders, ants flys either exit or die. Hope I made sense with this. If not email me. Good luck.
Judy

I just stumbled into this thread. To find out if your pet has fleas is simple: comb your pet with a fine tooth comb on a white sheet and if you get black pin size dots on the comb or the sheet, the pet has fleas. The black dots are called flea dirt - a flea excretion with eggs. A drop of water will dissolve the dirt and turn it into red, the color of host blood. Not all flea oils are the same, Frontline and Advantage are the only ones I trust. But you have to put it between the shoulder blades where the pet can't get to.

If your pets have fleas, it is best to start first with some dosages of Advantage. During flea season I keep moth balls in the vacuum bags. The moth balls kill the fleas that end up on the vacuum bags.

While fleas may not want to bite humans, if you are allergic to flea bites, you will be driven crazy if you are bitten even once.

Years ago, one of my dogs had fleas. I took him to be flea dipped at a supposed "reputable" groomer. That dog came home with more fleas than he went with.