Midge bites ? Fleas the cause ? New horse arrival !

Does anyone have experience of fleas / midges etc ?

We live on an old farm with horses and a feral cat - they don't come in the house ! Now and again, my wife and I are getting about 10 bites - small ones just like mosquito bites. This has been happening for about 6 weeks and we are starting to think we have fleas in the house ! I have only been bitten twice - once about 4 weeks ago and lunchtime today - hence the reason for writing. The wife has been bitten every other day for weeks. The room where we store horsey kit seems to be the room where we get bitten. We have a new horse which arrived about 2 months ago so this could perhaps be the cause.

Any advice / experience please. How do we get on top of this ?!

Sounds like fleas, think I remember reading that fleas prefer to bite women rather than men so that explains why she has been bitten to pieces and you haven't or maybe you just don't taste nice!

If its mainly in your horsey store sounds like thats where the blighters are but sourcing the cause of the infestation may be a bit more tricky as it could be loads of things from in blankets, on mice/rats hidden about, on the ferals about, in any local lawn etc etc.

We used to once or twice a year treat everything on the stables from the grass to the yards to the rooms and all the animals we could get hold off. It was quite expensive but saved a lot of agro with being bitten all year and seems to get them early enough to stop the problem for six months or so. It never totally got rid of them but cut them down quite significantly.

HTH

How long have you lived in the house or when was the last time a cat was in there? Where are you getting bitten? Fleas tend to bite around the lower legs or on pulse points.
If they are fleas then they could have been around in carpets or beds for ages, the eggs can be in carpets for a couple years and only hatch when the temperature is correct.You need to get a good household flea spray and spray all the carpets and your beds and wash the bedding. Also vacuum all the carpets and mattresses.
I doubt it would be the horses, they don't get fleas but are they on straw bedding as fleas or mites could be in there.
Just another thought, there seems to be lots of small bitey things around the fields at the moment, I got bitten last week after spending a few hours putting grass seed down.

Cat flea bites will be mostly on the ankles and lower legs.

If you have a flea problem get your sprays ( House and animal.) from the vets. A pet shop is like going to the chemist if poorly when you need a doctor.Also, there are quite a few midges about even this early in the year.