So, my house is full of these goddamn tiny flies.
We’ve had them since we moved in, but they’ve gotten much worse in the past month or so. I’m not sure what they are–they seem slightly bigger than fruit flies, and they don’t swarm. But apparently their big thing is to just fly right up in your face and attempt to enter your nose.
It’s infuriating.
GB and I are constantly swatting at seemingly invisible specks in the air right in front of our faces. It’s funny to watch, if you’re not the one dealing with the fly at that particular second, but overall it’s a gigantic pain in the ass.
I don’t know where they’re coming from–there doesn’t seem to be a clear source. Then again, my house is much less than clean, so they could be coming from anywhere, really (though I kind of suspect one of the big plants). They are driving me fucking crazy. I need them gone before H. gets here, because I am so not cool with these little fuckers trying to fly up his tiny nose.
In other bug-related (aka disgusting) news, it turns out that all my cats have fleas. How did all four of my exclusively-indoor cats get fleas? I don’t know, but it pisses me off. We treated them all with the Capstar pill and the topical flea stuff, but they’ve still got ’em.
The only thing we can think to do is fumigate the whole damn place. We’re seriously considering getting a hotel room for us and the cats and just bombing the hell outta the apartment with the most toxic chemicals we can find. I’m hoping that 24 hours out of here while that happens will be enough for me (and the cats) to miss most of the horrible effects…yeah, I don’t know. I’m checking with the doctor on that tomorrow. But seriously, something has to happen, because these little fuckers are driving me insane.
And on another somewhat related note, would it be crazy to actually hire people to come clean my fucking house for me? Between GB working 12-14 hours a day and my whole enforced-sitting-on-my-ass, things around here are going to hell fast….
polyopia 
April 23, 2008 at 9:55 am
Check your plants. Whichever one has them, either chuck or (if you’re feeling energetic), place in a large garbage bag that you can close, and spray the hell out of it AND the earth with insecticidal soap. Close and leave for 24 hours, open and respray, then close for 48.
If you do decide to fumigate (I had fleas in my apartment in Miami – hardwood floors and no pets, but there were fleas), take H’s Pack’n’Play with you, and cover other baby stuff so they don’t get any toxic dust on them.
As for cleaning, I say GO FOR IT!!!! Hire one of those services to do one or two really good thorough ones before H arrives.
ps I also have a great fruit fly remedy if you need one 🙂
April 23, 2008 at 10:30 am
Canada, you ROCK. I might need the fruit fly remedy too.
How do I tell which plant (if any) is the culprit? Would the flies be on the plant itself? (I’m not really seeing any on them–am I looking in the wrong place?) Where else could they be coming from?
And ugh, I hadn’t even thought about taking all the baby stuff out if we fumigate…
April 23, 2008 at 10:35 am
If you can’t figure out which of the plants might be the source, is there an outdoor space where you can easily move all of them? Then if the flies go away, presto changeo, you know it must be a plant.
If it were me, I would say fumigate, since you don’t want to be dealing with fleas after H. arrives. Ditto hiring someone to clean.
April 23, 2008 at 10:42 am
I would so hire someone!!!!
April 23, 2008 at 10:43 am
Kermit, yeah–I’ll get GB to move all the plants to the patio this weekend, and hopefully we can figure out where they’re coming from….
April 23, 2008 at 10:45 am
I feel weird about hiring someone just because I’ve never done it. I’m looking at a couple maid service websites…and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with the not-knowing-how-this-works. I guess I have them out for an estimate? But then is it okay if I’m here when they come to clean? (Because the 4 cats and I will almost certainly not be going much of anywhere…) Hmmm. I’m not good with new things.
April 23, 2008 at 11:30 am
I would totally hire someone.
Fleas are awful. We are always fighting them but usually rely on direct treatment of the pets and aresol sray stuff for the furnature. Luckily we haven’t had to bomb…
April 23, 2008 at 11:33 am
Yeah, we might not have to fumigate if we can get rid of the flies. When we’ve had fleas before, they’ve been everywhere…for whatever reason, these are like stealth ninja fleas. I haven’t actually seen a single one on the furniture, on us, or on the cats. So we might just try more topical stuff and see if that knocks them out….Here’s hoping, anyway.
April 23, 2008 at 11:54 am
Sounds like fruit flies. Another way to get rid of them is to place the plant in the sink and drown it. Fill the sink with water so the entire pot is submerged. Place the plant on newspaper to dry out. That should kill the eggs that may be in the soil.
Totally hire someone! GB is working and you can’t do it.
April 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Awesome, ragey, thanks–I’ll try that too. Yeah, I think they might be fruit flies…don’t know what else they could be, really…?
April 23, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I had a gnat infestation last year. the solution was a jar of vinegar with holes punched in the lid. we set it by the sink. they climbed in and drowned.
that said, it doesn’t sound like gnats.
meanwhile, I totally understand feeling overwhelmed about calling someone because how does this work and what not but seriously, I think you should pay someone to do it. They are professionals, they aren’t going to feel weird about it, which should help put you at ease.
April 23, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Welcome to southern California!! I had fleas multiple times with cats in Santa Barbara and San Diego and it sucks (because they love me, too). The best thing I found was a place called Flea Busters. They come and put borax (or something) into your carpet and I think it dehydrates the eggs or something. It was awesome. I found the flea bombs to be totally useless. I agree that the house plants are probably the source of the annoying bugs. I had a bag of potting soil once that seems to start a batch of those damn things. Good luck!! Oh yeah- I think being on bed rest is TOTALLY reason enough to have someone clean your place, too!
April 23, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Oh yeah, gnats! (I was completely unable to remember that word…) I think they are gnats, actually. I’ll try the vinegar thing too…
April 23, 2008 at 3:51 pm
The vinegar thing is my fruit fly remedy. And thanks, Anastasia, because it’s good to know it works for gnats, too. Are these really tiny black, easily squished flies? Because I just had them and I thought they were coming from the flowers I got for my birthday. Turns out they were in the soil of a kinda grassy plat I got to look “spring-like”. I chucked said plant.
And the cleaning people don’t mind if you’re there. My neighbour uses a service that comes both when they are home and not. If you feel weird, just mention the bedrest thing And put your feet up. I think the only faux pas is directing them, like “you missed a spot” kind of comments 🙂
April 23, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Yes, get cleaning help, as everyone has already said. Yes, it’s ok to stay when they come. Does your sis have good flea advice? (I think I remember you have a vet sis?) Fleas can come in on anyone coming and going…shoes etc. and in CA there’s no cold season to get rid of all the ones outside….So, I also vote, no, it’s not weird you have a flea problem, it’s just a pain in the neck, for sure. Your kitties will thank you if you can get rid of them, though.
April 23, 2008 at 7:11 pm
two things. i HATE tiny flies. totally hire someone.
April 23, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Canada, yeah, those are the ones.
Ursa, my sister’s flea advice pretty much just involves topical treatments…which will probably work. I’ll try it on them all again this weekend.
And thanks, y’all, on the hiring-someone backup…I think we might do that. (Though GB’s mom is coming to visit this weekend, and GB is planning on coercing her to clean the house with him…which will do, for now, and then I’m thinking I can get professionals in a bit closer to H.’s due date…)
April 24, 2008 at 3:03 am
GET PROFESSIONAL (cleaning) HELP! It’s so worth it honey. Do you know I had a cleaning lady once? She was very odd. She wasn’t from a service though…Im sorry about the bugs baby…
May 16, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Your cats will thank you if you use Revolution on them. Get it from a vet. Capstar only kills the adult fleas that are on the cat at the time of pill administration. Knockout is a good premise spray, and you don’t have to evacuate the house to use it. Just don’t touch it while it’s wet.
May 16, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Carri, thanks (and hi!). We Revolution-ed all the cats, but honestly, they’re still itchy. Less so, though, which is good. I’ll have to try Knockout–we haven’t tried that yet. 🙂
July 11, 2008 at 11:09 am
I have small flies that seem to fly in a triangular configuration. The old lady who lived next door to me before she died always had them on her pation but I never did. This year suddenly they appeared. I don’t even know what to call them (she called them “three cornered flies” so don’t even know how to check for a remedy. Anyone have any ideas what they might be, what the sudden attraction might be and how the hell to get rid of thme?
thanks
Larry
July 11, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Larry, I have no idea, but thanks for adding “Three Cornered Flies” to my vocabulary. 🙂