# I'm getting mysterious bug bites while I sleep, could my dog have fleas?



## penwich (Apr 17, 2012)

I'm trying to solve a mystery! I woke up this morning with these bites, clustered around my ankle and down my hand/arm. I also have a couple on the front and back of my leg. They are moderately itchy, some are flat and some are raised, all red or pink in color. My first thought was fleas! I live in Bellingham, WA with my husky Kiya (like the car!). We moved here recently from Alaska, where there are zero problems with fleas/ticks/worms of any kind, so I was kind of naive thinking that it was too early for flea problems. So I ordered flea medication that will be here tomorrow. However, upon looking through her fur, I see zero signs of any fleas, aside from three weird dark marks on her stomach (see pictures). These marks honestly look like moles to me, and unfortunately they're buried in hair so I've never noticed them before to know if they're a recent development. However, they seem to have a slightly red halo around them, which seems strange if it's just a mole. They don't move even when I pick and prod at them. From my understanding fleas move throughout the fur and don't burrow into the skin, so even if these aren't moles it seemed unlikely that they are fleas. I thought perhaps they were baby ticks, but that wouldn't really explain my bites! Her fur is completely clean, there is none of the "flea dirt" that I've seen online from even mild cases of fleas. She is also exhibiting zero symptoms behaviorally; she's not itching, scratching, or seems the least bit uncomfortable. 

Another thought is that perhaps I have bedbugs, although I'm not sure where they could have come from and I don't see any sign of bedbugs in my room. From what I've read online, the linear pattern and clustering of the bites on my arm might suggest bedbugs, but I honestly have no idea. I might even think they were mosquito bites if I hadn't gotten them all at once while sleeping, especially since I was completely covered and didn't have an open window. I read that flea bites usually have a red dot in the middle, but none of mine have noticeable dots. It's worth noting that Kiya does sleep in bed with me, which was another reason I thought that fleas might be the culprit. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas of what this could be? Could she possibly have fleas even though she isn't exhibiting any signs or symptoms? I'll be treating her with Frontline tomorrow regardless, but I'd really like to figure this out! I'm scared to sleep tonight knowing that I could wake up with any number of new bites (maybe on my face even :/), so I'd like to figure this out quickly! I've vacuumed like crazy and washed all my sheets... poor Kiya is being quarantined currently, so hopefully I'll make it through the night without any bites. I do know that if they're fleas they could easily hop up crawl onto my bed and bite me in the night, but I'll hope for the best... Either way I'll do a much more thorough cleaning once Kiya is treated. Any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated, thank you everyone!


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

I doubt it's fleas...more likely bedbugs. Fleas rarely bite people, prefering pets instead due to their higher body temp.


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## Rottysrule (Apr 13, 2012)

Flea will only really come after people if its a really bad case of fleas. i would be thinking bed bugs.... ick now just think of keep crawly bugs makes me itchy.. kind of like when someone comments on head lice i start scratching my head.


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## penwich (Apr 17, 2012)

Sigh, think how I feel


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## Ryden'sMom (Sep 20, 2011)

That looks like the bites from bedbugs. My stepmom had them and would get bitten on her ankles. I really hope I am wrong because it was a HUGE pain to get rid of them. Good luck!


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Your dog is probably on Peopleforum.com, starting a thread "My owner has Bedbugs...Help! Can I get them from her?" lol


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