YABBQ(Yet Another Bed Bug Question)

November 4, 2007 10:29 PM

Bed Bugs or Chiggers? Please tell me what I found, so I know if I should be worried. (bonus points if you have experienced both in your life)

(to set the scene) So I live in Seattle, in a 1 br / studio apartment, basement unit with the window at ground level. There are currently a stack of dead leaves in the window against the screen.

I took one cat (of two) to the vet on saturday, and the vet identified the scabs around his neck and base of his tail as flea bites with an irritated skin reaction. I had thought they were from rough play with the other cat, who under close inspection, has no scabs or irritated bite areas to speak of. Vet says that Nimbus, the second cat, is probably not allergic or reactive as the first.

Cut to today, where I am cleaning and sorting (after treating both cats with Advantage), and vacuuming the apartment, I come across three small, red, tick tike creatures (one ran across my keyboard, another across my screen while looking up said creature, and the third was on my shirt when I had a cat in my lap). They don't appear to be dear ticks (all red instead of little black legs with engorged red bodies), but they are suspiciously close to what I have read as either Chiggers or Bed Bugs. But I haven't seen one or the other in real life, so it is hard to tell what it is I am looking at.

I can't get a good photo of it, but they red, and "period at the end of this sentence" small, with three pairs of red legs.

I haven't had any remarkable bites or itchiness that could be attributed to a Bed Bug infestation.

Whatever this is, has been enough for me to get out of my lease with my current landlord (already approved) and be able to move into a new place, with no carpets and a much better layout as a whole. So if these are bed bugs, what should I be doing to ensure that me and my cats don't bring them to my new apartment, only to repeat the cycle? If they aren't, what should i do to make sure I don't bring whatever it is they are, with me too.

posted by mrzarquon to home & garden (13 comments total)

Bed bugs are a reddish brown color, sort of flat, about the shape and size of sesame seeds, while the tiny insect known as a chigger is bright red and dot-like in size.

To find out if you have bed bugs: Look in the creases in your mattress and behind wooden frames of photos or paintings. These are the sorts of places they like to hide out. If you get bites, look for three in a row. Bed bugs like to bite in a line, generally on the leg or stomach, but really on any area that may be exposed while you are sleeping. Bed bugs also leave a smell, a sort of sickly sweet smell. You will almost certainly NOT see them crawling around in plain sight.

How tiny are these bugs you saw? Because if they are harvest mite larvae, or chiggers, they are so microscopic you usually can't even see their legs.

Regardless, advice on bed bug infestations usually goes like this: Wash every piece of fabric in hot water. Shampoo/steam clean your upholstered furniture. Vacuum everything, even books. And ultimately? If you do have an infestation, you're going to have to call an exterminator for professional help.
posted by brina at 11:09 PM on November 4, 2007

Bedbugs
Chiggers
posted by miss lynnster at 12:37 AM on November 5, 2007

I'm wondering about Spider Mites??? Contact your local extension, you should be able to bring one in and have them look at it for identification.
posted by 6:1 at 12:50 AM on November 5, 2007

Regarding the second part of your question, if you think you have bedbugs, you probably need to get rid of your furniture.

Really. Don't take the chance. They're very difficult to kill.

There are other askmes on this particular topic as I'm sure you know.

Did you ever think that you might have, as the vet said, fleas? They are reddish-brown.
posted by sondrialiac at 4:01 AM on November 5, 2007

Had both.
Bedbugs are big enough to see, but if you had them, they'd probably be in bed and get you as well as the cats. Chiggers are too small to count their legs with the naked eye. I'd be suspicious it was fleas, and if you get those the cats will have worms. (Google that; I don't feel like discussing it pre-coffee.) If you have fleas, they tend to live in the carpet and will jump on you, bite your ankles and jump off. The giveaway for fleas is that the bites look like they are healing and then break down again.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 4:36 AM on November 5, 2007

Sounds like bedbugs. Like sondrialic says, ditch the furniture, mattress, etc. My friend had bedbugs they had the exterminator come three times and the bugs were still around. Eventually, they got rid of the furniture and gassed the house again to finally get rid of them.
posted by Black_Umbrella at 5:13 AM on November 5, 2007

Given the red coloring and size description, a mite of some sort comes to mind. Mites, however, have four pairs of legs. The mites I sometimes encounter on my window sills (in western Kentucky) are probably clover mites, which do not bite people or animals. The long front legs could be mistaken for antennae, perhaps?

Ear mites are common in pets. You and your vet would notice other symptoms on the cat and you usually don't see them with the naked eye because they hide in the crud they make in the ears.

BugGuide.net might give you an image to cross-reference.
posted by bonobo at 5:21 AM on November 5, 2007

Bedbugs are incredibly averse to light, which makes me think they wouldn't come anywhere near your computer monitor.
posted by hermitosis at 6:59 AM on November 5, 2007

I seriously doubt they're bedbugs, as they tend not to stay on whatever animal they're feeding from (usually you). Bedbugs usually make a straight line of four or five bites, and I think your vet probably would have picked up on that. Also, in my experience, they're not very quick on their feet and are a lot bigger than a period.

I don't know about chiggers specifically, but there are a ton of different mites that feed off animals. You can probably kill them with any sort of flea treatment, but I don't know much about that. I wouldn't worry about them infesting your apartment since they likely can't survive without being on your cat, though you might want to replace whatever it sleeps on.
posted by borkingchikapa at 7:52 AM on November 5, 2007

Bedbugs are macroscopic, and they do not hide in computers. Also, if you have not been bitten, I find it highly doubtful that you would see 3 of them in such a brief time.

You also never really see chiggers, and they are predominantly found in heavy brush. Contrary to popular belief, they don't live in your skin and so you are unlikely to bring them home.

I bet it's just fleas, and these bugs are unrelated. Wait and see if the Advantage makes the cat stop itching. If you start itching, then you can freak out.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:22 AM on November 5, 2007

Also, do you have any plants? Mites live on plants. They could be wandering away.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:41 AM on November 5, 2007

Thanks for all your comments.

I've left a message with the vet describing what I found. Unfortunately i don't have an intact specimen, but it could definitely be a mite, and is it definitely not a bed bug from what I have been reading.

There is a lot of brush and leaves stacked up against my window screens right now, and the cats like to sit in the windows, so something like a mite would make sense. I inspected the couch, the only thing near where I found the three suspects, and there were no bed bug eggs to be seen.

The plus side is this has motivated for me to find a new apartment (all hard wood floors, finally) and from conversations with my landlord, I will be able to leave without jeopardizing my lease, since it is early in the month, and because of the bug problem (and the earlier he can get in and bomb the place means the earlier he can rent it to someone else who feels like living in a hobbit hole). I plan to move in stages, taking the cleaned and treated cats with me first, and treating the rest of the furniture (really just my couch and bed) at the old place before bringing them to the new one.
posted by mrzarquon at 9:17 AM on November 5, 2007

What you describe sounds like a European Red Mite. They feed on plant material.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:56 AM on November 5, 2007