I feel your pain. We have inside/outside critters (One dog and three cats with one of the cats being only an Inside cat and the other two prefer to be outside 98% of the time) and it's a pain.
One thing to note: Topical doesn't always solve the issue with your pets. Most flea prevention for pets only work AFTER the flea bites your pet. That's still time for the flea to hitch a ride where ever, as they don't always bite. We have flea collars and use a topical and we STILL have fleas. They're just not as bad on the poor babies. I've talked to the Vet and they even said that this is natural if there's a lot of fleas in the area. And in summer in southern Texas? You bet it's flea season.
And to note we:
1. Use flea topical on the animals.
2. Use flea collars on the animals.
3. When it's flea season they get bathed once every week to two weeks.
4. We vacuum every couple of days.
5. We treat the carpet and furniture with a flea spray.
6. We mop any areas without carpet with bleach every few days.
7. Once every week we strip the furniture that can be stripped and wash the covers. (This includes pet beds.)
8. Use a deep cleaning rug cleaner on the carpet at least twice a month.
9. Make sure there's not a bunch of stuff on the floor for hiding places.
10. Mothballs under furniture and in areas that doesn't see much light. (Careful with this one, our critters leave these alone on their own but there's plenty out there that will play with/eat these)
And during summer it can STILL feel like we aren't doing anything at all. Thankfully our chickens don't seem to be affected by the fleas. I've checked and they're very much flea free. (I'll admit, I'm a little jealous.)
Something that can help with this is to (sort of) treat your yard. If you have grass, fleas LOVE tall grass, grass clippings and leaf litter. This can provide the right environment for breeding. In the summer try to keep your grass fairly short and try to avoid leaving grass clippings if you can. This also helps to keep up with other pests, such as those pesky flying tree roaches that like to kamikaze your head or those sneaky scorpions that like to drop from your ceiling and onto the couch beside you to chill with you and your Netflix. (.... Okay, yes, I've had some experiences.)
Something you can do inside your house WHILE YOU ARE HOME (do not do leave this going while no one is there) is something my mother sent to me from YouTube. You need a desk lamp with a regular fluorescent bulb (It needs to produce heat), a plate or wide saucer of water and Dawn dish liquid. You pour a good amount of the soap into the water and stir it around to mix it until it turns blue. You don't want bubbles for this. Then you set this on the floor in an area you've been having issues with fleas and put a lamp over it. The fleas are drawn to the heat and they'll bounce off the lamp and land in the water, where they'll either sink or die from the soap.
As a note, you do really want to try and use Dawn dish soap. The stuff that cuts through grease? Their chemical formula also eats through the protective layer on fleas and sort of starts to 'melt' them. This is what kills them. It's also what we use to bathe our animals instead of flea shampoo. It does SO MUCH BETTER and it's safer on the cats. Plus it's cheaper.
I hope this all helps to at the very least lessen the infestation. It's a tough battle, especially when you live in neighborhoods and especially if you live in the southern areas where it can get REALLY hot.
