LOL-- none of the pets were "absent," they were right at home in their usual places.
The guest dog had a particular carpeted haunt outside that Faulkner took over briefly when she left. We had flea-treated her, but he must have picked up a few before the vet saw her and supplied flea-chems. We sent her home with fleas reduced but not totally gone-- and that outside spot had gotten egged by then. My bad-- the rug was slated for removal anyway but in the rush to get out of town on time, it was left in place. There was a little bit of flea sign when we left, but it was under our radar and only becaome really obvious while we were gone-- the petsitter's messages indicated that one of the cats was acting funny, but he'd never seen a flea outbreak and had his own worries.
Example: most cats cruise the kitchen counters when momma's away. Atticus happens not to do that-- it's a weird thing but he doesn't. Yet when we came home he was sleeping on one, and that was my first clue-- he left white sand behind, and we have none. (The eggs of course.) He was trying to get away from the carpeted areas where the fleas jump on him. The washing machine, ditto for sign-- cat on machine, not wanting to jump off; "sand" and "black dust" (bloody fleapoop) under the lid where it had gone through the crevice.
Our petsitter had used that same washer and counters and could have read the sign-- he just missed it, is all. I know him well and can easily see how-- and it's not his fault, either-- but I'm not going to post his private life here to explain it just because from Kansas it seems off base. :~)
Mudcat is so helpful-- full of nice people. But I do actually know what I am doing and what I am evaluating here..... I may not describe every detail every time, and from a distance it's easy to jump to one's own conclusions no matter how inaccurate the picture one may have of what is actually occurring.