Sunday, August 4, 2013

Freak Out!

I live in mortal fear of fleas.
I won't go into it here but if you ever had fleas, it's the worst nightmare you can imagine.
The last thing I ever want to have in my home, would be those hideous things.
So the other day an owner of a pet that was boarding with us, fessed up that he discovered that he was bitten up with fleas bites after being with his dog. 
I have a set in stone rule that all pets boarding must be on fleas preventative.
No one is to come in or go out with fleas.
I won't go into the RANT that I had but somehow someone in the front office just took his word that his dog was on preventative.
Then the dog's owner ends up telling me that he has to go to the doctor because he is highly allergic to fleas and that after playing and hugging his dog, he was covered in flea bites.
I immediately go back to boarding and give his dog a Capstar and Frontline.
My own dogs are on Frontline, a monthly preventative and they were due in just a few days time.
I was livid. The effectiveness goes down towards the end of the flea killing cycle.
I was so freaked out that although I had Frontline at home, I purchased more at work and immediately applied it to my dogs that were there. Blue, Nora and Jimmy.
When I got home I applied it to all my little dogs and my cats.
But I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I got out my clippers and shaved down my 2 long-haired cats. 
I wanted it to be easy to check them over daily. 
Charlie, who is a huge lug of a cat, bigger than most of my little dogs. could have cared less.
But Harry...and I know that I sound crazy every time I say this but if you met Harry, you would totally understand,
Harry is my cat that I think is really a person reincarnated and trapped in a cat body, was NOT pleased.
He just gave me that LOOK.
You know what I mean?
The look where you are kinda afraid to go to sleep so you put the cats downstairs and locked the basement door look.
Yeah, my Harry was NOT pleased with his cut.
It startled me too, since he's very black and yet his undercoat came out so grey.
and here's the kicker to this story.
After my Freak-out!
The owner stopped in the next day to tell me that he had gone to the doctors and it turned out that it wasn't flea bites at all.
That he had poison ivy!
Wasn't that funny?
Ha!
I just shook my head 
No way am I telling Harry.

4 comments:

Nita Stacy said...

Poor Harry! I can't believe you shaved him! I think that might be a bit nuts on your part. So far this year...no fleas on my dogs. I usually make it till August and then they appear but knock on wood...nothing so far.

Harry said...

I'll claw that dude's eyes out.

Anonymous said...

:-) :-) :-) That's just so typical :-) Well, at least You know that Your pets are well protected now :-)

Flees are a very little problem up here in the north thankfully. I've only heard about two cases in my entire life.

Have a great day!
Christer.

Robin Kent said...

I start using Frontline on my 2 indoor cats when the weather starts turning colder. Didn't think fleas would be a problem since they don't go outside, but the mice that get in last winter gave them fleas! I was shocked. So now this year it's both cat preventatives and mouse traps. It's a tough world out there.