Friendly Fill-Ins and the Letter G

Hello and happy Friday, friends! We have a couple of things to get to today, but let's start with the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, shall we?

Before we begin, my co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing is more than understandably taking a break this week after her sweet kitty Sammy gained his angel wings. She will likely be joining us again next week. Purrs and prayers to Ellen.

In case you missed them yesterday or you need a reminder, the fill-in statements are below.


1. I waste a lot of time _________.

2. At this very moment, I'm craving _________.

3. Don't _________ until you _________.

4. _________ makes life interesting.

My answers are below in bold. This week, I tried to and kind of succeeded at keeping my explanations short and sweet.

1. I waste a lot of time daydreaming.
(I don't know that I'd consider daydreaming an actual "waste" of time, but I do spend my fair share of time doing it when I should be doing chores or making progress on various projects.)

2. At this very moment, I'm craving sleep.
(In a rare turn of events, I'm not currently hungry. That's probably because I ate a giant brownie just a bit ago. What I am craving, though, is sleep. I'll be getting that very soon, thank goodness.)

3. Don't leap until you look.
(Quite the cliché answer, huh? This is also simply my opinion, and it probably stems from the fact that I'm far from a spontaneous sort of person. I'm a planner, and I'm likely not going to be doing any leaping until I've taken a good look and planned a few steps along the way.)

4. Sharing your home with furry friends makes life interesting.
(Need I say more?)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below.

***

Next up, let's get to the April A to Z Challenge, yeah?

To yet again give the default recap like the broken that I am, for this year's April A to Z Challenge, since I love to write and am working on a series of books, I'm sharing A to Z doodles relating to my stories. Much like my usual doodles and weekly poems, the stories I write are weird, wacky, and star lots of animals. That leads us to today's letter, which is G. So, what does G stand for?

G is for Gremlin

You know how you can put a matching pair of socks in the wash, and by the time they make it out of the dryer the pair has lost at least one half of the duo, and then you're left with one lonely sock? You know what happens to those missing socks? Sock gremlins like this little weirdo take them, that's what happens. At least, in my head that's why I never have matching socks, and that wild idea made its way into my stories. I have to say, it's not until I start expressing all of my crazy ideas here that I realize just how insane they sound, but here we are nonetheless.

***

Did you think we forgot to give you your dose of Eddy? We most certainly did not.

We're just going to pretend like Eddy was having a totally normal snack and that I wasn't trying to bribe her with treats to sit still for the camera. Considering most of these are bloopers, I don't think those attempts were met with much success.

Happy Friday, friends!

***

Tip of the Day

We're in the midst of tips regarding parasites and their prevention. We have so far covered heartworms, fleas, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. Now, today, it's all about those ear mites.

As is probably obvious, ear mites affect the ears, living primary in the ear canal. For what it's worth, ear mites are more commonly seen in cats, making dogs the luckier, less typical victims of these buggers. Ear mites can be spread directly from cat to cat.

Now, what will you notice if your cat, or dog, has an ear mite infestation? Your furbaby's ears will itch, they will scratch at them, there can therefore be inflammation in the area, and they may even shake their heads or hold their ears low due to the irritation. You also may see dark, brownish debris in the ears, which is commonly described as resembling coffee grounds.

If you do see any of the above symptoms in your kitty or pup, have them seen by a veterinarian. Ear mites can ultimately lead to secondary ear infections and other similar issues, so taking care of them is of course best for your furbaby's health and happiness. Your veterinarian can test for ear mites by swabbing the ears and looking at the debris under a microscope.

When it comes to treatment, it is of course best to use medications prescribed directly by your veterinarian. There are drops or other treatments that can offer a relatively fast-acting eradication of the ear mites. In addition, there are monthly preventatives that cover ear mites. These can typically help take care of existing mites, as well as prevent a future ear mite infestation. Discuss any and all such options with your veterinarian, especially if your furbaby is largely outdoors and potentially more susceptible to such infestations.