Thankful Thimble Thursday

This is where I'm supposed to be sharing today's installment of the April A to Z Challenge, which would be the letter L. However, after having been ahead of the game for the first part of the month, life happened and now I've fallen a bit behind on my doodles. Rather than stress out and spend all night trying to finish today's doodle, I'm instead going to share it tomorrow. I'll be behind a letter for a couple of days, but I'll be sharing one on the usual hiatus day, that is Sunday, and so I'll be back on track by next week. I'm blessedly off of work on Friday, and so I look forward to sitting down and enjoying a nice, long drawing session. For today, I'll share a doodle that was actually an old bit of concept art starring the very kitty that would have been in today's new doodle.

That is not even remotely how the new doodle for the letter L is going to look when you see it tomorrow, but I thought it would be fun to share that really old concept art related to it. Stay tuned tomorrow for the new version of that kitty.

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I also didn't get a poem completed for Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge like I'd wanted to, but I hope to get back to those as soon as possible. Adulting can be very time consuming sometimes, and that is very frustrating.

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Now, what we actually do have for today is Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Today, Thimble is grateful for window whiffies!

After some very springtime days, we're just going to pretend like it's not going to be nearly freezing outside again this weekend.

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And now we have for you the fill-ins for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. My co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. I hope the Easter Bunny brings me _________.

2. My favorite part of the Easter (or Passover) meal is _________.

3. I'm most looking forward to _________ this weekend.

4. For me, this time of year _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Tip of the Day

 

Yesterday we gave a tip on Giardia, and the parasite of today is very similar to this. Today's parasite is coccidia, which is another single-celled protozoa that can infect the intestinal tract. Coccidia is similiar to Giardia in more than just that regard, though. Just like Giardia, coccidia most commonly causes diarrhea, and is passed in the feces. It is also possible for a furbaby to become infected with coccidia if they ingest an infected rodent.

Also just like with Giardia, sometimes a cat or dog will show no signs of infection even if they have coccidia in their intestinal tract. Young kittens or puppies, geriatric furbabies, and those otherwise medically compromised are at the highest risk. In compromised cats and dogs, diarrhea caused by coccidia infection can lead to dehydration and other complications, which can be life-threatening.

Like the broken record that we are, we're of course reminding you again to keep an eye on your furbaby when outdoors, and to keep their environment as sanitary as possible. As we said earlier, ingesting the feces of another animal infected with coccidia can lead to infection. Also ingesting debris or water near where such animal defecated could lead to an infection with coccidia.

And, again, if your furbaby has diarrhea, seek veterinary care as soon as possible. Take a fecal sample to the appointment, so that your veterinarian can do a test for coccidia and other parasites. When a diagnosis is made, discuss with the veterinarian the treatment options. Give prescribed medications, which may include antibiotics, probiotics, or another, and do so for as long as the veterinarian prescribes. Stopping medications early, even if symptoms subside, can result in a recurrence. Then again, if a treatment plan is not working, discuss that with your veterinarian as well. Diarrhea, among any number of symptoms, is not to be taken lightly, so do your best to stay on top of it.