A Mancat Monday Horror Show

It's Mancat Monday, and my mancat Evan is yet again at the vet today. Poor boy, I woke him up from a sound sleep to shove him in his carrier. I'm just that mean of a mom.

This vet visit is for a good reason, though, or at least I hope it is. Evan has been on antibiotics for a UTI for 3 weeks now, and today is his recheck urinalysis to see if he can safely go off of those. I really hope his UTI is gone, because my poor boy is so tired of having the antibiotics forced down his throat. It doesn't help that the antibiotics are on top of the gabapentin and prazosin he also gets, and so he's getting stuff forced down his throat 3 times a day. Poor boy.

That horror show aside, what a better segue to today's contribution to the April A to Z Challenge.

My A to Z theme this year is "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things", and today we've reached the letter H. My H stands for, firstly, holidays in general. I enjoy the festive nature of at least most of the major holidays, not to mention the time off of work they usually bring with them, as well as the time with furry and human family it allows me. Since we just celebrated Easter yesterday, I'd thought I'd first shake things up a bit and share a couple of photos. This first one is a flashback photo of the annual dessert I make for Easter.

And now is a photo to demonstrate the horror show that the package of purple Peeps was this year.

I wish I'd gotten a group photo of the whole package of purple Peeps. Their massacred faces only passed quality control by some Easter miracle. The other purple one you can see in the background of that photo is the only one that had a marginally normal face.

A whole Easter dessert with just the purple peeps would have been more acceptable for Halloween, which I don't mind one bit. In fact, that leads me to the next part of this H. We're talking about holidays in general, yes, but one of my all-time favorite holidays is Halloween, which just so happens to start with H. April is even the month that is halfway to Halloween, which may or may not mean that I watch Halloween and other horror movies all throughout April.

Wishing you all a Monday filled with a little less horror than this post!

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Tip of the Day

Our parasite talk today is all about ticks. These nasty little guys can find their way onto your kitty or pup (or yourself) from wooded areas, shrubs, and tall grass. They can make their way into your yard, especially (though not limited to) if you live near a wooded or other similar area. This means that animals who go outdoors can always be at risk for ticks. Then again, it is not impossible for animals with limited outdoor activity to pick up a stray tick as well.

Ticks pose more danger than one. First, to put it simply, they suck your furbaby's blood. It would most likely take a good deal of time for a tick to cause anemia in their host, but this is still something to keep in mind. What's more, ticks can transfer dangerous, sometimes life-threatening diseases to a cat or dog (or human, or other animal). Lyme disease is one such disease, and it can cause swelling, pain, and arthritis in the joints. Another disease that ticks can transmit is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which can result in fever as well as lameness, similarly to Lyme disease.

Obviously, for reasons such as those listed above, you certainly don't want ticks on your furbabies. Especially if your furbaby goes outdoors, and most especially if they visit areas with lots of trees and tall grass, the best way to protect them from ticks is by way of preventatives. There are indeed preventatives on the market that cover ticks, often while at the same time preventing against other parasites we've already discussed, such as fleas and intestinal worms. So, discuss these options with your veterinarian. Again, as we've said before, it is always safest to purchase quality products, such as those offered at your veterinarian's office.

We'll also take this time to note that, if you see a tick on your furbaby, don't just start pulling at it. Ticks can attach themselves, especially their heads, very securely to an animal's body. This means that if you pull on them, you might very well remove their bodies, all while leaving their blood-sucking heads still on your kitty or pup. For this reason, if you see a tick on your furbaby, assess the situation and determine if you know how to or are able to remove it safely and in its entirety. There are some tricks and even products, such as tweezers specifically designed for tick removal, that can assist in removing a tick completely. However, if you are not positive that you can manage this, as it is not always an easy thing, then contact a veterinarian and seek assistance in removal of the tick.

How about a bonus tidbit? Possums are known to be incredibly efficient tick-eaters. It has even been said that one single possum can consume over 5,000 ticks in one season. So, if you have possums in your yard, leave them be. They could very well keep that tick population down, leaving your furbaby and yourself safer for it.