Adventures with Astrid, an Excavator, and the Letter J

These days, pup Astrid's walks offer us some interesting sights. Like this one.

Our neighborhood is getting a tad bit of a facelift. They're laying new gas lines, to be exact. They even cut a hole up by our house, but our yard is one of the ones that was largely spared. Some of our neighbors got their yards majorly uprooted. All that to say, parts of Astrid's walks involve parked excavators like seen above, and lots of orange cones.

For some reason I've been really into snapping shots of Astrid with the construction bits and pieces, so be prepared for more of those as alterations continue on our neighborhood.

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Now, let's move on to today's contribution for the April A to Z Challenge.

As I've probably now obnoxiously said nearly every day this month, my A to Z theme this year is "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things", and today we've reached the letter J. The short story is that, for me, I chose for J to stand for journaling. It also stand for just journals in general, as I have quite a collection of them. Of course, any form of journaling comes with plenty of feline assistance.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!

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Tip of the Day

Though rare, did you know that our furbabies can get lice? The lice our kitties and pups can get, though, are not the same that we humans get. In fact, lice are species-specific. Humans get a certain kind of lice, dogs can become infested with a different kind of lice, and yet a different type of lice affects cats. In other words, we cannot get lice from our furbabies, and they cannot get it from us. Again, though, lice in our furbabies is not terribly common. Still, it is important to know that it's not impossible.

Signs of lice might include your furbaby itching, scratching, or biting at affected areas of their body. You also might even be able to see the lice or their eggs, more or less white in color, on your furbaby. A lice infestation and its symptoms will likely more heavily affect cats or dogs who are sick, elderly, or have a compromised immune system.

Just as we have noted with all of the parasites we've previously discussed, if you have any concern that your kitty or pup is infested with lice, of course have them seen by your veterinarian as soon as possible. Your veterinarian will be able to prescribe a treatment for eradicating lice. In addition, don't forget that with parasites such as lice, your furbaby's environment will also need to be rid of the infestation. As always, discuss any and all concerns with your veterinarian.