Pets - the things you don't know.

Apparently we have pet fleas and didn't even know it.  Lots of them.  Okay, I really did know about the fleas, I just didn't know the "lots" part.

Yesterday I finally felt guilty about my cat pulling his hair out (allergic to flea bites) and my dog panting from her desperate attempts to find the fleas above her tail.  The dog was stinky, had a red rash, and had chewed the hair off the top of her tail.  I applied flea insecticide to both animals.  The cat's worked, the dog's didn't.  While the 11yo read her Latin lesson to me this morning, I picked fleas off the dog.  The infestation was worse than I had imagined. Guilt, guilt, guilt!

My guilt bought the dog a trip to the groomer.  I know, it's cheaper to wash the dog at home, but there are some things I'm not willing to do.  One thing people don't tell you when trying to share their cute little puppies with you is that dogs occasionally need help emptying their anal glands.  That my friends, is one of the perks of taking your dog to the groomer.  You do not have to know about or have to deal with anal glands.

Thirty-six dollars and two hours later, I picked up my dog minus the musky odor.   But  that isn't the worst part.  Nope, thirty-six dollars isn't so bad.  What really hurts is the flea control.  Three tiny vials of insecticide is going to cost you $60.  Yep, twenty dollars a month.  Ouch!  Our total is now slightly over $100.

And there's more.  Did I tell you that while the dog was in town being groomed that the cat attempted to puke on MY side of the bed?

Pets, companionship, man's best friend, fleas, worms, cleaning up warm cat puke....hmmm....I don't know.  What were we thinking?