Pages

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

midnight bath

Magnum was licking himself. All over. Very LOUDLY, like right in my ear. Why must he do that. Lick himself all loudly all right in my ear like that.

I tried to just roll over and keep sleeping. But the LICK LICK LICKING just kept going on and on, even making the bed bounce a little with the zealotry of it. Sheesh, the things I must put up with. The loud licking and bouncing proceeded to pull me further and further out of my peaceful sleep, until I was fully awake and realized it was the cat, nearly on top of me and bathing, and not Magnum.

Funny how just a few seconds prior it seemed perfectly normal that my husband would be loudly licking himself all over.

I wonder if the cat has fleas. He seems restless lately and grooming himself more often than usual - which is already quite excessive since he is so arrogant to begin with. I keep finding these little tufts of fur all around the house.

And he's suddenly up on everything in that he's walking around on countertops and tables. He doesn't do that. He's not supposed to do that. Is he trying to get my attention? Is this his way of saying, "Hey, Abby! I'm all itchy. Do somethin' will youse?"

I did some investigation and found:

If you are unsure if your pet has fleas, the NPHCN recommends checking for flea dirt--tiny black specks found on your pet or on its favorite spots. Flea dirt is actually an adult flea's feces which is rich in blood. To determine if the specks are flea dirt, wet the specks with a drop of water and if they turn red, they're flea dirt, and your pet has fleas.


Flea poop? I should check for flea poop?
.

8 comments:

Duble said...

I find it unlikely your cat has fleas here. However, haven't you notice how dry your skin is of late?

Lather the cat up in bag balm, that will take care of it.

I am not a vet, and usually don't pretend to be one.

Beej said...

Fleas are so tiny...flea poop must be microscopic.

Also...gross.

Beej said...

I just feel like I need to say this again...

Gross.

terri said...

At first I thought maybe it was just the time of year, phase of the moon or something. My cat has been acting odd too. Every morning when I pull the shower curtain aside and step in, there she is. And she's never in a hurry to leave either.

Oh, it just occurred to me that if yours DOES have fleas, he was licking them off onto you and into your bed.

I hope it's not fleas!

Goes by the name of Anna said...

Haha, I feel your pain. My cat likes to try and sit on my head while he licks himself. He used to chew his tail too when he was younger, and that made an even more annoying noise...

Mine also had a few bouts of fleas from time to time, and going through his fur, it was pretty obvious - I've never found the critters to be that covert. Check under the collar if you can - they often congregate there.

I've never heard of attention seeking behaviour being symptomatic of fleas, but I guess it could be, especially if he seems restless. Though if he's grooming a lot and there's tufts of fur around, he might have some kind of skin irritation - especially if there's been a change in temperature/humidity, something new he could be allergic too, or if you've changed his food at all recently (changing from one kind of animal protein - i.e. from chicken flavour to beef - to another can affect the skin in some cases).

Haha, sorry, I went on... How obvious is it that I work in a pet store?

Adam said...

flea poop? That really is pretty gross.

Whimsical Ranter said...

I learn a lot from reading blogs, flea poop, and other stuff I didn't know I needed to know.

I know our house has NO humidity whatsoever, and it's been making the dog go crazy with the licking. I gave him a bath today. He seems a bit better, at least he's not licking as much...he now has daggers coming out of his eye sockets aimed squarely at me.

brandy101 said...

I was thinking, gee, if her husband can lick HIMSELF then she must be one lucky lady...

Seems everyone else was more interested in flea poop!