I’m typing this while enjoying a world class headache. Fucker. I’m blaming the headache on the very reason for this post.
Shelter puppies (yes, this is another post about the new puppy. Because I can, that’s why) come with the occasional baggage. Ours came with fleas. Not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Unless the treatment ends up poisoning the very rescued dog in question.
There is nothing quite like realizing you are the reason your new cute faced puppy is sick as two hells.
We discovered fleas on the dogs shortly after bringing the puppy home last month. We’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to get rid of them ever since. Baths, garlic in the food, sprayed the house, etc etc.
On Tuesday night, we sprayed the Dasher with Adam’s Flea & Tick Mist as my husband had found a few fleas on her when he was combing her. He had just bought this stuff the day before because he had seen fleabites on her and our other dog was going bat shit bonkers from the dermatitis she gets whenever she’s bitten by fleas. Scratchscratchscratchbitebitebite and rash breaking out all over the poor thing. The older dog has some issues.
We used less than the suggested amount because PUPPY and icky chemical sprays that we hate to use but since we were losing the flea infestation battle decided must be tried.
The next day SuperHubby and Ace saw a couple more fleas on her and sprayed a little more on her thinking that we had not used enough.
That night she was not herself. I got home from work and she was retching and the kids said she had vomited earlier and was peeing a lot. Her energy level was nil and she just wanted to curl up on the couch in someone’s lap.
I checked her ears, which were cold and pale. Her gums were pale and slightly dry.
I called the vet and we both agreed that the spray was probably making her ill. The plan was to bathe off the nasty crap, keep her warm and get fluids into her to flush the toxins from her system.
After the bath, we bundled her into blankets and she cuddled with my husband and the kids, wrapped up in a down quilt. I made ground beef and rice and mixed it liberally with water. Luckily her appetite was not affected and the prospect of people food was more than enough to have her cobble up the well watered meal.
The puppy that had housetrained in less than a week, has gone without an accident for almost a month, was having some incontinence issues and peed on the floor several times. I began to panic. Another call to the vet who felt that if we kept her hydrated and she peed frequently the flush of the toxins would fix that in a day or so but to watch her closely over night. We did, sleeping on the sofa in turns, cuddling the very sleepy puppy and taking her out whenever she stirred. We fed her frequent small serving of the beef/rice mixture with lots of water to keep fluids running.
The next morning she was still having bladder control issues but showed a little more energy. She was eager for her morning meal as in HURRY UP AND FEED ME THE GOOD SHIT WOMAN what are you standing around for?? While I was getting her bowl, the Most Royal Demanding Imperiousness barked at me several times in impatience YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG. I know she would trade me in for paid help any minute.
She continued to have mild lethargy and incontinence issues Wednesday and on Thursday morning. By the time I got home yesterday, she was back to normal energy levels, hadn’t had an accident in hours and was bright eyed and eager to play and go for her nightly walk. During her walk all she wanted to do was play tug of war with the leash and bite our older dog's tail in an effort to get a rumble started.
There were no accidents over night and she woke me up demanding to go out. While I stumbled around getting my caffeine fix going, she sat in front of her bowl looking from it, to me, and back again with increasingly accusing eyes. THE YUMMY FOOD NOW
By the time I got it warmed up enough – oh please like you wouldn’t warm up the cold food/water before feeding it to a just recovering from poison puppy- she was dancing in place and practically eviscerating me with her intent little eyeballs.
So that’s how we poisoned our puppy and she is better now and I will never forgive myself and if anyone ever suggests that we should use one of those flea spray chemicals again I may hurt them. Adams Flea & Tick Mist nearly killed my dog.
If anyone has successful natural flea treatment/repellent ideas please share.
The new year started off with our house being robbed on the 2nd. I keep telling myself it could have been worse. Thieves broke in through the back door, which might have been unlocked since we’ve always felt rather safe in our neighborhood and weren’t always vigilant about that, so “broke in” may not be totally accurate. It appears they used an old street sign we had in the carport to keep the dog at bay, and given her recent behavior, it’s probable they smacked her with it and scared her silly, something that’s not that hard to do. For that alone I’d stick a fork in their eye.
I found the street sign on my bed. Which, you know, seemed just a little WRONG.
Once we realized the house had been robbed, we discovered they had stolen all the gold jewelry we had, the entire jug of change we’d been collecting, and some medication. It was obvious to see after finding those things missing that the thieves had riffled through a few drawers in each of the rooms. What confused me was they left all of the electronics that were lying out in plain sight, which is why it took me a little while to realize the house had actually been robbed. I mean I don’t check my jewelry boxes each time I come home to make sure the gold is still there and the house hadn’t been ransacked. And we’re not exactly Martha Stewart organized so clutter is everywhere.
We called the police. They showed up quickly and explained that our community has had a dramatic increase of home invasions and ours fits the pattern. The scumsucker thieves choose back doors or obscured entries after knocking on doors to see if anyone is home. They grab jewelry that’s easily convertible into cash, any money they can find, gift cards and any narcotics. Electronics take too long to liquidate and too many have GPS tracking in them nowadays. They are in and out within fifteen minutes. They try to target houses that have high fences and lots of trees so visibility is limited. The police believe that there is usually someone in a car around a corner, or down the street, waiting to pick up and drive away. Another robbery in town noted that the bastards had used a box from the basement to keep their dog contained, so having a dog isn’t the deterrent it used to be against thievery.
I’ve been trying to maintain that Could Have Been Worse state of mind since it happened, but it’s hard to hold onto. Yeah, we only lost a couple of thousand in jewelry that had belonged to my deceased mother so there’s that pang, a couple of hundred in loose change, medication that my husband needed and which I hope some asshole thief overdoses on now. So yes, it could have been worse, but the after effects continue to ripple through the house in ways large and small.
The dog’s more clingy and skittish then she used to be.
My daughter no longer feels safe at home by herself. That fucking sucks. She was home alone for a few hours the other night and the longer she was alone, the more anxious she felt. By the time we got home, she had worked herself into a tangle of nerves.
I’m concerned that the bastards now know what’s in our house and that they might make a return trip for the stuff they didn’t take the first time.
My son had a switchblade knife that had been his Grandfather’s. Not something used every day, but an item that holds special meaning to my son. He just discovered it was gone last night. It is irreplaceable and he’s very upset at its loss and the futility of the theft. I am too, for him, as I know he treasured that piece and its connection to his Grandfather.
I imagine we’re going to find little things missing that went unnoticed immediately after for a few months. And doesn’t that just suck hairy moose balls?
My husband is rethinking our policy on firearms in the house.
The sense of security one should feel in one’s own home has now been shredded beyond repair. For someone who was relatively cavalier about locking the back door, now I check it several times a day. We’ve thought about a security system. Replacing the back door. We lock every window. We bought a new dead bolt for the back door. We bought a hefty ass safe for important stuff. Maybe two would be better?
I’m contemplating motion activated lights and motion activated video cameras with remote viewing capabilities. This one I would so put on the house tomorrow.
I’m also thinking that a fortified electrical barrier I can control from a remote location is not a complete overreaction.
We’re probably going to get another dog. Okay, so this idea isn’t so bad actually.
It’s been a little snowy here in New Jersey and that cold white stuff is a beacon call for sleds and snowboards to be hauled out of garages, kids to bundle up and haul off to the nearest hill for some downhill action. Winter blizzards demand outdoor activities like this or no one would ever go out into the frigid wind.
My daughter nudged and nagged until I caved and took her to the local hill that’s just minutes away by car and has enough space to accommodate a reasonable number of kids flying down the slope.
The hill itself borders the back of a local school’s athletic fields and some houses. When the snow covers the ground with sufficient thickness it gets mobbed with people. Kids will maneuver snow into small hillocks, creating jumps and moguls for the more daring among them. There’s room for the less adventurous that prefer a nice quick slide down the hill and back again. It’s the gathering place after the snow hits. Every time.
There’s something Norman Rockwellish to the scene when I pull into the parking lot and the myriad colors of coats and sleds move around and up and down. The squeals and laughter of kids and adults filter through the air amid the murmur of subdued chatter and swish and slide of sleds and snowboards. It’s your typical family outdoor winter scene. It doesn’t take long for that imagery to shatter the closer to the hill I get and see the mess that is left behind by those that came through over the previous days.
I didn’t take my daughter sledding for several days after the 25+ inches of snow fell on us after Christmas because it was too damn cold and there was too much snow. By the time I caved and it was evident that she was going to wear me down anyway, the biggest crowds had had their fill of snow and cold and there were only a couple dozen or so people out.
The hilltop looked like a refugee camp had squatted there for a few weeks and then moved on. It was amazing the amount of crap people had left behind. Stray gloves and hats just tossed on branches. Used coffee cups, soda and water bottles were stuck haphazardly in the snow banks or tucked against trees. There were empty snack packages fluttering in the wind and blowing down the hills and against the fences of the houses that bordered the school property to get caught in bushes. A bigger element to the litter was the broken pieces of plastic sleds, deflated tubes and cracked Styrofoam body boards that were just left where they lay by the people that brought them to the hill.
Way to set an example for your kids, people. It’s someone else’s job to clean up your shit is clearly the message of the day on the hill.
Rather than appreciate the fact that the school doesn’t prevent the use of its property and be thankful that there is a nice hill that you can take your kids sledding, you litter the shit out of it and turn your back on the crap you left behind.
I mean I realize that it’s a pain in the ass when your kid’s sled snaps into five pieces of plastic and is crying because their sled broke and you now have to haul a pissy whiney kid back home, but is it really that taxing that you can’t say hey, let’s pick this up and throw it in the garbage can that is at the bottom of the hill FOR THAT VERY PURPOSE?
Clearly now that you’re done with sledding, that empty coffee cup weighs so much than when you brought it up the hill, leaving it on the ground is the best that you can do. Sledding is exhausting!
When your cranky ass toddler throws his bag of cheerios on the ground because you told him it was time to go home, it takes way too much effort to pick it up and bring it with you.
Look, hauling all the sleds and tubes across the field and up the hill is an effort and your lazy self indulgent ass isn’t used to climbing up and down and up and down, so when that tube bursts a seam and deflates under yourself, I guess packing it up to be thrown away is beneath you. After all, doesn’t the school pay people to clean the fields? You arrogant fuck, clean up after yourself.
To the people that went sledding and left innumerable pieces of crap in your wake, littering the hill, presenting the occasional danger – cold broken pieces of plastic are sharp and can cut small children sledding and falling over them– leaving your empty food and drink containers behind, not teaching your kids that cleaning up after themselves is a part of life, you all suck and suck hard. These are common decency failures and are another wonderful piece of evidence that evolution is going on the wrong direction.
You morons stay the fuck home next time amid your own debris and leave the field to those that will be just a little more respectful.
Dear 3M Command Picture Hanging Strips,
You suck.
Up to 10 pounds, the packaging said.
Less than 3 pounds was what they needed to hold up.
And I used extra strips because I am paranoid like that and do not trust instructions.
You failed! Not once, but twice. All within a week.
Two light-weight mirrors, within three days of each other, fell off the walls and crashed to the floor with breath-taking explosions, sending glimmering shards of glass in all directions.
Be prepared 3M Command Strip people, because those 14 years of bad luck? ARE ON YOUR HEADS, 3M, not mine! I took extra precautions and used twice the number of strips your instructions told me to and still you failed to hold to the clean walls.
On a good note? The strips stick to each other really really well, just like you advertise. JUST NOT TO THE WALLS. I suggest you work on that little piece, 'kay?
Sincerely,
The person who will never ever buy another 3M command strip again.
