We found the first tick of the year today. It was on Otter. She felt something crawling under her arm, and there it was. It hadn't actually bitten her yet. She'd just come in from cleaning the dog yard up and that's probably where it came from. The tick has gone for a swim in the septic tank, and the dogs have now been treated. I still had some of the Frontline left from last summer, it was actually Maggie's size but there were two doses so both dogs got treated. I checked with the vet about using the stuff on Frasier since he has that spot on his leg, but the vet said it should be ok.
We have hardly ever had a serious problem with ticks, but since Lovely Neighbor's animal count has increased we've seen more things like ticks and fleas. Bill was mowing the lawn at the time, so when he came in I made him disrobe and his clothes immediately went into the washer. Bill immediately went in to the shower, but other than the tick Otter found we haven't found any. We did a thorough tick search, but it seems to have been a loner.
Although every time I even think about them or type the word "tick", I start itching!
The pollen count is inching upwards. Mold is high and so is pecan tree pollen. Otter should be reacting all over the place, but she's actually doing well. Her allergies are pretty mild at the moment, but I won't be surprised if that changes in the next several days. She is not allergic to the pecan nut, just the pollen.
Froggy and I were talking about allergies today. She's allergic to bananas and pineapples. Banana is my favorite fruit and I eat them often. Pineapple doesn't bother me a bit. But kiwi? I have to avoid it like the plague, because if I do eat any of it I will be scratching my skin off in a matter of seconds. I think it also affects my skin if I touch it. Peaches are another issue for Froggy - she can eat them, but the peach fuzz will set her skin off. Otter can't eat canteloup, honey dew melon or blueberries. Possibly not watermelon, but we're not sure on that. She is allergic to carrots and mushrooms, although it's a mild allergy like her chocolate and egg issues and she has a very slight sensitivity to milk. Mom was allergic to milk and sometimes it will bother me, so I think I might have the same slight issues with it as Otter.
There are other allergies for Otter, it's actually a very long list and not all of it is food related. But it's pretty long. We had the allergy testing done on her when she was about 3, not too long after the asthma diagnoses. At the time, I really didn't want to put her through it but realized that it was a good idea to know her triggers because she seemed to have so many. She had to get allergy shots for several years, but they really helped. As a result, shots are no big deal for her. I guess when you get a shot once or twice weekly for years and years it kind of becomes routine.
We've also killed two mosquitos today. One of them was on the outside of the front glass door, Otter noticed it as we were leaving this morning. I squashed it, but should have used something other than my hand because it had apparently just had a meal! Gross gross gross. I'm not squeamish about blood, but who knows whose it was? Or if it was human, it could have been an animal that the skeeter had snacked on. Otter got the 2nd mosquito, it was on the door handle of the car as she was getting in this afternoon.
Just thinking about skeeters makes me itch as well.
2 comments:
we already have a lot of mosquitoes, which is weird since we have not had any rain. I haven't seen any flees on the animals but you never know. I did bathe Cookie after Uncle Crazy pressure washed the house last weekend. Somehow (?) cookie got soaked and then rolled in the dirt.
Froggy
Cookie obviously has some beagle in her ancestry, and they do like water. Maggie will actively search out puddles and then splash through them like a kid.
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