Day Five

Fear

(I struggled to think of a topic today. My mind was elsewhere. I had family members travelling to various places and I was distracted. My thoughts were also on Nepal, Baltimore, Washington D.C. I can't even imagine the terror of being in an earthquake. Nor can I comprehend how frightening it must be to be a person of color - especially a young man - when it seems as though so many have targets on their backs.  Then, there are people who just want to be legally connected to someone they love! They live in constant fear of the judgment of others. There seems to be so much hatred going around when there should be love. I have more questions than answers and no solutions. Just sadness...)

But, I committed to writing about animals, so I shall.

Today's topic: the dreaded flea. I don't like to use poisons on the yard, in my house or on my pets. Even some "natural" products can cause harm to some. Consequently, I am in an ongoing battle with pests. Now, I have been known to let some spiders spin their webs on my pool screen. If I catch a bug in the house I usually take it outside. Sometimes sheer panic takes over the controls when I see a roach and I involuntarily smash it good. But fleas. Come on. They are nasty little creatures that torment my babies. I try to comb them out, but when they get too bad I have to resort to the (cue the scary music...) bath.

Bathing the Bullmastiffs is actually easier than the cats. It does take two; one to hold on to the bathee while the bather does their thing. The first time we gave Jack a bath, he dragged us around the yard like a kid's pull toy, but we all survived and he decided maybe we weren't trying to kill him after all.  But bathing a cat is a whole different experience.

The first victim was Finn. He is my sweet, docile kitty who doesn't fuss about much. I put him in the tub and his pupils grew, turning his eyes from blue to black. He was terrified. We made it through the procedure with me holding onto his neck with one hand and washing and rinsing with the other. He only made a few attempts at bolting.  I then wrapped him in a towel and took him in to the bathroom to dry him with the hair dryer. From past experience I knew this could go one of two ways - ok or horribly wrong. It went the latter. Finn shot off the counter and jumped under the bed in one move - a distance of about ten feet. I gave up and went to get my next victim.

Chance is all too familiar with baths since he gets one every time he falls into the pool, which is a little too often. He was great and I was unscratched, so far. I was also feeling pretty good about myself - a fool's paradise.  We got through the bath and I wrapped him in a towel - but not well enough. I let my guard down and he escaped from the towel onto my shoulder where he decided to get traction for the launch to the ground. I could feel every claw, that I intended to clip after the bath, dig into my shoulder and back. I was mad that I didn't have on a coat with a hood! I let him escape, then I wrapped his sorry self in a big towel and took him in to the bathroom for a blow dry. I expected him to go ballistic like his brother did, but he surprised me. He sat on the towel in the sink and calmly let me dry him with the hair dryer! I know. Cats...

So, I had one soggy kitty, one nearly dry, one smart cat who hid from all the drama and Eli. Now, Mr. Eli had been a show cat a few years ago. He was used to getting primped and poofed. The entire time I was bathing the other boys, he was wailing at me to bathe him. Yes, he loves the attention. He loves a bath, and getting a blow dry. He calmly lets me cut his nails (unlike Fancy who lets me cut one nail a week - while he's asleep.) Eli wanted attention and he wanted it asap. However, by the time I finished with Finn and Chance I was worn out. Eli just sat and glared at me. I cannot catch a break...

The day is nearly over and all I accomplished was to worry over things I can't control; drench two cats who will avoid me for a few days and drown a few fleas. But my problems are nothing compared to what some people are going through. It's all relative. I need to get out of my head and down on my knees to pray for all of those suffering in this world...