Fleas!!!

Monday was a busy day; typical errands and also a trip to the vet to get flea stuff for Penny. I found one flea on her Sunday. The reason I went looking was because I have an severe allergy to fleas and was showing symptoms of that allergy, that being bites on my ankles and feet! Gross.. gross.. gross.. not to mention ITCHY. So come Monday morning, I was on the phone first thing with the vet to get Advantage for Penny. I bought a Hartz flea spray at the store and started spraying things Monday evening into the night. I don’t think sprays are as harmful to humans as years ago because we had to vacate each room for only an hour.

Turns out that while I found a flea on Penny, there was little other evidence of them. Her white fur and skin had absolutely no dark spots of flea poop. The blanket where she usually lays had 4 dark spots of what I would label flea poop, but it could have been regular dirt. Nonetheless, my ankles and lower legs were looking like a dozen mosquitoes had attacked me so I deflead with a vengeance, including moving and spraying the shelters we have set up for the feral cats and spraying the slate outside the back door.

It took me two days to figure out that what fleas might be in the house came not from us bringing them in from the ferals but from rental apartment #2, recently vacated by the tenant who had to be evicted for non-payment of rent. She was a dirty slob and her dog was infested with fleas, which both Ron and I “picked up” when we went to the apartment (twice!). I think Ron kind of pooh-poohed my opinion of where the fleas came from until today when tenant in apartment #3 called to say that fleas were coming out from under the door and into the hallway and she and her friend became covered with them when they came downstairs to the common hallway. GROSS!!!

I didn’t freak, but immediately called Ron and told him under no circumstances was he to go to the apartment house and then come home, unless he was willing to take off his clothes outside and leave them there for me to spray!.... maybe spray him too. LOL

So today – Wednesday – I again cleaned thoroughly, spraying, vacuuming, washing in hot water all our blankets and bed linens, just in case, as well as the throws in the TV room. I assume Ron thinks I’m going overboard, but let HIM itch like crazy as I have, and then he’ll understand. Thankfully Penny has no fleas on her. Poor kitty gets checked hourly by me. LOL

Yesterday was an Ember day. Got there and Michele said we have to take Em to the doctor. Em had been sick over the weekend. It was thought she had a UTI. On doc’s instructions, Tony and Michele took Em to the ER Friday evening because she was running a high fever, could not urinate and was complaining that her “potty” hurt, while clutching herself between her legs.

The bastards in the ER tried for 30 minutes to put a catheter in Ember, while Michele and Tony held her down. Em was sobbing hysterically the entire time. Michele finally directed them to stop and figure out another way to have Em pee. She was sent home with a catch cup pasted over her genitalia, but it took 11 hours before she peed in such a way that the urine went into the cup rather than her diapers. Though the UTI test takes two days for results, Em was put on an antibiotic anyway.

Long story short is by Tuesday, she no longer had a fever and was peeing in her diapers just fine, but she had a rash all over her body; hence the trip to the doctor. The final diagnosis is that Em did not have a UTI (and was taken off the antibiotic) but probably had had a virus of some sort which caused the fever and the rash. The doctor didn’t think it had anything to do with her peeing problem. After the doc appt., Em and I drove Michele into work in downtown Albany and then came home for lunch.

It had been a busy morning, but not so busy that Em didn’t protest napping. Too bad. Grandma needed her to nap and she finally slept for 2 hours.

I’m pissed at Ron. I spent hours cleaning this morning. First a good vacuum and dusting was needed but I also did an extra good job to suck up any flea eggs and larva that might be in the rugs. Granted, I probably went overboard, but that’s better than not caring at all. Ron wouldn’t care if I cleaned once a day or once a month, but his lack of care doesn’t mean he should ignore or disrespect my efforts to keep this never-looks-clean-anyway old house clean, and that’s what he did today. I was so pissed that I walked away without lunch and came upstairs to write about it! LOL Damn good thing he’s got to work at Elks tonight because I wouldn’t be cooking for him anyway.

Exercise: I’ve been doing the Leslie Sansone DVDs about every 2nd day.

Gas prices: They are down in Greenville, finally, to about $4.099.

Today’s weather: All weekend long it rained up and off, leading up to big thunderstorms Sunday. Here in Greenville we got real bad winds, but just south of us in Cairo, winds up to 110 MPH went through knocking down trees and causing a lot of damage. Yesterday and today it’s been lovely. Sun, bright blue sky and low humidity with high temps.

Life changes: The more things change, the more they stay the same. I think hell will freeze over before men will appreciate and acknowledge the importance of the work that it takes to keep a household running. I'm not happy, and when momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy where I live!!