All the Creatures

Flea season has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest. I was wondering when it would get underway. We have had nothing but cool wet weather until the last few days when it finally warmed up. Fleas like warm weather so the eggs can hatch. Our house cat gets her monthly dose of Advantage as a regular precaution but I usually wait for flea season to arrive before treating the dogs. The dogs get Advantix, which is the same as Advantage but it is water proof. The dogs like to play in the creek that runs through our property and so I need to use something that is water proof. I try to find the stuff on sale because it can often be expensive. I don’t buy it from our vet anymore since they charged an arm and a leg for it.

The one advantage of using Advantage is the fact that the fleas that land on the dog or cat will die within 24 hours. That makes the dog and cat a flea magnet that kills the fleas. That is what our vet told us when they sold us the stuff.

I tried other spot on types of flea products for dogs and cats and the only one that I found to work was the Advantix. Hartz was the worse, it didn’t work at all and the other ones only worked for about a week.

All the Creatures

A long time ago I figured out that I had to keep medications, shampoos and first aid ointments that are used for my pets, separate from the human stuff in the house. This was not to keep anything from getting contaminated, no, this was so I could find it. Dog shampoos were notorious for going missing. I remember once leaving out a skin cream for a dog that my mom had years ago on my mother’s bathroom counter and she mistook it for one of her wrinkle creams and used it. No harm done but that dog skin cream cost a fortune back then and she used most of it on her face. That was when I learned to seperate the pet supplies from the human ones.

I have a pantry that has a closet with shelves. One entire shelf is devoted to pet supplies and nothing else. I can find what I need and when I need it for my pets right there. I just have to remind myself to put it back once I have finished using it.

All the Creatures

Horse have been known to shed out excessively. I have owned 2 horses that one spring both of them shed out their winter coats even before their summer coats were fully grown in. That resulted in some large bald patches of skin on both of them. Thankfully I did not worry about finding a hair loss cure for them, I simply waited until their summer coat grew in. Sometimes their hormones just get a little out of sync with nature and bald patches appear.

When a horse starts to shed, most people don’t realize that the shorter summer fur is already grown and in place when the longer winter coat sheds out. I guess they think that the long hairs are breaking off to produce the summer coat. That is not true.

If your horse sheds out their winter coats excessively then simply wait a few weeks for their summer coat to grow in.

All the Creatures