You might know, that besides worms and other parasites, feral kittens and cats are usually bound to have fleas. Now it’s one thing to mix a pill or powder into some food and simply feed the tasty morsel to your furry friend and, with a little luck, he will devour it never realizing he ate his medicine. (Although I have had cats who will smell something foreign in their wet food no matter how well you think you’ve hidden the smell- and that is a topic for another day.)
Fontline however, is no easy task to apply to a wild one, who has brought the gift of fleas into my home. I write this entry with the fumes of Bactine emanating through gauze and Band-Aids, making me dizzy. All was going as smooth as one could hope, at first. Until I treated the first cat. This apparently sent up a red alert to the others that there was something I desperately wanted to accomplish so naturally the entire kommittee immediately goes into uncooperative mode. And the fun begins. I grab Tyson first because he’s usually the hardest one to get after he becomes aware that I’m on a mission. Before he knows it, I have liquid packet emptied on his skin and I let him go. I think to myself: Well that wasn’t bad, this is going to be a breeze this time. First mistake. Never underestimate the cats’ awareness of what is happening to their fellow felines in the family.
So now that everyone is very much bordering on panic mode, I have to outsmart a kitty. You would think this would be fairly simple. So I put an unopened packet in my hoodie pouch, easy to access, and walk around the house nonchalant looking to check one more cat off the list. I pass Oreo in the kitchen and quickly grab for him, only to watch him slip away like a streak of lightning. Great, I think to myself, now he’s really onto me he’s not going to be easy after that attempt. Becoming frustrated, I need a break so I scoop some ice cream and sit down for awhile. Gee everybody likes me now. But back to business, I don’t want this to take all night with 4 cats left to treat. Now I slide up next to Misty on the couch and boom, I get her in a lockdown and quickly apply the packet to her. Sweet, 2 out of 5 done. About now Oreo walks past me and I swooped down and get him this time! Great, I think this is going pretty well. Until he started bucking like a horse and clawing viciously at my arms. After holding him steady for a minute and uttering a few choice words under my breath he calms down some. I decide it’s time to part his long hair and go for it. Well he didn’t agree. I held on far longer than what would have been wise, thinking he would realize I wasn’t loosening my grip and he’d just give in. Well he didn’t. After the claws came out, so did the teeth and in the melee I could feel one of my fingernails bend all the way backward and I abruptly released my grip.
Needless to say, we are done for the night. My left arm looks like a botched amputation and Oreo will come nowhere near me. The fun will continue tomorrow! I sure am glad we get to do this every 30 days.
Kitty Kommittee Khronicles 