My Day Off (Randomness)

[in_the_blue]

No school today; it was my day to sleep in. Of course, the phone rang at 7:45 this morning. (*yawn* damn.)

Finished my first pass on beta-reading duties (still waiting for that email, amberdulen) and doing a few odds and ends. I need to head to the post office to get a few more things mailed.

Wonder if I can find some lovely fresh daffodils for Dydd Dewi Sant on Monday?

Oh, and taking my cat Stones to the vet's for his ear infection. I have five cats and three are special-needs. Stones has FIV; Scamp has cardiomyopathy, and Jasmine has asthma. In fact, there might be something wrong with the other two as well, but everyone seems very happy and very healthy (with the exception of the ear infection... but Stones gets to see his very favorite vet, Dr Christine, so... probably a round of antibiotics and a good cleansing.

Time for coffee.

Comments

[amberdulen.livejournal.com]

Hee. *blush*

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

We do it on your time, 'cause it's your story. Depends when you want to see it on the Sugar Quill.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

The daffs Ma bought have gone south already. Flopping all over, too.

Thankfully, the only problems D'Argo and Aeron have had recently have been bruised toenails, ticks and grubby ears. D. barely tolerates me yanking and prodding him, but Aeron does the spastic panicky thing so it's very difficult to do anything to her. Gotta start them on dealing with it when they're puppies, dude.... [shakes head]

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Better start de-ticking Prokyon and Dashnip now, then, hadn't we.

As I suspected, Stones has an ear infection. We bring him back in 10 days, and in the meantime I treat him with eardrops every 12 hours. What fun.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

I'm doubting there's too much of a problem in Britain, especially in the winter. They're more of a warm-weather bug.

[shudder]

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid on the east coast, I used to get them in my hair routinely from running wild through the woods behind our house.

It was disgusting. My mom used to check us for ticks when we came back inside in the summertime. But those were the big ugly standard-issue ticks, not the deadly tiny Lyme-disease-carrying deer ticks.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's disgusting all right.

Therefore... IT'S THE TMI ZONE! [insert eerie music sting]


http://www.petplanet.co.uk/petplanet/health/index.htm



Ticks are blood sucking parasites, the most common of which, in the UK, are the sheep and hedgehog ticks. These ticks are less dangerous in the UK than in many overseas countries. There is some evidence that when the tick bites onto the skin the host can develop Lyme disease, this can occur in both humans and animals, however it is more commonly seen in the USA. The signs of Lyme disease are fever and arthritis in several of the joints. It can be treated with antibiotics, but all ticks should be removed as soon as possible. Ticks are more commonly found in long grasses, fields where sheep have been, moorland and woodland. The hedgehog tick can also be found in your garden from infested nests and burrows of hedgehogs. Most of the ticks that are found in the UK are "hard ticks" meaning that they have a hard shell to protect them.


http://www.mmpvets.co.uk/ticks.htm

Most ticks in the UK are hard ticks, having a hard outer shell to protect their body. They are mostly seen when weather is warm and humid especially spring and autumn. They climb up plants and detect a passing host with special sensory organ on their front legs.

The commonest ticks are sheep ticks (deer or castor bean are other names) and hedgehog ticks.

Did you know?

Ticks are members of the spider family.

They release their grip and fall in response to the smell of BUTYRIC ACID - a component of a mammal's scent.


http://www.petz.co.uk/vetontheweb/new/article19.html

In the UK, ticks are mainly an annoyance.