Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Rambling: The Joy of Flea Control

Last night, before heading to Bible Study, I attempted to apply one of those flea control liquids to my cat. The resulting situation was less than enoyable.

If you've never tried to apply a flea control liquid to a cat, especially a young one, you know that it is not a simple task. It requires getting the cat's fur parted and squeezing a small of liquid somewhere that it can't lick. Sounds simple enough, but its difficulty level is slightly less than wrestling an alligator while attempting to land a 747 at an airport in a raging blizzard.
In this case, after wrestling with my cat for about 5-10 minutes, I managed to get the liquid squeezed on its back. The minute that the slightest bit of said substance touched its skin, though, my cat immediately turned in such a way that the liquid ran along the left side of its body. This unfortunate turn (pun intended) placed this toxic substance that cats are not supposed to lick in the perfect location to be licked.
Needless to say (but I will anyway), my cat promptly licked its fur right where some of the substance was. It immediately started licking its lips, attempting to get the (waterproof) liquid out. The resulting sound was less than pleasant. After a few attempts at trying to get rid of the substance, it promptly had a most unusual reaction: it stood on its hind legs and proceed to deliver a most amazing lecture on the nature of quantum mechanics and its relation to the control of insect pests on felines. (Okay, not really.)
What actually happened was that I had to spend about 20-30 minutes attempting to use water and a brush to remove all of the flea control liquid (which, you will remember, is waterproof) from my cat's fur. By the time I got through with this laborious task, which was almost as difficult as attempting to apply the substance in the first place, it was too late for me to make it to Bible Study.
So, I downloaded a sermon from the church I used to go to in Lawrence. It was a good study, but I did miss the social interaction that I normally get from the study.
Anyway, the moral of the story is: it may take two to tango, but it also takes two (maybe even three or four) to apply flea control liquid to a cat.

1 comment:

incurable optimist said...

If you read "Jennie," you would no that there is virtually no place on a cat to which it cannot reach.