you live with a cat, you become the cat. @epiccat98 - Tumblr Blog

[the speaker is an older white man in a grey shirt with a kind voice]

Well, hello fellow hunker-downers. Coming to you high on half an Ambien. (giggling) My doctor prescribes ten milligrams when I can’t sleep. I get so wound up over all this! But I only take a half of it otherwise I eat everything in the house.

But look. [holds up a brown journal with a clasp] Another way I calm down is [clasp unopens] is I write … in my journal … [holds up the open journal, which has notes and pictures of flowers and cute animals] And I put little, [turns the page to show off more stickers that include pug dogs] stickers, I (giggling) decorate!

I’m a high school cheerleader stuck in a sixty-five-year-old male body. My Violette stickers came today [holds up a sheet of fruit and flower stickers]. Look! Aren’t they beautiful? [holds up more stickers of old-timey portraits of children] I think I fell out of the womb and landed in my mother’s high heels.

[holds up stickers of cats] I just like things pretty. I think that’s why homosexuals were put on this earth, (emphatically) just to make things pretty. [holds up stickers of rabbits] Rabbits~

[end transcription]

blackness-by-your-side

This actually just under one of the tree's in my back yard.

#nature #bugs #plants

@mostlycatsmostly

theexoticvet-deactivated2022070

There is a HUGE amount of misinformation about ticks online which is unfortunate because ticks are a huge cause of disease in humans and animals which is only getting worse with climate change.

Tick Bites

Remove ticks with tweezers or a tick key.

NEVER burn ticks, pour chemicals on them, apply oil to them, etc. Doing anything other pulling it out by the head will cause the tick to “vomit” further increasing your risk of getting a tick borne illness or infection.

Preventing Tick Bites

DEET is the only effective, safe topical for human skin.

Permethrin is a tick repellent that is used to coat clothing, tents, and mosquito netting. Permethrin is not a substitute for DEET, but an addition.

Picardin is another topical repellent for human skin. It is not as effective against ticks and isn’t as well studied as DEET. It does work better against flies though.

Peppermint oil, lemon oil, and other “natural” repellent just don’t work nor are they regulated. A repellent can be labeled as natural peppermint and actually not contain any. Not only are they not effective but pets and people can get chemical burns from them.

Lyme Vaccine

We had an effective one for people but due to pushback from anti-vaxers it was pulled from the market.

We do have a safe and effective canine Lyme vaccine which isn’t 100% effective but it’s close. The manufacturers of the vaccine believe in it so strongly that if your dog gets Lyme disease and was up to date on the vaccine the company will pay for treatment.

Prevention in Pets

All dogs should get tick prevention year round. There are topicals, pills, and collars. All are effective when used properly. If purchased from your vet the companies of these will also pay for treatment of tick borne disease.

Cats should be indoors so aren’t at a huge risk of tick bites although it can happen. Outdoor cats definitely need tick prevention especially where cytauxzoon is a problem as this is a fatal tick borne disease.