Manic Monday - 1000 or One Thousand

Today, Morgen (a.k.a. Mo) at It's A Blog Eat Blog World, has given us the word 1000 or one thousand to post about and have some fun with for his Manic Monday Meme (or Challenge, if you prefer).

Recently I heard someone say something about fleas, so asked Mom what that means. She told me they're biting insects that get on critters, 'specially dogs and cats, and that they can get in the carpets and yur bed, and can even bite hoomans too. A long long time ago, Mom lived at a place that she said is in the "lower mainland of BC" and it's lots wetter there than it is here. Always raining and when it does snow in winter it melts away real fast. Anyway, Mom had a dog and cat and a man all living woof her there, and she said that there a lots and lots of fleas there... a real problem. I've never had a flea and my late brother Shadow only had a few in his whole life and never was any problem. The other dog and cat had 1000 or more... that's right One Thousand or MORE ucky fleas!! Well, at least it seemed like that I guess. She said they (the fleas) was all through the carpet and they used to bite Doug's legs all the time (that was the man). But once Mom moved back up here, the fleas quit bothering her critters and she's never had a problem woof them since.

I Googled fleas and found out this stuff that you can read if yur interested... or skip to the bottom. Yur choice.... BARK.

Fleas on dogs and cats! These small dark brown insects prefer temperatures of 65-80 degrees and humidity levels of 75-85%... so for some areas of the country they are more than just a “summer” problem. Dogs and cats often get infested with fleas through contact with other animals or contact with fleas in the environment. The strong back legs of this insect enable it to jump from host to host or from the environment onto the host. (Fleas do not have wings so cannot fly!) The flea’s bite can cause itching for the host but for a sensitive or flea-allergic animal, this itching can be quite severe and leads to hair-loss, inflammation and secondary skin infections. Some pets, hypersensitive to the flea's saliva, will itch all over from the bite of even a single flea! The flea information presented here will focus on treatment for and prevention of fleas, which, let’s face it, is just as important to the pet as it is to the pet's caretakers!

How do you know if fleas are causing all that itching (called pruritus)? Generally, unlike the burrowing, microscopic Demodex or Scabies Mites, fleas can be seen scurrying along the surface of the skin. Dark copper colored and about the size of the head of a pin, fleas dislike light so looking for them within furry areas and on the pet's belly and inner thighs will provide your best chances of spotting them. Look for "flea dirt", too. "Flea dirt" looks like dark specks of pepper scattered on the skin surface. See the image of flea dirt near the bottom-right of this article. If you see flea dirt, which is actually flea feces and is composed of digested blood, pick some off the pet and place on a wet paper towel. If after a few minutes the tiny specks spread out like a small blood stain... it's definitely flea dirt and your pet has fleas! Flea dirt may be your only evidence of a flea infestation but believe the evidence! If there is flea dirt there are surely fleas present. You need to begin your war on the pests.

These piktures are from Alta Vista Images. The top one is one flea, but it's a big pikture of a little thing... so we can see it. The bottom one is fleas on some dog's nose. YUCK!!! I'm gettin' itchy just doin' this blog, so gonna say good night now and go outside fur a bit before bed.

Happy Manic Monday every body. Stay Flea Free!!