Monday, March 19, 2012

Weekend In Review

Was a busy weekend. Yesterday was absolutely stunning -- almost 70 degrees and bright sunshine. I did some raking of leaves from my gardens, dug up about 1000 baby violas (aka "Johnny Jump-Ups") that were spreading into the lawn. I pull these like weeds every year, but can't get rid of them ... it's wild. I think they should come with a warning label at the nursery.

Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but still spent several hours outside in the lovely weather.

With the heat come the bugs, though, and Dakota is already having tick problems. I finally broke down and tried a topical tick medication, FiproGuard Plus for Dogs from Sentry/Sergeant's Pet Care. I bought it at my local Agway, and it's supposed to be comparable to Frontline. I know Vectra burns Dakota's skin, so we can't use it, but thought I'd give this a try.

I applied it on Friday morning at about 9 a.m. -- right before a walk. I put it on the back of her neck and down her shoulders, as directed. Though it didn't bother her on the walk (I suspect she was sufficiently distracted), she spent the rest of the day pacing and fussing. I don't know if it burned her skin (it wasn't pink like it had been with Vectra), or if it was the smell, which was pretty noticeable, even to me.

This morning, 48 hours after applying the stuff, I found TWO fully engorged ticks embedded under her collar. They'd been there for at least a couple of days and were alive an kicking (ew, ew, ew). I pulled them out -- one left a HUGE lump and scab -- and then promptly got on my computer and emailed the company. I'm furious. Not only was my dog stressed by the meds for a good twelve hours, BUT IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK.

We'll see what they have to say.

In the meantime, I guess I'll be going to back to checking for ticks every time she's outside, frequent combing and bathing and much crossing of fingers.

I have a love/hate relationship with spring.

How was your weekend.

Oh, and because I know someone will ask, I'm still not really well. The coughing is less now, but my throat aches again. Still, I'm not as completely exhausted as I was there for a while, so I think it's a win. Eventually the rest will go away. I can't be sick forever.

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You Are Teal Green



You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you.

Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible.

While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks.

Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.



... making the impossible, possible. I thought that was my biz partner, Judy (aka The Goddess). It's right here on her bio.

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5 comments:

Dru said...

Sorry about Dakota. I love spring, but dislike the bugs and allergies it brings with it.

Hope you feel better soon.

Maria Zannini said...

I'm sorry that drug didn't work on Dakota. I wish I had some advice to give you, but we don't normally suffer from ticks here.

Oh, wait! Have you tried Avon's Skin-So-Soft? I've used it on my big birds to keep away gnats. But I've heard it also works on ticks. Google "Skin So Soft for ticks" and see what you get. It's the best non toxic insect repellant I've ever used.

Melissa McClone said...

Hugs on still not being well. And sorry the tick medication didn't work.

It's snowing this morning! Can't believe it.

Tori Lennox said...

Poor Dakota! Hugs!!!

Brandy said...

Ewww on the ticks. Poor Dakota! Does citronella repell ticks? Is it poisonous to dogs to apply? The skin-so-soft idea is a good one. (My grandmother used to slather that stuff on us in the Spring and Summer.)
I hope you feel much better soon!

You Are Apple Green: You are almost super-humanly upbeat. You have a very positive energy that surrounds you.
And while you are happy go lucky, you're also charmingly assertive.
You get what you want, even if you have to persuade those against you to see things your way.
Reflective and thoughtful, you know yourself well - and you know that you want out of life.

I'm not very assertive, but I like this. *g*

Again, hope you feel 100% soon!