Little Yuba by AlishaV
No bunnies were harmed during the making of this story.
This week the bunnies brought me a “gift”.
My two kitties were at their annual physicals, cowering down on the table, as is their wont, when all of a sudden, “A flea!” exclaimed the vet. “I really didn’t expect that,” she proclaimed, as she frantically tried to squish the couple of fleas she’d pulled out of my cat’s coat with a flea comb.
I’m with the vet. I didn’t expect it either. My kitties have not been out of doors for more than ten years and they’ve not been with any other animals for a whole year. In fact I’d been feeling pretty relaxed, self-satisfied even, as I surveyed the vet office notice, “Fleas are bad this year.”
I threw the vet a puzzled look as she continued to talk. “Rabbits can bring fleas into your garden which hitch a ride on your clothes indoors.” “The fleas don’t want to be on you so they jump onto the cats.”
Thanks a lot rabbits. I don’t know whether to be disappointed that the rabbits have brought me another problem, or to feel sorry for the bunnies who can’t get any anti-flea meds.
Is it a bad flea season where you are? Have you, or your kids, seen any little hoppers?
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Oh no! We hate fleas! This has been an especially bad year. Our cats are indoor, too, but are scratching all the time. And the big explorer is always surprising us with new bites. Ugh!
And you don’t even have rabbits Debi; I wonder what is bringing the fleas to your garden!
Now I’m going to have to write about how to combat fleas from the garden… coming up later this week.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by rshreeves, Alison Kerr. Alison Kerr said: New Post – A "Gift" From the Rabbits http://bit.ly/app6Fw #garden #pets [...]
I’m not sure if the fleas are in our garden or in our house. Bottom line is we don’t know what other creatures might be hosting them. Look forward to your post.
Flea Control Post is up now – there’s a lot to know about fleas in the garden and how to combat them!
Funny bunny story. I guess not funny to you, but funny in the recounting. I did have a plump raccoon walking along the edge of my pool, dipping her head in, butt in the air, sucking up a cool drink of salt water, yum. But no fleas, thus far. Mind you we don’t have pets so I’m happy to hear they don’t want to live on us humans. Fun post Alison.
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I’ve never seen a raccoon, though I believe they’re around here in Eastern Kansas. I do hear that they can be trouble. Thanks for the story Katie.
Actually we haven’t had a bad year here–winter ran cold and late and so it’s been pretty mild. Last year was bad, but this year haven’t seen much of anything. Everybody’s been Frontlined and all. (We call them “The Enemy” here–we do cat rescue, so when the fleas do get in, we’re dispensing a terrifying number of meds to get it back under control.)
But I do have some friends that had a fairly flea-free yard last year, and then they got a squirrel in the yard who brought some hoppy friends, who got hoppy on the dog. Couldn’t keep it under control–no matter how much they treated the dogs, the fleas kept coming in from this one squirrel who would get up on the porch to investigate and positively shed fleas.
The husband, being a fine southern gentleman, felt that this was a problem best solved with firearms. His wife, however, refused to let him slay the squirrel. So he got a live trap, trapped the squirrel, treated IT with Frontline, and let it go.
Apparently this solved the problem.
UrsulaV´s last blog ..What a difference a week makes…
Ursula, that’s a great story. I wonder how he got the squirrel to stay still for the meds and whether it was so freaked after being trapped that it didn’t come back anyway!
Uh-oh. Thanks for the warning Alison! My dogs like to sun themselves out in the yard where the bunnies romp…..think I’ll do baths this weekend. You might want to read this: http://allthatpetcare.com/2010/03/tis-the-season-for-fleas/ I confess, it’s based on a terrible experience. I had a horrible flea infestation that I think I got from a hand-me-down sofa from a neighbor….
Ugh, fleas from hand-me-downs sounds bad
Steam is a good way to combat fleas indoors where vacuuming is not possible.
I hate fleas, give me the creeps just by looking at them sucking blood and everything. Does it help to repel them spraying Lysol everywhere? Just curious though, only had one flea invasion, last year (spring time), so I thought to be prepared for this year. Would love to hear your suggestions. Thanks!
Gloria @ Cat Scratchers´s last blog ..Choosing the Best Scratcher for your Cat
Hi Gloria, I’m not sure how fleas react to Lysol. Most soap-type products work as insecticides, killing the adults at least. Eggs are harder to kill. Do take a look at my other article – Natural Flea Repellent.