The cats have fleas. I can’t cope. Besides the torturing them by fastening a piece of plastic around their necks which make them scratch all the same, we brush them for at least half an hour each day hoping to manually remove every little egg and nasty, creepy, jumpy bug. I’ve been bitten numerous times during the past couple of weeks, but, oblivious to the facts, mistook the itchy bumps for spider bites. Spider bites that disappear in within a couple of hours of waking. I am stupid.
It was the bites that clued us in finally. Apparently my Mum is particularly appetizing to vermine. Which is ironic, because when we were infested with head-lice when I was in high school, thanks to that bane of a younger brother again, she was immune.
I have had at least three nights now of flashbacks to waking up in the middle of the night and combing the little buggers off the base of my neck. I ended up shaving my nape with a razor and wearing a ponytail really low on my head for at least eight months. It was hell.
So, on reflection, this experience has pointed out two aspects of modern society: one good, one bad. Not having parasites breeding, feeding and sucking on your body is definitely a plus. However, why are there little liquid caps to be applied to the nape of a cat’s neck to get rid of fleas, but not a similar remedy for the head lice that still circulates in primary schools. If I contract cancer later, I will know it came from spraying my head with the toxic lice-killing product for my MATTRESS after two years of useless shampooing.