Last weekend we rescued three kittens from a neighbor. While these little 6 week old menaces seem to be otherwise fairly healthy (one seems to have an eye infection which we are treating) they were infested with fleas and covered in little blood stains from all of the itching and biting. Their mother is an outdoor cat who may or may not carry some rather nasty outdoor cat illnesses.
While it is safe under veterinary supervision and guidance to administer products like FrontLine, sometimes you’re left between a rock and a hard place. Maybe your clinic is closed for a long weekend. Maybe you can’t afford flea medication for a whole litter of kittens right now. Or maybe you can’t stand to see the poor little guys itching all over for another second. We found ourselves in exactly this position. After some research we were able to completely (yes, completely) de flea our three kittens safely and kindly without breaking the bank or utilizing harmful flea collars.

Here’s what you’ll need.

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You are looking at Cycas Revoluta (a.k.a Sago Palm, Sago Cycad, King Sago Palm). This rather generic looking palm-like gymnosperm is a plant native to Japan. It’s a truly ancient and isn’t a palm at all, but more closely related to conifers. This guy was poisoning dinosaurs millions of years ago.

But due to globalization it can be readily found in just about any living room or backyard throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of the western world. It prefers warm, well drained and sandy soil. So you won’t find it growing wild in say, Montana. But you can certainly find it growing happily in the wild in any southern US state including Texas, southern California, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

But you can certainly find them as indoor/outdoor potted plants in any given home. Most major retailers import them by the thousands including Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart. They currently have no legal requirement to post any sort of warning.

So what’s the big deal? Well, if you have the wonderful privilege of caring for a plant eater or digger the harmless looking Sago Palm is deadly. Very rarely are they labeled as Read the rest of this entry »

Occasionally we will have a skunk take up residence beneath our shed. Thinking it unfair to shoo them away (as they posed no real problems, so long as we payed attention) we typically just shared our backyard with whatever skunk happened to call the burrow beneath our shed home.

This changed when we adopted a dog together. In the winter we placed his lead out in the backyard for his quick jaunts in the frosty New England mornings. Then the spring came and our little smelly friends became quite active.

You know where this is heading.

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You’re having the same problem as many bird owners. You have meal moths. The disgusting little pests that eat all of your pet food and leave maggots and sticky webs in their wake. So, you set up a couple of fly catchers around your home to nab the less clever ones before they can do their damage.

You wake up early one morning for work. It’s cold and dark out still. You stretch and yawn. You open your bedroom door. Your beloved cat is sitting at the door jam and mews at you pathetically. Thinking she just wants attention, you bend down to pick her up only to get a handful of matted, sticky fur.

Congratulations. Your cat was smart enough to play with the fly catcher and mash it deep in her fur. Now what do you do?

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We have problems with meal moths off and on during the spring and summer months. Meal moths are small tan-yellow insects that are incredibly difficult to get rid of should you find yourself with even a small infestation. They’re especially hard to avoid if you live in a semi wooded to wooded area or own bird feeders/pet birds. While they don’t pose any direct harm to humans or pets they absolutely love to eat starch heavy substances in your kitchen and leave you with a bunch of small, disgusting maggots.

If you don’t appreciate the little freeloaders, read on.

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