Ticks

Stepping out from the arenas of the world, I want to share with you what my latest loss taught me.

Grizzy started having issues over the weekend. I had pulled a tick off him on Friday. Saturday he was running a fever (he didn’t want to walk with Voo, Mama and me. I knew he was feeling off.) And started having breathing issues late Sunday night. Harder by Monday and well you know the end result.

X-rays showed his lung capacity was almost nothing. Two very small sections about the size of a quarter each were clear. There was so much fluid build up in his chest, they couldn’t see his heart in the images. Couldn’t see his liver either.

Systemic Toxemia. Totally overwhelmed his immune system and was virulent enough that he was down in less than 72 hours. When I raced him to the hospital, he couldn’t walk.

The vet told me she has seen this more this year than any other, most always a cat. My aunt had a bad turn this year from a tick bite: one that had her in the hospital for a week. So its NOT JUST the pets that we need worry about.

Take care of your pets. Watch the bugs they pick up. Use the drugs like Nexgard, etc, to reduce their chances of picking these things up. If your spraying bug repellant on you, do them the favor of using one they can wear as well.

I’ll be back at this writing thing in a couple days. Mamakat and I need to time to adjust. Voodoo is catching clue that somethings amiss, and is acting mopey too.