Monthly Archive

Its early September here on the Court.  Being in Northern California, we won’t see Autumn for another 6 weeks or so.  There are a few things that we get to deal with at this time every year.

The cats begin to grow out their heavier fur.  Especially the Maine Coons.  The

The Big Guy in full winter fur.

picture shows The Big Guy last January, at the peak of his ‘furriness’.

Come April the cats shed a lot of the insulating fur and begin to battle with the fleas who arrive just about the same time the cats are busy shedding those tufts of hair and their skin is tender from the repeated brushings.

It takes 6 to 8 weeks to bring things to a stable state again.  The cats are ‘doused’ with flea control meds but only after they have their annual bath or shower (some of the Court inhabitants prefer a shower while others prefer the wash tub in the garage).  The goal is to clean the skin with a shampoo that has aloe or some other soothing agent.

The Big Guy in summer fur

The house is also treated.  The rugs are shampooed and sprayed with a flea control agent.  The sofa, chairs and mattresses are also treated.

If all goes well, the flea problem is solved for the time being.

During this period the cats complain, incessantly, about the irritation, the bites, the upset stomach (yep, going to see a few hairballs).  The cats will pick at their food, argue amongst themselves and, in general, be most difficult to be around.

When over, the cats are generally quiet until the winter sets in.  Well, they complain about other things, like rainy days, the need to burrow under the blankets at night and the list goes on and on.

This year, probably due to the dry spring and cool summer, we’re seeing an increase in flea activity.  The Cats have been complaining for the past few weeks about the bites and the itching.  We’ve seen them on the comb when we brush their hair and have seen them on the blanket where the cats sleep.

So, here we go again. The beds, chairs, sofas and rugs have been treated.  Several of the cats have gone through the shower and have been treated with the flea meds.  They are still complaining as the skins is raw from bites.  Brushing is not a lot of fun as they are still ‘wearing’ summer fur and there’s not a lot of fur.

Hopefully this round of battle against the fleas will be over with soon; Missey has made it clear that she is unhappy and it is probably my fault.  Precious is so beside herself that she passed up on a fat lizard that was out on the sidewalk this morning.  And, most telling, the Big Guy has been hanging  out with the racoons and possums in the  old factory behind the house. Seems he prefers their company to the complaints of the Oak court Cats these days.