Gallery Of Travel

The most difficult decision I ever made was to let Casey go last December.  Quite simply, it broke my heart, but it was the best and most humane decision for her, even if it was horrific for me.

With the help of my amazing family and kind and compassionate vet, we said goodbye to my beautiful, fluffy baby girl on Dec. 19th, 2011. I had vowed never to let her suffer, never to let her become infirm or pathetic or listless or just simply alive just to keep her in my life. It was tough and I cry ever day because I still miss her something fierce. But even that is better than watching her become more vacant and uninterested in everything around her, like eating or playing or going out for a simple walk down the street.

I cherish all the beautiful fun memories I have in my head and in my heart of our 13 and a half years we had together. R.I.P. Casey Jane.

As difficult as all of this was for me, I know I’m not alone in the things I’m feeling. That’s the difficult part of loving a dog: their spans are simply not long enough and, sadly, there’s a good chance that one day, you’ll have similar decisions to make. The upside is that there really is help out there. For instance, I found this article to be both soothing and practical and it may be able to offer help to those of you faced with this awful decision. When the time comes, think about it: are you keeping your pet alive for your own benefit or do they have real quality of life as these precious babies deserve?

Spring is springing. And while we don’t yet have the warmth we’d like for this time of year, it’s heading this way! And then what happens? Flea and tick season.

This is an engraving of a flea  from Robert Hooke’s 1665  Micrographia. Goes to show you:  some things never change!

You may have already heard that veterinarians are predicting that we will have an extremely bad flea and tick season this year. Why these predictions? Because across the country we experienced warmer than usual weather this winter. Not here in Vancouver of course, but over a lot of North America the typical winter freeze never happened. This means that fleas and ticks will emerge from their dormant life cycles much, much sooner.

This is not good news of course, especially when you consider that even just one flea can lead to a full flea infestation in no time at all. Did you know that an adult flea can lay 15 to 20 eggs per day and over 500 in her lifetime. At this rate one flea in your home can become a full-fledged flea infestation -- imagine fleas on your pet, in your carpets, sofas, clothing and even your bed... totally unacceptable and totally gross!

The only way to protect your pet is to treat them with a flea and tick preventative medication. I also know that many people are against flea prevention or medications because of the chemicals involved and while I appreciate that sentiment, I don’t take the chance that my dogs won’t get fleas and I do treat them. Both my Bichons are highly allergic to flea bites and the resulting biting and scratching themselves raw is not an alternative I can accept.

There are natural remedies out there and I would love to hear back from our readers about any of these that really work. I do bathe both my dogs with organic shampoos that are full of essential oils like lavender and citronella that are supposed to help repel fleas and they smell wonderful.

Is your pet on any type of flea medication yet? If not, please do not let your precious pet go another day without protection! A single flea can bite your pet more than 400 times: whether you go the medication or naturopathic route, act today and give your dog the protection they deserve from this nasty predator.

P.S.  I was so happy to see all of the comments on my Odd & Abandoned II post....but in a moment of SPAZZticness I accidentally deleted them!  :(  Womp Womp.  In all my years of blogging, that was a first.  :/     Sorry kids.   xo