Or the Painful Thoughts That Can Cross Your Mind When You’re Grieving If you live in the hot and humid sunshine state of Florida and have pets, they (and your household) are going to experience fleas, no matter how often you clean and treat the indoors and outdoors; especially if you keep outdoor cats. Molly, a cute, friendly and beautiful Ruby King Charles Cavalier who was my animal companion for 13 and a half years (and was 17 1/2 when she passed on February 26, 2022, as I adopted her when she was four), was allergic to fleas; all it took was one flea bite to set her off. In addition to the frequent environment cleaning and treatments, I tried countless topic and oral products on her (she was also allergic to most of them) and other alternatives, at no avail. She would constantly chew, lick and scratch herself, especially during the flea seasons. All that noise and commotion were quite annoying to me, and I had to constantly remind myself that it wasn’t her fault. After we brought Molly’s body back home from the emergency clinic where we had to take her for her end of life procedure, I laid her in her bed, covered her and left her in the garage for the evening, until we could bury her the next day. In the following morning, while my husband was digging her resting place in our backyard, I went to the garage to pick her up. I uncovered her face to say a private goodbye to her, and saw a flea prancing around on her lifeless cheek. I thought about how, at that moment, I actually missed Molly’s annoying crewing, licking and scratching noises, and how I would never hear them again in this life time. I felt angry at the flea that was disrespectfully taking advantage of poor Molly lying there, helpless and motionless, for one more meal (although I was also aware that the flea was just doing what it needed to do to live). Half hoping that this meaningless act motivated by grief would help vindicate the finality of such a loss, I felt immense satisfaction when I caught the flea and squeezed it dead. © Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 04/23/22
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Gisele Marasca-Vargas is a blog writer and an obsessive compulsive and overly sensitive animal lover. Archives
May 2022
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