Hot Dogs and Wet Cats

Why is it that long weekends are so short?

Anyway, it was hot in SoCal this weekend, but then again we Californians live in such a narrow band of weather types that we are whine about freezing at 62°, and complain of heat stroke at 82°, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt when it comes to the heat here.

Most houses in our area don't even have central cooling. That is a good indication of how mild the weather is in Ventura. Often all we need do is open a few windows, set up a fan or two, and we're good all day. That's the beauty of living in a beach town like Ventura; the ocean is nature's swamp cooler.

So, it was hot, relatively speaking, and as humans who live in California are acclimated to the moderate temperatures here, so are our pets. Angel and Jackie were very inactive for most of the long weekend, and the cats spent their days lying on the cool, hard wood flooring.

Probably the coolest spot in the house was my living room, and that's because I am the biggest baby in the house when it comes to being hot. I hate being hot, so I grab as many fans as I can, drape dark sheets over the French doors, open all the doors and windows I can, and start circulating air. Then I grab any iced drink available, and plant my big butt in the recliner so that I can expend as little energy as possible while watching television.

Because my living room was the coolest spot in the house, Jackie and Angel found spots where they could flop down and enjoy some quality time with their daddy.

Jackie has been banned from the floor because of certain accidents she has had, so unless I want to keep track of her every movement, so to speak, then she either sits in the chair with me, or is up on the couch where she can't get down by herself. As for Angel, I am not sure if he thought he might be cooler under the shade of my recliner, or if he just liked the idea of camping out under a natural outcropping of La-Z-Boy rock, but that was his favorite spot for the day.

In the end it was Salem that stayed the coolest, but she had some help...

Yup, I gave her a bath. Salem is large and in charge, weighing in at 23 or so pounds. We have tried to lower her weight a variety of ways, but have been largely unsuccessful. As a result, she has difficulty keeping herself clean. I noticed she was starting to show a fair amount of dander on the top layer of fur on Sunday, so I started brushing her out so I could then give her a bath. We have had a big flea problem all Summer, with the dogs taking the brunt of the problem, but I surprised to find as much evidence of flea infestation on Salem as I did. The white towel I had her on as I brushed her literally turned dark with flea waste. I was at once shocked, and ashamed. I knew she might have a few fleas on her, but I wasn't too concerned because she never scratched much, or showed any other signs of discomfort, but obviously she was infested, so my grooming I am sure was welcomed by our eldest pet.

Salem, as I said, is a big cat, and she struggles with hygiene. I learned just how much once I had her in the bath water. You would have thought she was bleeding by the way her waste leached from her fur into the bath water. Right in front of our eyes we watched as the water turned brown, and our stomachs turned over. I have given Salem a bath many times before precisely because she is so big, and has such difficulty with her thick undercoat and the challenges it causes her when it comes to cleanliness, not to mention keeping cool. But I have never seen so much waste rinse off of her before.

I gave her a shampooing she will never forget, and while she did protest every now and again, she really was quite patient through the whole ordeal. I am sure it felt good to her being suds up, and rinsed off like that. Not only was she becoming cleaner by the second, but the water was cool, and that had to be a welcomed relief.

Between the heat and the fleas, it's been a rough end to our summer, but I really got after the flea situation around here by treating the yard, the dogs, the carpet, and all the dog's bedding, so we should see a marked decline in flea activity here real soon. It is also starting too cool off. This morning there were clouds when I came into work, and I haven't been using the fans as much as we were just last week.

I have been seeing Halloween decorations and candy in the stores, and with the change in weather, it is beginning to feel like autumn around here. It's my favorite time of year, but it goes by so quickly, and before you know it it will be Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then it starts all over again.

But, I don't want to think about all that. I just want to enjoy my upcoming weekend.

So there ya have it. Yet another exciting chapter in the lives of Jacqueline and Angel. Until next week, please see more dogs over at the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and don't forget the Friday Ark at The Modulator for all sorts of critters.