After another trip to the vet, I am left wondering what to do in terms of flea and tick control. The vet, holistic tendencies though she may possess, very quickly went the route of telling me to do Frontline and to get a flea collar as soon as possible. There's Lyme disease in the area and I am a fool to do otherwise, basically... But doesn't it worry one to hear that they shouldn't touch said collar and they need to keep it away from children? What's so toxic, I ask? Logically, these things are pesticides. And I'm sort of thinking to myself, Don't I buy Organic?
And so... I Google.
And obviously, I find people who agree with me because that's how the internet works. There are notions of commercial flea and tick controls being neurotoxins, carcinogenic, and dangerous to the environment. Books I'm familiar with/trust said much of the same.
The good news is that there are alternative approaches by way of supplements and homemade rope collars. And there are herbal plastic collars for sale on the internet and at health food stores (including the one in my neighborhood). Hooray! But then I am still sitting here like, Why did I get the Frontline speech? Am I missing something?
According to everything I read, I'm not. It takes some work if you want to get hardcore or have a high-risk situation, but actually, Petguard Herbal Flea Collars are half the price of the chemical soaked ones.
I can't get even get into why my vet didn't entrust me with the knowledge that eucalyptus oil could also deter fleas. Was it because I was so overly exuberant in self-diagnosing Gordy's hernia? Was it the haphazard and weary way I presented myself in a state of exhaustion and rage after an unfortunate encounter with our initial car driver who refused to drive us and wouldn't even unlock the door as we stood in the pouring rain? Gordy's filthy pink-turned-grey belly that I haven't washed off since Puppy K? Is that why when I say "I'd love to discuss this with you" I was instead handed a laminated card informing me the basics of what a tick looks like? Can't she hear the tick-laden Missouri on my voice when I say the word BOOK? I CAN'T KNOW THESE THINGS.
Regardless, it's yet another trip to the vet which I will equate to being unprepared for a test or oral presentation. The result being a waste of an afternoon spent with the dog and the ol' WWW. And recurring conversations replayed over and over in my mind where I defend my feeble mindedness and get handed an informative xerox all about Holistic flea deterrents. In the end I bought one collar I definitely won't use (I folded!) and another collar I might.
Here is a link to Only Natural Pet Store's wide array of tick/flea preventatives... You can also find links to some helpful literature there if you are so inclined.
Meanwhile, I had to drown my paranoia with a drink later on in the evening in the face of being one of THOSE MOTHERS (and imagine if I had an actual child!). In the end, I'll sleep easy knowing that I won't have to handle pesticides in my bare hands and/or subject the little mister to possible neurosis or liver damage. And while I am sleeping, Gordy will take a big dump on floor because oh yeah, he's back to doing that now.
