New enemy for life

It all started with a single insect. 

Some of you may already know how much I detest insects, even benign ones like ladybugs. I can't handle bugs of any kind in my house. I do routine pesticide treatments around my house and have sticky-traps strategically scattered in corners so I will always know the first signs of infiltration. (Even though not a single bug has shown up in the traps for the past several months, I still check them weekly...when they DO start invading, I want to know as soon as possible.)

The particular insect discovered this morning was (horror of horrors!) a flea. Parasitical insects are a whole different ball game. Panicking, I squealed to my sweetheart that my plans for the day were canceled. It was time for all-out war. 

Arming myself with thick gloves, flea killing-shampoo, and fine-tooth combs, I prepared for battle. Poor Saffron (our cat) had no suspicion of what to expect. This cat is pretty wild (which is exactly what we wanted in a farm cat, but he's not friendly by any means....he literally bites to show his affection....it's cute, really) so I was quite apprehensive about trying to bathe him. It's funny.....I had seen Youtube videos of determined pet-owners trying to bathe their frantic felines. I used to laugh at the foolishness of these people- what idiot tries to bathe a cat? It's a ball of fangs and claws and desperation. Yeah....there was no laughing this morning as I prepared to make a fool of myself.

I locked myself in the bathroom with this feisty cat, hoping to emerge without too many scratches. Saffron tried to escape every second. He tried to crawl out the window, under the door, in the toilet, even down the drain. Poor thing. I was almost as unhappy as he (I say almost, because can anything be really more unhappy than a cat getting a flea bath?). He gave me such pointed looks of disgust as I continued the unpleasant task. 

When we emerged from the bathroom (which looks like a monsoon stopped by for a chat) I was almost as soaked as him. It's a cold day today (yes, you incredulous ones....Texas does get cold snaps!) and I didn't want to leave our drenched cat to air dry on cold tile floors. So, genius that I am, I decided to gently blow dry him so he wouldn't be cold and wet all day. Bad idea.

Now when he sees me, he drops to the ground and slinks away as quickly as possible to hide in a secure corner out of sight. I think I've lost his affection for ever. I made a new enemy for life, even before doing the breakfast dishes.