He strikes again!

My nemesis strikes again. This time in a more covert manner. You may remember my 'friend' the bobcat from this post. This week we lost our 2 cats in one day to a disease called cytauxzoonosis , which is a tick borne disease that is transported from bobcats to domestic cats. The disease lives in bobcats causing no problems but is usually (95%+ mortality rate) fatal to cats. The cats first showed signs of the illness Sunday and by the time we reached the vet Monday one had died en route and one had to be euthanized due to his poor condition. One of the major problems is the ineffectiveness of the flea and tick repellents. We have used Frontline on our animals with good results until recently. It seems that exterminators have begun using the chemical that is the active ingredient in this product to spray lawns for pest removal. As often happens the fleas and ticks have become "superbugs" and are now immune. Anyway there is no real treatment for this disease and the surviving animals are usually supported with extreme measures. Poor Poopy and Big Pussy were not so lucky. Both cats will be missed, in the words of Bas Rutten, "God speed and party on!" Here's a picture of Poopy, Big Pussy hated the paparazzi so no pics are available.