Can't Touch This

For those of us who have a tendency to spoil our animals, we know that it can turn and bite us in the hindquarters big time. Those fur critters sure know where the buttons are and they sure know how to push them. And the big fur kid on the ranchette is no exception.

A few posts back, I wrote about the fire ants that Remington got into and his allergic reaction to them, the ongoing treatments and his ever present resistance to those treatments. Well, the saga continues, because after much research, vet visits, and different methods of trying to cure the situation, it seems he's also developed a problem with biting insects in general. You know, those pesky no seeum's, biting flies and of course don't forget the wasps and mosquito's. Egads, this is Texas, the list is endless.

If a mosquito bites us, we tend to scratch the afflicted area, but since Remi has no fingers, he sets about biting at his legs which causes extra problems with infection. Having massive amounts of hair on his legs only served to exaggerate the problem by incubating the outbreaks. No matter how much medicine we applied, it wasn't getting though all the way. So, in order to get this situation more in control, his feathers had to be shaved off. Yes, I now have a bald legged Clydesdale. Hmmm, sounds like a song may be in there somewhere, (Remi the bald legged Clydesdale) :)

Trainer mom has endured several hours of back breaking hair removal and Remi, well let's just say, isn't cooperating like he should be. Oh, he'll stand there for a little bit, but approach his left back leg where the trouble all began and he starts to swinging it around and getting himself prepped for major cow kicking action. "No, don't touch me, whaa, I don't like it."

He's not being malicious, he's just being a gigantic, spoiled, pain in the rear. And it's not flying to well with poor trainer mom who has been knocked off balance, done several tuck and rolls in the stall and has ended up with major back pains and headaches. It's too bad he doesn't realize at the beginning that the medicine makes it feel better and is very soothing. Nope, the big knucklehead doesn't recall that little tidbit one iota.

The treatment we have going for him now seems to be working pretty well, and we're hopeful it will continue to help him get better. But let me tell you, he is on the "bad boy" list every day because of his big spoiled tude. He has never had a problem with sprays of any type until now. His horsie imagination goes ballistic when he hears that spray and it's close to his legs. Ok, I know what you're thinking, "it probably stings". Well, no it doesn't, because he has a coating of other medication to keep it from stinging.

Flat out he's being a big doofus and it's gotten old. So, how do you cure that problem, well we're still working on that one. But, let me tell you, trainer mom isn't letting him get away with it. She lets him know that his behavior is not acceptable. Of course, he goes into sulky Remi and pouts, but soon forgets why he's pouting and gets over it. That is until the next time and the whole progression of woose boy in a pony suit starts all over again.

Once we see that we'll have several days without rain, we'll begin the massive hunt and destruction of fire ant mounds, treatments for mites and other vicious varmits that are causing problems. Endless battle of the bugs all summer long, oh joy.

In spite of his little hissy spurts, Remi is still a big sweetie. So, I guess I'll keep him ;) So all of you with spoiled fur kids, keep on spoiling them and lovin' on 'em because the joy it brings outweighs many things. Uh, just remember to hide those buttons so they don't always get their way, if you know what I mean.

Stay tuned, Stay happy and Stay with us!