Evening star., 1924-08-06
THIS AND THAT
BY C. Il. TRACEWELL.

above lines knew. perfectly well that
the activities Of the flea are not con-
fined to the light of day.
| Today. here in the National Capt.
tai, every family that owns a dog or
| cat ought to remember that, too.
The flea is. no respecter of either
time, place or persons He carries
on his nefarious work in the dark as
we'll as in the light.
| Beneath the fur of Tige and Tom
the flea lives out his life. propagates
his kind, generally making life mis-
cradle for these household pets.
Now that the dog days are here,
1t would be well for every family to
think about the fleas, for dog days
are flea days. These hot nights are
just the sort fieas like
Animals always have a few feas
hanging around them, but when the
pests multiply to the overfIowing
point, that is when the hard times
arrive.
| Great f1eas have little feas upon
| their backs to bite 'em.
And little f1eas have lesser fieas. and
| so -ad infinitum.
And the great fieas themselves, in
turn, have greater f1eas to go on;
! While these again have greater still,
| and greater still, and so on
In the summer time dogs and cats
suffer mostly from feas, so it be-
hooves every one who cares for his
pet to take steps to get rid of the
pests. If he does not, the animal suf-
fers unnecessarily, and the feas may
get on the owner. More OF that later
| The first step is to recognize a flea
when you see one. Make no mistake
that a flea always must be small
The so-called dog-and-cat flea, recog-
nized as a distinct species, may be
quite large. 1t may take on the ap-
pearance of bug, and go in for
very little hopping, that distinctive
| action of the whole flea family.
In Mark Twains Tom Sawyer
Abroad" the boys discussed feas at
length. it will be remembered. it be-
ing pointed out, with illustrations,
| that a flea, If as big as a man, could
hop perfectly impossible distances.
easily outdistancing the fastest To-
/ The great fieas. the man eating
| feas, must be the granddaddy fieas.
They surge around in the pets fur
| Just below the surface, coming up
from time to time, where they crawl
stick closer to the skin OF the ami
NAL.
Make no mistake-alI the bugs"
! on your dog or cat are feas, great
! feas, little fieas, and so ad infinitum,
and every one of them ought to be
eradicated at once.
If the unwary dog or cat owner
does not do this, primarily for the
animal to stay in the house, he soon
| will find that he has an even greater
problem on. his hands-fleas all over
the house, and what is worse, fleas
all over himself.
Take your dog down to the laun-
| dry tubs. or to the bathroom; get
tub of moderately warm water, then
plump the beast down into it. A
/ cake of good flea soap, obtatnable al
! drug or animal stores, is a necessity.
| Coat the animal all over with a thick
lather, beginning at the head. and
! working down to the tail. Let the
animal stand for five or ten minutes,
| or as long as you can make him be
| still.
| Here is where two tubs. side by
| side. in the basement come in handy.
While Rover is looking like a Polar
bear in one tub. fill the other deep
with warm water. Into this latter
suddenly plunge the dog, after most
of the lather has been washed off
him in the other. Duck him beneath
the tide, head and all. in order to get
| the feas that have congregated on
| his nose.
A dog may he given such bath
hot weather. with no harm to his
| coat and with immense benefit to the
! dog, whose skin will be soothed, not
| only by the bath. but through the
| absence of the feas.
The household cat is a different
story, and presented an entirely diff
ferent problem in ridding him Of feas.
| But every family that really cares
for it's cat will make some attempt to
| rid him of f1eas.
If Tom is irritable, refuses to purr,
and scratches himself more than
usual, know then that he has a bad
case of ingrowing ffeas. No wonder
| he resents your rubbing his throat
every time you rub, it stirs up the
feas.
paws, rumple the fur backward to
see if he has fleas in superabundance.
Usually they will crawl away.
The problem presented BY the cat
Tom cats. object strenuously to a
bath.
To give a battling tom-cat a bath
is more than the average family
W dHIS To 1 SPEAK OI the
| average short-haired cat, not the Per-
slams. -.~--
The only recourse. then, is flea
| powder. There are a number of such
powders on the market. but in buying
/ them, one should be careful that they
are specifically branded as not harm
| full to man or pets.
Two persons are necessary in de-
| heaing a cat. The job is best done
in undress. wearing stout pair of
gloves in case Tom attempts to claw
himself loose. Begin at his tail and
rub the powder in by the handful,
working toward his head. The flee
ing fleas will attempt TO crawl up
| his nose. Catch them before they do
1t.
Killing q flea is some job. Do not
rest content until the brute is literal
ly smashed fiat, or cut in two with a
finger nail. After the powder is
| rubbed in, start back at his tail
| and rub 1t out again. when the fieas
will rattle down on the paper you are
doing. the job on. Try to scruntch
each flea as it falls.
Several days later repeat the proc
ess. 1t may not get all the f1eas.
| but most of them will be. gotten out.
and the cat will purr his thanks, after
he gets over the indignity of the
| treatment.
Even the best regulated households
will get fleas" this kind of weather
| If a cat is allowed free run of the
| house. Therefore, some authorities
advise keeping Tom out of the house
entirely during the summer.
Spraying the house freely with any
| of the popular insecticides is in order.
Care must be- taken never TO, spray
any of these liquids on either dog
| or cat, as they will blister.
All rugs where the, cat is in the
habit OF sleeping should be taken out
| and beaten. as it is lack of this that