Monday, October 13, 2008

Aliens have taken over the cats.....

A couple of weeks ago Big Son was outside doing our daily 'kitty check' when he came in with one of the older kittens. I was finally sitting down, drinking juice, listening to Trace Adkins while a certain Milk Dud snacked.... when he bounded through the door like he was on fire, dragging the cat with him, yelling at the top of his lungs. Its times like this that I wish I were deaf, mute, blind and sleeping all at once. He has the cat by the 'scruff ' of her neck telling me somthing is crawling out of her back, through the skin - think Alien here people - so needless to say I yelled for him to take it back OUTSIDE! What is the insatiable need to bring everything into the house??? This has alwasy puzzled me, but thats a differant post - I am going to stay on task with this story and I mean it - really I do. OK - So he takes the cat back out, I cut Milk Duds snack time down and he is NOT happy about it. I leave Lispy in charge of Milk Dud, I was desperate ok, and tear outside to see if the cat has changed into a flesh eating morphadite of some sort. Big Son had him in his lap, waiting for me to come assess the 'Alien'. When I held the cat I tried to look at whatever this thing was and realized it looked like a 'bot' fly that the cows get. I have NEVER in all my days seen anything like that on a cat. To describe a 'bot' fly larve is nothing short of seeing the movie Alien. This is what happens.. I fly lays and egg under the skin of a cow or cat I guess and a larve WORM grows under the skin until it is mature enough to break out. On the cows, we squeeze them out like popping a pimple. They are not good for cattle or cats because they are parisite and can carry disease. Anyway - I did not get pictures of the 'before' we squeezed it out, but got some of the after - hold your breath... This is the hole it left in the cats back after I squeezed it out... And this is what was in that hole... Pretty freakin gross huh! The bad thing is, that the hole in the cats back was about the size of a quarter and 1/2 inch DEEP! This worm was about an 1 inch around and 2incs long.I could see her shoulder blade muscles move, now thats deep. I called the vet, his son is Big Sons best friend and asked Bruce what the heck was going on with this cat. He then proceded to tell me that this year was BAD for this type of fly. He had only seen one before but of course and read about them. The first one that he saw was on a 6 week old kitten that a lady brought in to him - it had so many of them that it died. Anyway, there is no vacine you can give these cats for this, nor a colar that they can wear to ward the flys off of them like you would ticks or fleas. I felt bad because last week Big Son came to me with the same cat and said "Mamma, I think Buck, my brother in laws dog, may have bit this cat" When I looked at his back there was a hole half the size of the one this worm made. It looked like it could have been a bite, but I think it was another one of these frigin Alien worm thingys. We gave her a shot of penecilian and washed the wound with salty water a couple of times per day. Its fine now, but Bruce said that we should watch for more of them...great.
In other news here is a picture of Lispy on his new Trike and his cake.




Here is the cake I made and attempted to 'decorate' if you can call it that!!!





I have on more cat post, but I am going to save it for tommorow - its about our little kitten. His name is Tiny Timmy.....

22 comments:

Jenn said...

Now that is one way to eat a cake.... lol.

Heidi said...

Sorry - I have the wrong video on there - I am putting the new one on right now!! LOL brain fart!!!!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Love that eating of the cake! JD 443D too!
OK the bot flies, I had a Sheltie with one once, it required surgery. Did you know that people can get them too? I know thanks for sharing...LOL.
If you cannot squeeze it out..then shave the area, put a thick layer of Petroleum Jelly over the hole. (The little devils need air)Then tape it up securely..the bot larvae will die and about 24 hours later you can pop it right out.
There is a video of a lady that had a bot out there on the net.. strange but true:)

Karen Deborah said...

That is worse than an alien movie!
EEEWWWWW gross you are so brave.
We have an electronic /sonic web mosquito fly catcher thingie. I think I would sure look into one of those for the barn. Parasites are stinkin wicked. Tape worms are pretty ugly too.

the cake looks GREAT! very cute and looks like Lipsy knows how to enjoy it. That side shot with his mouth open looks like Milk Dud.

Erin M said...

nightmares!!! I'd be super freaked out b/c people can get bot flies and what if the kitties give you bot flies!?! And me thinks everyone should eat cake that way

Paige said...

That is nasty nasty nasty nasty

Mamahut said...

That! My dear was very gross! Poor kitty.
I loved the cake though, now I am hungry.

Take a Deep Breath said...

Oh My Gosh That is scary and gross, well except for the cake that looked good!

The Jillybean said...

I wonder if those are the same thing we call "wolves" here in the south. If it is they will be gone after the first frost. I know that alot of cats, squirrels, etc get them around here (well, something similar at least).

MamaHen said...

Yuck, you never know what the day will hold on a farm do you?

Big Hair Envy said...

I don't think I am hearty enough to be a true farm girl! I would have had to excuse myself to throw up when I saw that poor kitty. Glad to hear the wound is healing.

LOVE the John Deere cake. I also LOVE the way your son just bit right into it!! Why wait for it to be cut?? Too cute.

Thanks for stopping by my place. I hope you will be back for a visit soon:)

Mrs. Mom said...

Dude... I have seen those wormy things, but not for a LONG time. I had no clue they would do that on a kitty too... UGH!!! I know with cows you can hit them with topical Ivermectin, but that would kill a cat wouldnt it? Dayum girl... Poor kitty... give her a pat from me!

Lispy is a boy after my own heart. I could get into eating cake like that-- totally!! In fact, I think i will make me some today! LOL

Kisses to the kids from their Southland Aunt!

Big Hair Envy said...

You've been TAGGED! Come on over and check it out...I'd love a piece of that cake:)

Carla said...

Love the cake photos, and the video, hated the flyhole pic!! Once we had a dog who got some (had to pop it and clean it), and I have seen holes like that on cats before, didn't put two and two together. I WILL keep an eye out for little strange holes from now on-yuk!

Caution/Lisa said...

Over from BHE's place. Greetings from Detroit! Do you think we have those flies here? Cause now I am getting terrified to allow anyone to go outside! That was horrible!! But I did like the cake :)

Anonymous said...

Great Cake! The cat worm thing...REALLY gross.

Train Wreck said...

Bleah! That is nasty! Poor kitty! I would have taken it to the vet!! I can't to stuff like that! I am a baby!!

The video is great! He needs 4 wheel drive for that grass. Hey and I wanted to watch handsome hubby fix the seat!! (wink) He's handsome. We need a video of the "French Milk Maid" I hear you, I just can't see you!!

The cake is great! I love it! You did a great job! Looked yummy too! That is the best way to eat a cake!! Great post chick!

WudWerkr said...

Yes that lil thing is whats called in the south as a Wolf Worm , and left untreated it will kill the animal it burrows into . so its good that you take care of her.

And the other things are called Wolf childrens , and they will kill the cake if its left un attended lol

Kristin said...

Cute cake! You did a nice job. :0)

You can add humans to the bot fly list. My mother had one and it was an very painful ordeal everytime the dang thing moved. It couldn't be cut out due to the location (right on her ankle bone). She now has a very nice scar in that spot.

Chanda said...

I once had a kitten dumped on me that had a bot worm on its shoulder. They do move in and out and up and down. I would try to grab it with the tweasers and it was just to big to get out of the hole. I didn;t know y9ou could squeeze them out. They are gross I know, but a fact of farm life for sure. Our horses get bot eggs laid up and down their front legs and we shave them off with a disposable razor.
That birthday cake is beautiful. No store bought cake could ever touch that. I always made Cody's too. You are much braver than I for drawing the pictures on. I always made fields and put some new JD mini tactors on their for him. He still has everyone of them. I actually bribed him into potting training with a JD combine at the farm store. I told him if he went all week without messing up his pants, we would spend the pamper money on the little "bombine" as he called it. Bless his heart it did it and sure enough we bought that little combine for him. He is 19 now and the header for it is lost as his most of the paint, but it still sits in his room.

Anonymous said...

Ewww, and I thought ticks on a dog were gross... never heard of bot flies before, doesn't that just beat all...

spanki said...

love the cake!! our cat had a worn like that too! i had no idea!! must we have animals??? they always seem to come with more little "friends" attached, or borrowed hidden somewhere! i'm am becoming a 7dust gal!! watch out i sprinkle anything that moves!!!!