Deworming, Flea Control, and a Parasitic Mayor

Today, just after watching the news on the Ombudsman filing corruption charges against a city
mayor, I learned about deworming and flea control. To deworm a pup, get up early, decide on what shirt to put on, wait for a ride, then walk to the animal clinic. Believe me, this has everything to do with deworming. Once there, ask for a dewormer for a three-month old puppy and ask how to administer it. Of course, it should go without saying that the person you are asking knows how to do it.

She told me the following:

1. If you check, the instruction is on the box, so just read on.

2. That's Php 140.

Ok...

Then, I asked for a flea medicine and left. 

My pup, Robin, has been scratching himself for days now. Considering that he takes his bath once a week, it could only really be the fleas. But what really convinced me it's the fleas is because some disgusting rice-like worms are coming out of his rear end. Based on what I have read, these worms (tapeworms) can only be contracted by dogs through fleas (if they eat a flea that's infected, for example). So, the scratching plus tapeworms equals fleas (or was it the other way around?). As for the dewormer, besides the obvious that tapeworms are coming out of him, Robin eats everything he comes across outside from rocks to leaves to dead roaches and rotten food, so I would really be surprised if his gut is hookworm-free.

The first, thing I did when I got home from the animal clinic was played tag with Robin and got him really tired. So, when he started to doze off, I opened the flea medicine (frontline plus) and dropped the liquid onto a spot between his shoulder blades, as instructed. Good thing his last bath was more than two days hence, as it should be or the medicine wouldn't work. I made sure that the liquid went all its way to his skin and not on his coat. Accordingly, fleas would start falling off 4 hours later and after 24 hours all of the fleas in his body would be dead. 

While the pup's fast asleep on his back with legs up (this dog has a weird sleeping habit, I know), I started making his special dinner for the day: dog food and dewormer. I couldn't wait to see spaghetti-like creatures coming out of him. The instructions on the box says 1ml per kilo, which means I should be giving Robin 3ml, since he now weighs 3kg. I would be doing this every two weeks four times. After that, it will just be once a month for three months.

Easy.

It really is. Parasites are not like cancer. They can be eliminated. If left alone, you might as well have worms or fleas for pets, as they will be getting all the nutrients from the food you give your dogs or cats. Now, I can actually see them falling dead like mosquitoes after spraying insecticide. What's left to be done now is search for an effective dewormer or flea medicine to kill off parasitic politicians. That's what we should all be doing. So, put on your favorite shirt and get a ride. Let's rid this country of parasites.