Some things never change

I was having a moment

It was really wet outside, and I wanted to be inside...

Something Positive

Forget the bugs.

Let's talk about my new knives.

I bought new kitchen knives back when I first moved in.

I love them.

That is all.

.

...

I'm wearing bug spray to bed tonight.

The condo people have swung from "we'll help any way we can" back to "are you sure you really have a problem? Is it really that bad?"

Why is this so hard for people to accept?

I was trying to be a good sport. I was trying to deal with this with a sense of humour. Now I just feel like crying every time I see my bedroom.


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Save the children!

Sorry, that was weird. I won't do that again.

Anyway, what I mean is, Kodi will be bite free from now on. Had him to the vet today to check how his teeth are healing, and explained my bug problem. Kodi has been given a flea treatment that will prevent the bugs from biting him any more. Unfortunately the same treatment isn't approved for me.

It's only been a few days and I'm already nearing my wits end. I'm covered in itchy bites. My bedroom looks like a vacuum cleaner exploded, my walls are framed in tape. My clothes are all stored in ziplocs and trash bags, and I've cleaned my vacuum filters three times since buying the thing two weeks ago. I never even got to finish unpacking in my new home, before it was wrecked.

All told I have already spent over $300 on this issue, likely closer to $400 after you consider how high my water bill will be after washing everything I own.

There are bags of clothing in my freezer.

I don't know what, if anything, will be done. None of the neighbours are having a problem. The bugs are probabaly nesting in the walls, not in someone's bed. I still haven't found a single dead one to prove that they even exist. Bites aren't considered good enough evidence, apparently.

I'm miserable.

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The good the bad and the ugly

The good:
My landlady contacted me. She has been in touch with the condo manager and turns out the folks over in friendly number 5 are also members of the condo board. They should be looking in to a solution to the problem, and if it turns out that spraying needs to be done it may be done to the entire building, which will prevent the bugs from just moving from the main infested unit to the units next door (like mine). If this is the case, and every unit needs to be sprayed, then it may be paid for by the condo association, included as part of the fees my landlady pays every month.

The bad: I found no dead bugs today. Nothing in the DE, nothing on the tape. This may mean that the bugs weren't feeding at all last night, or it may mean I was right that their point of entry was via the wall outlets which I blasted with the DE, so any bodies might be in there. Also, further reading today revealed that the tape, while it may discourage them because they don't like to walk on the sticky surface, may not actually stop them if they are really determined they will walk right across it. Let's hope they'll just go bite someone else instead of going through the bother.

The ugly: It's topless picture time!
These pictures show why I am sure it is a bedbug problem. Bed bug bites, while they can occur singly, often occur in sets of 2 or three, because the bug feed for a moment, takes a few steps, then feeds some more, following the blood vessel under the skin.

Bites on my left collar bone. A set of 2.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites4.jpg


Just below the right collar bone, another set of 2

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites2.jpg


Right tricep sport two sets of 3 bites. This is the most typical bedbug patter, rows of three.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites3.jpg


Left arm, near the armpit another set of 3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites5.jpg


A set of three on my left arm located on the bicep and inside elbow.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites7.jpg


The bites on my neck form the points of a inverted triangle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites8.jpg


A single bite on my left wrist.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/blogpictures/bites6.jpg

There are also bites on the back of my neck I wasn't able to photograph, and a few single bites on my stomach and breast that I didn't bother to photograph.

No new bites yet today, but I suspect my reaction to them may be delayed. It can, I have read, take a few days for the bite marks to actually appear. The bites that occur in the clusters are the itchiest, reddest, and largest probably due to the concentration of the venom in this area.

In other news:

Technically it's the same news, but whatever. I tidied up my over zealous DE distribution today. The stuff instantly clogged my new vacuum cleaner's filters so I will have to gradually tidy because I need to wait 24 hours for the filters to dry after rinsing them. I used a brush and dustpan to gather up alot of excess though.

My next plan of action is to wash all soft items. I will then select a week's worth of clothing, bag it, and keep it in my room. After wearing it, dirty clothing will go into another sealed bag to be washed on the weekend. All other clothing will be washed, folded, bagged, labled, sealed, and stored until the bedbug problem in the complex is solved. Should it not be solved, I will be moving out and hopefully, with items washed and bagged, I won't be bringing any bugs with me when I do.

Madness? This isn't madness. This is SPARTA! Er... my BEDROOM!

Shortly before the two week mark of living in my new apartment I woke up with one little itchy dot. The net day I woke up with a few series of little itchy dots. The day after that, more itchy dots appeared in a distinct pattern of clusters of 3 in straight lines. Bed bug bites.

I didn't have bedbugs before I moved here. And according to the exterminator, I still don't my mattress is clear, no bedbug streaks or bodies, or skins or anything have been found. The exterminator has told me there is nothing that he can really do, the infestation, he suspects, is in a neighbouring unit in the complex and that the bugs are coming over at night to feed on me, and returning to their nest at the neighbours' when they are done. Spraying my unit would have no effect on the problem, they'd come back over as soon as the spray wore off.

I'm being ignored by one of the neighbours, the one that I share a bedroom wall with, and the most likely culprit. The other neighbours have sounded cooperative, but I'm not sure they are taking me seriously. See, not everyone reacts to bedbug bites. So you can have bedbugs, and you could be giving them to your neighbours, without even knowing it.

So, I am expected to live with someone else's bedbugs. I am itchy, Kodi is itchy (likely being bit as well) and I am creeped out. How long until the infestion moves over in to my unit? How will I move out of this place without taking bugs with me? Am I supposed to live with being bit until my six month lease is up?

Well, I'm claiming no to the last one at least. So, I spent my saturday beginning my war against my neighbour's bugs.

My army



Seem like overkill? Seriously Monika? Do you really need FIVE bottles of insect killing dirt? In my world I do. And you'd feel the same too if you were being bit by bugs and no one was helping you. That dirt is diatomacious earth. Its made out of crushed diatoms, single celled creatures made up of silica. Glass. To a person it feels kind of like talcum powder, but it is very abrasive at a bug's level. It works by cutting their exoskeleton and deydrating them. It is perfectly harmless to me, Kodi, and the birds, but deadly to crawling insects.

So? Why all the tape? You'll see.

As for the Oxymed. I've used more of it on myself so far than I have on Kodi. So soothing.


The battle ground.




First thing I had to do was bag everything in the room that can be washed. All my clothes, even if they are already clean, and all my bedding and kodi's bedding. These will be washed in HOT water and dried at (gulp) high heat. Unless I really don't want to risk wrecking something. If that is the case that something will be bagged and put outside. Either we'll get two straight weeks of below zero before spring, or the +30 come summer will kill whatever is in the bags with the clothes.




Next I vacuumed everything that was left. The lamp and alarm clock aren't leaving the room because, beleive it or not, bed bugs will hide in these items, so they are staying in instead of harbouring the creatures elsewhere in the house. I vacuumed all the crevaces of the bed, walls, outlets, closet, and the dresser.

Then I threw dirt all over everything.




I created quite the mess. I'm leaving it as such over night, then tomorrow I will vacuum again and sprinkle a more controlled perimeter of the DE around the baseboards, dresser legs, around the bed, and around Kodi's crate. I found the containers hard to control the spray on, so I will transfer some to a shaker and do it that way.
I also unscrewed all the outlet covers and puffed the DE inside, as this is likely where the bugs are traveling between units, through the electrical system.

Then I created a perimeter of double sided carpet tape. Under it is painter's tape, to prevent damage to the finished surfaces. Bed bugs shouldn't be able to fly or jump, so they would have to climb the walls, or the bed, to get to me. There is tape around all parts of my bed that contact the floor as well. I made a perimeter around my most suspect outlet, and a big one around the head board too.




I don't know how well it will work. I bought the one that said "aggressive adhesive" on the lable, but it doesn't seem all that sticky to me at all. I hope it's sticky enough.

Altogether this process took around 5.5 hours of steady work. This is just the first stage. Tomorrow I will see what bug remains I find, will tidy up the DE as mentioned above, and will expand my defense further throughout my home. Not to mention the huge pile of laundry.

You know what would be awesome? If these weren't bedbug bites after all, but Asian Lady Beetle bites. I've been finding what I have been calling ladybugs all over the basement, dead ones mostly, but I wonder...


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Kodi's first day at work

I took Kodi to work with me on Monday.
While I was busy, and he was supposed to be on break, he took it upon himself to renovate his crate.
Kodi, you are on probation.




In other news
What is this in my neighbour's backyard?

I hate Kodi's lethbridge vet

When I first brought Kodi to live with me in Lethbridge two and a half years ago I needed to find a vet. I picked a clinic close by, made sure they had the prescription food he eats, and had his regular vet back in Calgary send a copy of all his records, most importantly the results of the blood tests that spied the problem with his kidneys. I still take Kodi to Calgary to see his old vet for regular things, but thought a vet here that had all his information would be a smart idea in case of emergencies. Even better, when I first moved him here the new clinic was advertising as a 24 hour emergency clinic as well, and since I wanted it for emergencies, 24 hours a day seemed like a great deal.

My first experience was actually pretty ok. I thought Kodi had picked up fleas, so I had him checked out, learned a lot about fleas, and found out he didn't have them. Life was good, the vet seemed nice and well informed.

Over a year later Kodi suddenly and inexplicably became very ill. He stopped eating, which I wasn't panicked about, because sometimes dog's get upset stomachs and don't want to eat. Then he stopped drinking, then he became lethargic, then he stopped peeing. All these are signs that a dog is entering the final stages of kidney failure. Since kodi had already been diagnosed with renal failure this was very likely. So, as soon as I noticed he wasn't urinating or drinking, I called the vet, it was 8 am. I explained that I had an emergency, that my dog had been diagnosed with renal failure and was showing the above symptoms. They refused to see him until 2 pm. Some emergency clinic.

So I miss classes, stay with him. He's in obvious discomfort. I finally take him to the vet. They draw blood for tests, take a urine sample, and want to do x-rays. They have me leave him behind for x-rays, telling me to return in 3 hours. I come back in 3 hours and he's still not had his x-rays done. I go home, they say they'll call me. They finally call me, I come in to see his x-rays, and there isn't anything there. I go to take him home and they charge me for hospitalization. I had no idea when they asked me to leave him for that time that I would be charged a hospitalization fee. That was never disclosed to me. Blood tests came back the next day, and despite the fact my dog was still not eating, drinking, or peeing, they were normal.

The vet decided that it was imperative that he eat. So I had to make him eat, which started so much vomiting that I called the vet again. She said she would prescribe something that would help him keep his food and water down. When I went to pick up the medication my problems with the front desk staff began. They handed me three bottles of pills, and, wanting to be informed and suprised that I was recieving more than one medication, I asked why there were three.

"Because that's what the vet wants him to take" That was her answer, word for word. It completely threw me off. What I wanted to know, was what was each medication called and what was it supposed to do for my dog? I wasn't arguing against giving it him. I have been spoiled maybe by our Calgary vet, the whole operation from the doctors to the front desk staff is excellent, they are all well informed and have no problem giving me every answer I ask for. Even the front desk staff know so much that if I have a question about a dosage or a symptom they can help me over the phone without me even having to speak to the vet. I'm sure I have "difficult patient" marked on my file in Lethbridge over this incident.

So I got my explaination with some effort on what the meds were for. I went home and determined that I would not continue to force feed my dog as advised. All it did was make him sicker. I made sure he drank, I was thrilled when he started peeing again, and despite losing a massive amount of weight in a week, and doing nothing but sleep the entire time Kodi managed to make a full recovery. Unfortunately the incident, especially the issue with the medications, soured me on the vet here.

So, a year and a bit after that experience Kodi had to have another issue. His stitches for a tooth extraction came out and I needed to take him to the vet to see if he needed to have them put back in. The visit started out alright, except that they were overbooked and our wait was very long and they don't enforce their leash rules so Kodi was harassed by a minipoodle that decided to run up and start a fight while its owner was paying. The vet determined that it would be safe to wait and see for a week if Kodi's mouth would heal on its own without stitches. This required a second round of antibiotics while the wound was open. I wanted to make sure the vet remembered that Kodi had kidney troubles when she was prescribing a medication to him. She looked at the file, that had all the faxes from our Calgary vet in them, including the most recent dental issues, and very irritably said "Well it would have been nice if they'd given us that information" I said they had, two and a half years ago when we started a file at this clinic. review your patient's information much? I was really annoyed. A simple "Oh, do we have that information on record" would have done. I didn't need to hear this vet, at this ill tempered clinic, telling me how horrible my old vet must be. I love my old vet clinic.

So Kodi was prescribed a new set of meds. I bought some food, paid for the meds and the exam, booked a followup appointment, and went home. I went to give him his new meds today and read the lable to check the dosage. "1 tablet twice daily, take with food" When I opened the bottle I was thrown by the number of tablets. Kodi is supposed to be on these meds for 10 days, the lable says there are 20 tablets. That is enough for 2 tablets a day as the instructions indicate. There were only 10 tablets in the bottle. My reciept also says I was charged for 20 tablets.

I wasn't sure if perhaps the tablets were supposed to be cut in two, but it did not say anywhere to do so. So I called the clinic to double check the dosage. Closed for the long weekend. I guess they gave up pretending to take emergency calls. So I called the actual emergency clinic in town and explained my problem over the phone. I gave them his weight, the information on the bottle, and the phone staff there checked with the vet on duty. At the given dosage for ten days Kodi should, indeed, have 20 tablets, not 10. The vet miscounted and only gave me half the medication that I paid for.

I dread the conversation with the front desk staff when I come in on tuesday claiming that I was not given enough medication. I have doubts that I will be believed.

I need to find a new vet in town.

It would be nice to find one where I didn't conflict so badly with the staff. And where the vets weren't afraid of my dog.

wisdom teeth

Ok, so dogs don't have wisdom teeth. But I bet my poor Kodi is in just as much, if not more, pain than I was when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. I feel sorry for the guy, I can just tell he's absolutely miserable. And that horrid Tidbit tried to take him out while he was weak and wobbly from his anesthetic and pain meds. I love that ugly little dog, but sometimes she's just such a terrible creature.

On the upside, unlike people, Kodi will be completely content to eat nothing but soft food for two weeks. Canned tastes way better than the kibbly crunchy stuff.