BREAKING NEWS... We interrupt our previously scheduled blog post for... for... for something really important.
Not to say that Nerissa's Life blog posts aren't always important. Nissy always wrote about important stuff and I, Seville, intend to do the same. But this particular blog post is really, REALLY, REALLY important. It's about something that came to my attention just last week and I knew right there and then that I had to write about it, right away. MOUSES!
Um, no. It's not about nip. But let me tell you, if it were, that would be super important, too. MOUSES!
Let me start at the beginning...
Last Thursday, the flyers arrived. Happens every week around the same time. A car pulls into the driveway and some man, whom I don't actually know, flings a bundle of papers out of his car window and onto the driveway. We cats learned long ago, not to be in the path of that bundle of flyers because let me tell you, it arrives with quite a thump. A bundle of flyers to the side of the head is not something a kitty wants to experience, for sure.
Not that any of us have ever had the experience but truth be told, we all kind of watch to see if one day it might happen to the peep. We took a vote and decided that that would be amusing. MOUSES!
Well last Thursday, the flyers arrived right on schedule and the peeps dove into them. Most of them - and by them I mean the flyers and not the peeps - go straight from the bundle into a bag for recycling but Peep #1 usually checks out flyers coming from the grocery stores. And because she loves us so much, she heads straight on over to the pet section, first thing.
Hmm... Do you think I should be insulted that she's looking to get our kitty necessities on the cheap? MOUSES!
Anyway, it was because of one of those grocery store flyers that I'm writing this special breaking news blog post, today.
In the pet section of said flyer, was the claim that thunderstorms could be scary for pets. KNEW THAT! But it also claimed that it's not the sound of the thunder boomies or the bright flashes of the lightening that scare us pets. Didn't know that. It claimed that static electricity builds up in our coats and that this electricity is actually what upsets us. As I have a very electric personality all on my own, I fail to see how a little extra static can be all that scary. MOUSES!
But then the flyer went on to make a suggestion. It said that by rubbing a dryer sheet - you know, of the fabric softener kind - on your pet's fur, your pet's anxiety and discomfort would be reduced.
I happened to be reading the pet section of the flyer over the peep's shoulder at the time and when I saw that, the fur on the back of my neck stood up on end. What, were they crazy? How could they make a suggestion like that? MOUSES!
Now I'm not up on all this newfangled electrical science thingy so I don't know, it might possibly be true but the peeps have never tried it with us and there's good reason for that. IT'S VERY, VERY DANGEROUS, INDEED. MOUSES!
Just to be sure, I did a little research. No, I did not rub myself all over with a fabric softener sheet. That would be crazy and the one thing I'm not is crazy.
What's that Peepers? No..... No I'm not. I'm not crazy. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
But back to the topic at paw. I immediately headed into the basement to check the labels of any boxes of fabric softener dryer sheets that might be lying around. I found two. Two different brands. Apparently Peep #1 has no product loyalty when it comes to laundry products.
Anyway, both boxes had warnings. WARNINGS. WARNINGS!!!
One box had a warning that if anyone should happen to swallow any part of one of those dryer sheets, a doctor or Poison Control Centre should be immediately called. That's right, the word poison was used. And on the second box, it specifically told peeps to keep the product away from toddlers and pets. Pets. Pets like you know, cats and dogs and bunnies and... and... Well the exact kind of pets isn't the important part. The important part is why. Why peeps are supposed to keep these dryer sheets away from us pets. It's to AVOID ACCIDENTAL INGESTION, that's why. I'm assuming that purposeful ingestion would be bad, too. MOUSES!
Basically what the warnings on the dryer sheet boxes mean is that YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT DRYER SHEETS. It could be dangerous.
And now I come to the whole purpose of my blog post. I know, you're thinking it took me long enough. Well I got here eventually so... so... so...
So anyway, here's my problem. We cats groom ourselves. We groom ourselves with our tongues. And then after grooming, our tongues go back into our mouths and anything that happens to be on our tongues at the time, ends up being swallowed.
Now if peeps go and rub dryer sheets on our fur, all those chemicals that are in the sheets are going to end up on our fur. Then when we wash ourselves...
You get the picture, I am sure.
Why, you might as well just chop up a few sheets and add it to our meals or why don't you, yourselves, chew on a sheet or two for linen fresh breath? MOUSES!
NO!!! I am NOT suggesting that anyone does that. I'm merely pointing out the stupidity of the suggestion to rub a dryer sheet on a cat or dog's fur. Doing that is practically the same as allowing us to eat it and the products say right on their boxes that ingesting - in other words, eating - dryers sheets is VERY DANGEROUS. Far too dangerous for anyone to even think of doing.
I am shocked and appalled that the grocery store that sells my favourite cat food made this very dangerous suggestion but, I suppose, they didn't know any better. Not that they couldn't have read the warnings on the dryer sheet boxes themselves, but...
No, this blog post isn't about blame. It's about keeping pets safe. It's important that we get the word out that dryer sheets - and any part of them - are unsafe to eat. And if they're not safe to eat, no one should be rubbing them on a cat or dog's fur because doing so is going to make that cat or dog ingest the chemicals they contain. There's good reason that one box stated to keep the sheets away from pets!
So please... Please... PLEASE... Please keep dryer sheets away from your pets. Do NOT rub these things on your cats' and dogs' fur. Do NOT!!! Not ever. Never. Never ever, ever. It's way too dangerous to do. MOUSES!
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This just in... After the publishing of my blog post and two - count 'em, TWO - e-mails to the grocery store's customer service centre, Peep #1 and I were promised a 'correction' in this week's flyer. So today, I sent the peep out to investigate the matter at paw.
In every store across the land - or maybe just the Atlantic provinces as I'm not sure if the whole country got the same flyer with the same questionable advice - there are notices posted wherever they have flyers. It tells peeps that rubbing their pets with dryer sheets can cause harm and instead, suggest that they "create a safe place" to help calm their kitties and doggies during thunder storms.
We did it, my friends. We did it! KITTIES OF THE INTERNET... UNITE!!!
