January 13, 2014

White Dog and the Army were briefed first thing about all of the activity that this morning would bring. Hopefully, we are in the final stages of mite removal from the house. The yard service came and fogged the yard and under the deck. The indoor cleaning crew, experienced in solving these types of problems for rescue groups, had a routine that took them from one end of the house to the other in just a little over two hours. They complimented the steps we had already taken and left some "spot cleanup" advice should we need it as things wind down. While they worked inside, Steve detailed the van, thoroughly washing and vacuuming and spraying the interior. The dog blankets and cushions went into the washer with a splash of the medicated soap and oxygenated detergent. Not sure how much it helped the problem, but Pumpkin also got an exterior sudsing as well.

Diatomaceous earth and lemon oil are our new best friends in green cleaning.

Puff, who originally sounded the alarm still is showing large flakes of dead skin on the thinning fur of her belly and inner legs. Everything we have read says these crawlies like the back, but not so in her case. Just to be safe, she got another bath. Even though she was not scratching.

There has been a huge drop in scratching in the house which leads me to believe we are on the road to recovery. My rash has nearly disappeared as well.

We are not going to take any shortcuts and will ride out the 3 weeks no matter how good we all feel. So in 5 days, the WDA faces another round of baths and housecleaning (although we are past the most critical parts of that). The worst thing would be to fix the problem but leave the door open somehow that invites these beasties to return.

Starting tomorrow, we are "normal" for several days and hopefully will be able to focus on other topics of interest...before our obsession makes us outcasts.