It's a bit of a zoo

Yes, I still have 6 animals in the house along with a few other unexpected critters. I still have not had the fumigation done so I have a bit of an insect problem. A friend of mine offered to do the fumigation shortly after I moved in but I am still waiting. In the meantime, I have a serious ant problem......little ones and big ones of all different colors. Jade likes to chase them and eat them......maybe she does not have enough protein in her diet?? Also went into my kitchen one night to grab a drink and saw something crawling on the floor that was glowing bright green.



This was what I found - the picture does not do it justice as the two spots that you can see were glowing a very bright green.

I also have a baby iguana living in my bedroom. I just about had a heart attack one night - I went into my room and saw something scurry under the bed that was over a foot long. I finally discovered that it was an iguana...I could not capture it nor could the dogs - if they could fit under the bed, it would not be an issue. So, I thought I would leave my window open without the screen so that it could escape. Two days later, I saw it in the kitchen under the sink. I guess it does not want to go outside?



I also have several very large iguanas that live in the backyard. Jade loves to chase them and bark at them. One day, I went outside and discovered a very large iguana tail in my car port area.....but no sign of the body. I searched the back yard but did not find the body that belonged to the tail. The following morning, Jade was outside and was barking like crazy. When I went out to see what all the commotion was, I realized that she had cornered a very large iguana in the front yard and guess what? The iguana was missing it's tail! I managed to get Jade in the house so the iguana could escape and hopefully grow a new tail someday. Poor thing....

Did you know that some cockroaches fly? Yes, I discovered one of those in my house the other day. Something very large was flying around and when it finally landed long enough for me to see what it was, I saw a very large cockroach. Uggh....

Yes, Raid is a staple in my house at the moment and is used daily until my friend can come by and fumigate. So, if you ever want to see some of the local critters of Manzanillo, just come to the zoo otherwise known as my house!

A few days ago, Jade was quite sick and had barely touched her food for several days. When I examined her, I discovered she had several large red welts all over her body. I figured she might have gotten mixed up with some fire ants in the back yard. But the next day, I realized that she had many more welts - I counted more than 50. So, I immediately hopped on the bus with Jade as well as one of the kittens in my purse and went to see my vet, Dr. Gaby. I got alot of strange looks as large dogs are not a regular fixture on the local buses here nor meowing sounds coming out of one's purse. I decided to bring one of the kittens in just in case it was related somehow. Well, it turns out those welts were not ant bites but a fungus called Hongos. This is basically a mushroom type of fungus that was transmitted from the kittens to Jade. Jackson did not get any (yet) as he basically ignores the cats and does not interact with them. Jade, on the other hand, plays with them constantly and has taken a liking to eating out of their litter box. I know, very disgusting..... Also, it appears the cats have parasites which have likely been transferred to the dogs (and maybe me also). I ended up coming home with parasite meds for the dogs and cats along with medication and shampoo for the Jade and the cats to get rid of the fungus. I had to bath and shampoo all 6 of them with this special shampoo and have to do it 2 more times this week. Bathing the cats was quite the ordeal and the scratches on my arms and hands are evidence of that struggle.

Here are the "little darlings" after their bath while they are drying in the sun. In retrospect, a "before" photo would have been good while they were wet but I think the trauma for all of us resulted in a missed photo opp. And after feeding them a can of tuna, it appears that they have forgiven me.....



As for the abandoned kittens, they are ALL still here at the house. I have not found them homes as of yet. I am feeling a little overwhelmed....what if I cannot find homes for them? I certainly could not put them back on the street.