Of Mites and Haircuts

When I have pets, they tend not to get ill very often but do tend to get weird and wonderful problems. Nico has been diagnosed with an allergy to grass mites and this British summer has been wonderful for the little buggers to breed. He constantly wants to chew at his own feet despite the mites themselves being long gone now. He bites because it itched before and it itches now because he bites. It is a vicious circle. Steroids are an option but he would need them every couple of weeks until October and I don't want to hurt his overall health in the long run.

So, at the moment the answers are no more grass until October, a spray that gets rubbed into his feet until he stops munching on them and to make sure the spray actually gets in and things are less able to latch onto his wee feet, bald legs. He has a poodle coat. He looks like he is wearing pantaloons. It isn't a good look. He looks very big because of all his fur and then he has this skinny wee white legs poking out of the bottom. It is a wee shame but hopefully will work out for him. I just want to balance his comfort now and his overall health in the best way that I can. Unfortunately, the vet said he should get his feet shaved asap and my groomer couldn't see him asap so I had to get in there with my scissors. It took me 2 hours, looked like a small animal had exploded across my living room and left him looking very bedraggled but I got it done in the end. It was an adventure to be sure and I'd like to think it brought us closer together or something. Luckily the groomer did tidy him up in the end and he is all booked in to get a full groom soon so the rest of his coat can get cut off and he will look less....out of proportion.