California and Icelandic felines

I think cats may have it better in Iceland than they do in California. For one, they get to eat a lot of fish and very fatty milk, or at least that is what my amma always fed the cats she had. For another, cats in Iceland do not get flea infestations. Though fleas are known to have spread to Iceland and Greenland during the Viking Age settlement, the flea population gets killed off very successfully every winter in Iceland. This does not happen in California, where fleas enjoy year-round good health.

So although my cat has an Icelandic name, she has a California flea problem. We just gave her the eucalyptus oil treatment that is supposed to drive them away, but this evening, as I sat at my computer, I noticed several black flecks moving around in the white fur of her underbelly.

Not the popular image of California cats, I know, but true none the less.

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