Cl2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 29,1981 Reas are a warm weather pest for LANCASTER - For the household pet, summer and early tally means more walks in the park, leisurely car rides and lazy days in the back yard. Un fortunately, summer and tall can also mean more fleas. You should suspect that your cat or dog has fleas if the pet scratches vigorously at the skin around the ears, neck, tail or hind legs. These are the areas most commonly infected by fleas. You can also part the pet’s hair and look for small, dark brown insects that scurry away from the light. These small, blood-sucking pests can be much more than a passing nuisance. They feed on your pet’s blood, and large numbers of them can make a young kitten or puppy anemic. They may also be the indirect cause of bald spots, redness or other types of skin irritation that develop when the pet scratches its inflamed skin. Pleas are also intermediate hosts for tapeworms. If an irritated cat or dog snaps at an infected flea and swallows it, the tapeworm will be released to continued its development in the pet’s digestive tract. There are a variety of products that you can choose to relieve your pet’s flea problem. Flea powders are easy to apply but messy. Some contain ingredients that kill fleas; others temporarily stun the insects, which must be brushed out ot the pet’s coat onto newspapers, and burned. Shampoos are the most effective way to eliminate a heavy flea infestation. You begin by thoroughly wetting the cat or dog, starting just behind the ears, and working in the insecticidal soap from neck to tail. It’s important to shampoo the entire animal, in cluding the underside. You don’t want to leave dry spots where the fleas can escape the shampoo. You should also carefully soap and rinse the pet’s ear flaps and muzzle, keepmg the soapy water out of the pet’s eyes and inner ear canal. Flea collars and tags are another way to attack your pet’s flea problem. These products will slowly release insecticides for several months, if you follow Did you know? Kids, as you have probably learned in school, the United States is slowly converting to the metric system. It you haven’t learned the new system in school and are still using the customary method (the inch, pound system), try your skills at the puzzle below. If you already can master the method, give the mind teaser to mom and dad and see if they do as well. Remember, they’ll have to convert too! You and your parents will soon have to weigh your milk in liters and tell the weather forecast m Celsius. To help you prepare tor this hopefully far-off event, we will run some games and puzzles in the next few weeks for you to do. A little prestudy before school starts never hurt anybody. your pet directions tor use carefully. The collars should be caretully ad justed so they don’t rub the pet’s coat or irritate the skin. The tags must be close enough to the body so pets can’t chew on them. Treating your pet is only halt of the solution to the flea problem. The fleas must also be eliminated from your home or yard. If you don’t deflea your pet’s surroun dings, the cat or dog will be reinfected in a few days. You can begin by throughly vacuuming the entire house, with special attention to cracks, baseboards, and furniture where the pet sits. Make sure you discard the vacuum bag, or empty it promptly and bum the contents. You can then use a flea spray or flea bomb, or pay a professional exterminator to spray your home. Outdoor areas can be treated with an appropriate spray or dust. Cover the driveways, walks, (Turn to Page Cl 3) Do you 3. The legislation for the US Metric Board calls for a conversion 6. The nation m which the inch pound system was developed 7. The symbol for milliliter 8. The symbol for centimeter " -'v '7 * / * %fPS Could it be calf love that makes this calf blow into little Bradley Hoppes ear, or is it a secret he’s whispering? It’s time for another Kid's Korner Kontest, complete with prizes for first and second place. Write and tell us what you know? 9. The prefix for one-tenth 11. One thousandth of a gram 13. A unit of volume 18. One thousand meters 17. The prefix for one hundreth. 19. The symbol for kilogram * » Test your metric knowledge with this crossword puzzle. Try ten clues across and ten clues down. think the calf is whispering. Make sure you include your name, age, and address and the name of your parents. We will take guesses until September 21. See if you can write the winning caption! -,u.' The word used to describe the inch pound system The nation where the metric system was developed. . small unit that measures mass (or weight) )ne thousandth of .liter legree The symbol for VlOOO of a gram The base unit of length The prefix meaning 1 0 The prefix meaning me million One thousand kilograms = 1 metric