The doorbell rings and the first person to zoom across the door to greet his guests is Mr Igor. He will scan every guest by rubbing himself against them. Few questions will be asked in the form of meows and purrs. The ones under suspicion are nibbled and left with a warning. Only after the security check is done, the person is allowed an entry. Every person who has visited our house would testify to this kind of scrutiny by our purr-master, Igor. Mind you, this is rather difficult for the faint-hearted or non-animal lovers!!

My cat Igor, better known as @igorkooka, turned 4 recently. In human years, he is as old as me now.

I am sorry – this blog post full of itchy, wriggly things is probably going to make your skin crawl but it has an important message. Please don’t skip on flea and tick prevention and worming of your dogs and cats!

Parasites like fleas, ticks and worms may be small but they cause problems quite out of proportion to their size. They mean great discomfort for your pet and can be fatal in some cases. To add to the problems, some of the pests can cause severe illness and even death in humans.