When I first discovered tea a few years ago and converted my fiancee and my mom to become tea lovers, I thought it was so neat that Adagio would let you create your own tea blends and put your picture of choice on the packaging. For Christmas one year I created a blend for my mom and one for my fiancee, and thus Gary’s Crazy Little Cat Tea was born. My fiancee is a closet cat lover, and when I brought our first scrawny, flea-ridden, ghetto kitten home it was love at first sight! So what better name and picture for the tea than an ode to his love for our first cat, who is a very crazy cat from being born in the ghetto and locked (accidentally) in the fridge as a kitten.
Sadly, I wished the tea had been all I had hoped for. I was going for a chocolate-chip cookie type of flavor (like 52 Teas’ Milk & Cookies, which I discovered after the fact). This instead is a cup of bitterness with a little chocolate and vanilla thrown in. It does become better with milk and sweetener, and surprisingly it is amazing when prepared iced! We ran out of our usual fruity ice tea blends one day and I randomly threw some of this in the tea pitcher and it just about knocked our socks off! It’s like a glass of cool, malty, chocolatiness when served over ice. At least my custom blend wasn’t a complete bust! (The blend that I made for my mom was a coffee-like blend and it was surprisingly amazing!)
What a night last night turned out to be! I spent all day deep-cleaning the house and also did my monthly litterbox scrubbing and dog and cat bathing (yes, we bathe our cats. no, they don’t absolutely hate it). I bathed our greyhound, our 2 cats, our older foster kitten and then started to bathe the 2 new Siamese kittens that came to us on Wednesday. Lo and behold, they have fleas. Not many, but even one is way too many for me. None of my pets have ever had fleas, except the kitten we rescued from the ghetto and I picked every flea off of her the minute we got her home. The kittens also have terrible ear mites. I immediately contacted the humane society director last night and waited and waited . . . and no response. Have also emailed her this morning . . . no response. I am now finding new fleas on the kittens that have hatched and am about to go out and just buy flea medicine for them myself. Needless to say, a very angry cat lover (aforementioned fiancee) will be calling the humane society. I am just in shock that they beg us to take in these kittens and from the looks of their ears they’ve had ear mites for awhile. The last litter we got from them had horrible ear mites too. It’s time to find a new rescue to foster through. And the little sweeties are confined to the bathroom, furiously scratching their ears, not understanding why they can’t come out and play. And I will be cleaning again. All day. Because fleas are just nasty and now I feel like they are everywhere (even though they’re not!)
Whew, I apologize for the long rant. Animal rescue is just a messy business, even though it’s my favorite thing in the world. One way or another these little Siamese kittens will be flea and ear mite free before the day is over!
-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small chocolate chips and cocoa nibs.
-Dry leaves smell malty and chocolatey. Tea liquor aroma is of strong black tea with hints of vanilla and chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a thick very dark brown color.
-Bitter black tea flavor and finish. Light creamy chocolate aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A bitter cup. Milk and sweetener dulls the bitterness. Best prepared as an iced tea.
Preparation
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Poor little kitties! I would love to foster kitties at some point, but I know I’d get too attached and end up all crazy-cat-lady…
Poor kittens! My cats got fleas very suddenly last year for no reason. They’re indoor cats and I dunno how they got them. It was a mess getting them the meds and making sure they didn’t spread in the house. I hope the kittens are feeling better soon!
Kittenna, we are border-line crazy cat people, I admit it! We even have a cat tree to prove it! We just started fostering this summer and I thought it would be super hard to give them up, but our first kitten to be adopted found a great family and they are constantly sending us pictures and stories of her, which really made is easier to give up the rest of the kittens. The 2 Siamese ones have already stolen my heart, as well as the older kitten from the first litter that we still have. I find myself questioning how many cats are too many? What is considered hoarding? Haha, at least we have plenty of room so I don’t look too crazy (yet)!
Fuzzy_Peachkin, aren’t fleas the worst!? We don’t keep flea stuff on our indoor cats either, so I understand your amazement when your indoor cats got them! I’ve heard that dogs and even people can carry them in from outside. Luckily we’ve had no issues until now. I am a bit worried about our carpet upstairs, but I sprinkled salt everywhere so hopefully if there are any random ones up there that jumped off of the cats they will eat the salt and die – it works great and then you just vacuum it up! Hope you don’t have any more flea issues ever! :)
Thanks for the tip about the salt! I didn’t know that! And I too hope that we never get any more fleas! Yuck!
this is a grand forum where we can talk about something we love (tea) and vent from time to time about the stuff we don’t (ie fleas).
Very true, JustJames! I am thankful for Steepster for that very reason, and for the good company of course!
I bought a carpet powder called Flea Stoppers the one time my indoor cat got fleas (from going to vet’s office, what a pain). It worked really well and had a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you still have fleas after using it, you’ll get a full refund. You’ll also want to invest in some Advantage or Frontline and use it for at least 6 months on all the animals in your household.
Thanks for the tips, CHAroma. We only have carpet upstairs, and so far just plain table salt has worked fine for us. Our little Chihuahua is especially allergic to pesticides, so we try to use all natural things when possible. We did put Advantix on all of the cats, and the kittens got Capstar, which clears fleas in 30 minutes. The dogs always have Advantix on. We’re flea-free now! I’m just going to have to start insisting that any foster kittens that we take in have flea/tick and ear mite medicine before they come to our house. :)
I hear you. I chose that product because it’s not harmful to humans or small animals and can’t be inhaled due to its granular consistency. I’m glad you’re now flea free! Fleas are one of the most annoying things created by God, LOL!
Oh, good to know, CHAroma! I will keep that product in mind. Hopefully I won’t ever have need of it again, though!
Fingers crossed!
Poor little kitties! I would love to foster kitties at some point, but I know I’d get too attached and end up all crazy-cat-lady…
Poor kittens! My cats got fleas very suddenly last year for no reason. They’re indoor cats and I dunno how they got them. It was a mess getting them the meds and making sure they didn’t spread in the house. I hope the kittens are feeling better soon!
Kittenna, we are border-line crazy cat people, I admit it! We even have a cat tree to prove it! We just started fostering this summer and I thought it would be super hard to give them up, but our first kitten to be adopted found a great family and they are constantly sending us pictures and stories of her, which really made is easier to give up the rest of the kittens. The 2 Siamese ones have already stolen my heart, as well as the older kitten from the first litter that we still have. I find myself questioning how many cats are too many? What is considered hoarding? Haha, at least we have plenty of room so I don’t look too crazy (yet)!
Fuzzy_Peachkin, aren’t fleas the worst!? We don’t keep flea stuff on our indoor cats either, so I understand your amazement when your indoor cats got them! I’ve heard that dogs and even people can carry them in from outside. Luckily we’ve had no issues until now. I am a bit worried about our carpet upstairs, but I sprinkled salt everywhere so hopefully if there are any random ones up there that jumped off of the cats they will eat the salt and die – it works great and then you just vacuum it up! Hope you don’t have any more flea issues ever! :)
Thanks for the tip about the salt! I didn’t know that! And I too hope that we never get any more fleas! Yuck!
this is a grand forum where we can talk about something we love (tea) and vent from time to time about the stuff we don’t (ie fleas).
Very true, JustJames! I am thankful for Steepster for that very reason, and for the good company of course!
I bought a carpet powder called Flea Stoppers the one time my indoor cat got fleas (from going to vet’s office, what a pain). It worked really well and had a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you still have fleas after using it, you’ll get a full refund. You’ll also want to invest in some Advantage or Frontline and use it for at least 6 months on all the animals in your household.
Thanks for the tips, CHAroma. We only have carpet upstairs, and so far just plain table salt has worked fine for us. Our little Chihuahua is especially allergic to pesticides, so we try to use all natural things when possible. We did put Advantix on all of the cats, and the kittens got Capstar, which clears fleas in 30 minutes. The dogs always have Advantix on. We’re flea-free now! I’m just going to have to start insisting that any foster kittens that we take in have flea/tick and ear mite medicine before they come to our house. :)
I hear you. I chose that product because it’s not harmful to humans or small animals and can’t be inhaled due to its granular consistency. I’m glad you’re now flea free! Fleas are one of the most annoying things created by God, LOL!
Oh, good to know, CHAroma! I will keep that product in mind. Hopefully I won’t ever have need of it again, though!
Fingers crossed!