Say hello to my little fiend. Tomcats … Part II

On the 27th of August I managed to expose my self to Tomcat venom once again. Annoyed followers may remember that I’ve done this twice before. On the 28th I exposed people to something even more toxic … photos of my bare skin.  I promise not to attempt either of those unpleasant experiences any time soon.

The combination of bee oil, a medicinal balm, and a daily ingestion of antihistamine has resulted in a quick recovery. The exposed areas of the skin were red and swollen. There were blisters that quickly relented to treatment. The less said about that, the better. The skin remains dry, much like a sunburn.

As I said before, there was very little pain. Swelling on the right shoulder and behind the left ear was only troubling when trying to sleep. The secondary advantage of antihistamine is that it makes you drowsy, so sleep was quick.

I will source where we bought all the remedies and post the results.

Tomcats … say hello to my little fiend

If you take an ant and trick out its colours so it looks like an orange and black sports car, then you might have an idea what this nasty little bug looks like.  To be fair, the Tomcat is excellent at pest control. Where this toxic beetle becomes problematic is when humans are involved. Humans tend to swat, crush and smear insects that crawl on them.  The tomcat spreads this toxin without breaking your skin.

The tomcat is also known as the rove beetle. I prefer to call it a nasty little S.O.B.

The tomcat is stealthy, and before you know it it’s on you. You won’t even feel the toxin. An hour or so later, maybe even the next morning you’ll have a welt.

The inflammation may grow, or it may be followed by more welts unless the toxin is washed from your skin, clothing, towels and exposed surfaces.

This morning, I’m on my third round with the TomCat. Unfortunately, like a certain MMA fighter … I don’t think I’m the winner. Unlike said fighter, I won’t have a massive payday in spite of my courage and superb fighting skill. My first exposure was likely from a tomcat hiding in a rain poncho I wore, which resulted in a large welt under my arm. The next one, and the current experience seem to be from tomcats in the house.

I am sharing a few images, for which I apologize.

The effects of the toxin

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We’ve used bee oil to reduce the swelling. Similar to Kayu Putih(which is a wood oil) it reduces the swelling and irritation. We are going to try Benadryl this time. I’ll let you know how it works.

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