Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

Talk about an interesting beginning to the week. On Monday I went to do laundry... Okay so that is not all that unusual. And then I realized that I had a bug problem. I wanted someone else to come take a look at it so I went on with my laundry. Turns out it was a bigger problem then I thought and I likely had a bed bug infestation. Any idea how hard it is to find a pesticide to get rid of them? We were all over town on the lookout. The first one that came to mind was Raid but their web site did not list bed bugs at all. In the end we did find a Raid that can be used on bed bugs. Time to fumigate the apartment. Even with the door to the bedroom shut I could still smell the stuff from the living room. I was also concerned about Azrael. We tried to get him into the cat carrier to take him out onto the balcony but he was having none of that. I have never seen the ball of fury until now. He managed to draw blood from Steve as well. So in the end I got half the cat harness on him and the leash and took him outside. 2 bottles of Raid later and all the clothes that had either been exposed to the bugs or to the Raid were in garbage bags to be washed. By about 2:00 a.m. I was able to go to bed. The next day I ended up doing something like 14 loads of laundry and went shopping for a mattress cover. The entire experience will end up costing about $200 and I lost two days. I am still concerned about Azrael's health since while I am not about to lick anything that was in my room he just might. Plus I have to hope that I really did get rid of them and, from what I've read, bed bugs are persistent. Might need to have a professional exterminator in. Fortunately, the apartment will pay for that. Unfortunately, it means that I will have to find somewhere else to sleep for a couple of days. It also means I would have to find somewhere for Azrael during that time. And I have no idea what the lasting effects of those chemicals would be on Azrael. Here's to hoping that they are completely gone.... and not coming back.