"Right, I was busy putting on makeup and I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xu Junyu, I’m the makeup artist in the crew. Nice to meet you," the makeup artist introduced herself.
Zhang Zian shook hands with her. After the handshake, he felt that there was some cosmetic powder that had a pleasing scent on his hand. This woman was somewhat like a Sphinx, he thought, who also liked to ask others to guess riddles. Although she would not devour humans if they gave the wrong answer, her reward was not attractive either. Why the hell would she want to dress him up as a girl?!
After joking for a while, Xu Junyu said, "Actually, Charlotte was not the name I gave it in the beginning. It was summer. I lived on the first floor and there were many flowers and plants around. In the evening, after I turned on the lights, mosquitoes flew into my house through the tiniest gaps, and my cat received a lot of ‘red packets’. It couldn't stand the itchiness and went to scratch its skin everywhere. It rubbed itself too hard that it cut its skin. I was so distressed looking at the ‘red packets’ all over its body that I renamed it 'Charlotte' (meaning troubles in summer). Guys, take my advice, if you want to keep Sphynx cats, you’d better live on the top floor or somewhere where there are no mosquitoes."
"Poor thing. What did you do about the mosquitoes?" asked one of the girls responsible for the odds and ends in the crew.
Xu Junyu shrugged. "What could I do? I just lit some mosquito repellent incense. Even if the mosquitoes did not bite Charlotte, they would bite me."
Zhang Zian interrupted her, "Wait a minute, you lit mosquito repellent incense in the summer?"
"Yeah, but I just bought it this year. It’s only been a summer." Seeing the strange expression on Zhang Zian’s face, she asked, "What’s wrong with mosquito repellent incense?"
Zhang Zian shook his head and said, "If you are raising a cat, you’d better not use mosquito repellent incense."
"Why?" she humbly asked for advice.
"The main ingredient in mosquito repellent incense is the the mosquito repellent permethrin. Is harmless to humans and dogs, because once humans and dogs inhale such this substance, their livers can dispose of the chemical. But the livers of cats do not have the metabolizing ability to get rid of the mosquito repellent permethrin. If the substance accumulate in their bodies over a long period of time, it will cause irreversible damage to cats and may even lead to death in severe cases," Zhang Zian explained patiently. "Of course, bigger cats will have a stronger resistance to it, and relatively speaking, kittens are more vulnerable."
It was the first time the people present had heard such a statement. They began to talk about it with each other.
"Really? Mosquito repellent incense is really harmful to cats?" Xu Junyu could not believe her ears.
Zhang Zian replied affirmatively, "Absolutely. This is not a baseless rumor, but is supported by science. People who have cats at home better not use mosquito repellent incense unless there’s no other choice. If you cannot stand the mosquito bites, you can light the incense at home, close the doors and windows, take your cat outside for one or two hours, and then return when the mosquitoes indoor have been killed, but you have to open the windows to get rid of the incense. Of course, don’t open the window screen."
Ordinary cats were not afraid of mosquitoes, but hairless cats were put in a very bad position. Without the incense, they could barely stand mosquito bites. With the incense, they would be poisoned.
"What should I do? I used the mosquito repellent incense for half a summer. Will something bad happen to my Charlotte?" She believed Zhang Zian was not lying so she quickly asked him. She was so anxious that she almost cried.
Many people, including Lin Feng and Feng Xuan, tried to comfort her but their efforts seemed to be in vain.
Zhang Zian said, "Don’t worry too much, although the mosquito incense is toxic to cats, the toxicity is related to the dose, and different kinds of incense contain various concentrations of permethrin. Your cat was fine back then, indicating that it had a strong tolerance against the chemical, and that the toxicity accumulated in its body was not enough to cause any symptoms. So long as you pay more attention and use the incense in a certain way, nothing serious will happen to it."
She suddenly said, "Right! What I used was the mosquito repellent incense for babies. Do you think that’s why my cat is fine?"
"It’s somewhat related. There is low concentration of permethrin in the mosquito repellent incense for babies. So the repellent effect is relatively lower." Zhang Zian nodded.
She was somewhat relieved. She patted her chest and whispered, "I’m so freaked out. I thought I almost accidentally killed my Charlotte."
"In fact, mosquito repellent incense is not particularly dangerous. What is even more dangerous is insecticide. If insecticide is sprayed on cats, it may cause the cat to fall into a coma or die right away. A family with a cat should discard the pesticide right away in order to prevent this." Zhang Zian said.
Among the people present, the female makeup artist was not the only one raising cats, and everyone was startled by what Zhang Zian said. Who could have thought that mosquito repellent incense and pesticide, essential items for summer, were actually the natural enemies to cats?
"No wonder. I remember once when I lit mosquito repellent incense at home, my cat became listless and drowsy as if it could never get enough sleep. I thought it was sick and took it to a pet clinic, but the doctor found nothing wrong. In retrospect, was it because of the incense?" Someone asked.
Zhang Zian nodded, "Yes, that should be the case. But an experienced veterinarian should have asked you about the incense. After all, cats cannot talk."
"No, the veterinarian checked it casually without asking me anything, and then he told me nothing was wrong, that the cat food was not good. So he just promoted a few cans of cat food to me," the man said angrily.
"Maybe he was a quack that didn’t have a license to practice medicine. Try a different clinic next time," Zhang Zian advised him with sympathy.
"One time, my cat had diarrhea for days. I thought it was because it ate bad food or caught cold. But now I recall, I lit the mosquito repellent incense at the time. Could it because of that?" asked another man.
"Maybe." Zhang Zian guessed, "Did you take your cat to a pet hospital or a clinic?"
"I did, but the treatment was based on ordinary diarrhea. Although my cat was cured, I guess the root cause was still there. If only I had known sooner." That man was both angry and felt sorry for his cat.
Knowing her cat faced no imminent danger, Xu Junyu felt somewhat at ease, but a new problem arrived. When others finished asking, she asked Zhang Zian, "Xiao Zhang, let me ask you, according to what you said, I should neither use mosquito repellent incense nor pesticide. What should I do when there are mosquitoes in the summer? Don’t tell me I should move! I’m still paying my mortgage, I can’t afford to move to a new place!"
Someone suggested her keeping the air conditioning on in the summer. Mosquitoes won’t bite if the air conditioning is on. Xu Junyu just shook her head, smiled, and did not answer. Her answer was a little embarrassing to say in public. To prevent herself from catching a cold, she couldn’t turn on the air conditioning during her menstrual period, and she must endure the heat no matter how hot the summer was. How was she going to survive the mosquito bites then?