Cynophobia, Ophidiophobia and all my phobias

 Fear of dogs and rabies is cynophobia. Fear of snakes is ohidiophobia and fear of leeches is bdellophobia! From time immemorial, our family has been cynophobic, especially my Dad. Iam the most "accident-prone" person in my family, having been slashed by a cat, bit by a dog, frightened by loads of snakes and leeches! The first occasion when i heard of dog bite and 40 injections was for grandmother twenty years back. A stray dog had bit her and she had forty injections, one daily. Dad was bit by a pomeranian pup in a relative's house. Sad, the dog died two days later, not because it bit Dad, but of rabies. Now we were so worried, Mother used to cry at nights alone, saying rabies was a dreadful disease. Listening to some of its symptoms from friends, i was agonised. Dad was given a few shots of Verorab, the anti-rabies vaccine. He was put on some peculiar diet. He recovered soon.

My own personal experience was funny! I hated dogs and pets from childhood. Not because i despise them, but because i get too involved with them and if they die, i bawl my eyes out! We children bought a black bunny from the nearby pet shop, just because nobody bought it. Named aptly Blacky, it was doing great, until one day a cat snatched it away from its box. The end. Both for blacky and my love of pets. It was the day after Navroj's wedding that i went to every home in my street distributing sweets to neighbours. I entered the house of Thynese. They had an army of pet dogs, around seven or eight cute spitz and pomeranians. I dont know where from the little devil came, all i could realise was that i was bit somewhere in my stomach! Almost unconscious( out of fear) i ran home. Then the usual Doctor visit. But this time, the teeth marks were not so clear, so the Doctor decided against an antidote. Thankfully, the dog that bit me is doing well!

Now Dad thought it safe to have a pet at home, he brought Ronnie, a lovely bouncing spitz. After Ronnie, we had a German Shepherd- Dixie. So with two dogs at home, am constantly afraid of what would happen, and when it would happen. May be i should have a box of antidotes ready!

Picture of a spitz

After dogs, next prime fear is that of snakes. My home is infected of snakes, loads and loads of them, i lost count of how many we killed. Usually we have the green snakes, occasionally the vipers and water snakes. A staunch garden lover, we have lot of greenery around the house and that probably attracts the legless visitors. Ronnie is ever alert and by change in his calls, we can know when we have an unwanted visitor. If let loose, Ronnie has a field day, biting the snake to pieces. But  the next day, we would have a field day babysitting him in the veterinary hospital!

And if there was someone who got bit by leeches and was suffering from those bites for more than a year, it would be ME and ME only! On a trip to Manjolai in the hills, i was bit by a couple of leeches, not a big issue. I just scrapped them away from my legs and aptly forgot about it. But that was not to be! Every month, there was a swelling and the skin turned itchy in my legs! After application of a few ointments and suffering about a year, i finally got cured from a local doctor practising Indian medicine. As i said earlier," I am always prone to accidents!" and must be having all antidotes handy...