Beetle Juice

Adam has a wart on his foot. I honestly wasn't sure what it was when it first showed up because it was in the same spot we had removed a splinter a few months ago. So, I was actually worried that a piece of the splinter was still in his foot and that it was infected. I took him to our pediatrician and after she diagnosed the wart (apparently this is pretty common in kids, especially on the feet), she gave us three choices. We could freeze it off (no thank you, too painful), use an over-the-counter treatment method or (now, this is where it gets weird) we could have her treat it in the office with something called Canthacur. Now this is not a naturopathic doctor, witch doctor or any other non-traditional type of pediatrician...just your run-of-the-mill, everyday, average, ordinary pediatrician so you can imagine my surprise and you'll understand why I thought she was kidding when she told me what Canthacur is. Long story short, there is a South-American beetle who shoots out this juice or venom which produces a blister on its enemies. That substance is what Canthacur (blister beetle extract) is made out of. So, of course, given the choices, Adam was all for the "beetle juice". She warned us it might not work the first time and sure enough, no blister formed with the first application so we went back today for a second application. I think Adam's favorite part of the treatment is that he can't take a shower or bath on the day of application.

In case the beetle juice doesn't work this time, I found this treatment method, suggested by Mark Twain, on the internet:

"Why, you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard 'long about midnight when somebody that was wicked has been buried; and when it's midnight a devil will come, or maybe two or three, but you can't see 'em, you can only hear something like the wind, or maybe hear 'em talk; and when they're taking that feller away, you heave your cat after 'em and say, 'Devil follow corpse, cat follow devil, warts follow cat, I'm done with ye!' That'll fetch ANY "wart."

Doesn't sound any stranger than beetle juice and we have a cat!