Last night while I was sitting at my desk, surfing the net, I heard a loud noise from the foster room, which is on the floor above my office.
Okay, so I'm not great about looking in on every single loud noise I hear. Usually, the cats have either unplugged the cable box or knocked books onto the floor, but this sound was rather a loud “thud.” I gave it a few minutes, then dragged my fat arse up the stairs to see “what now?!” was going on.

“Hello, Cupid.”

This is a cover for one of my studio lights, called a soft box. It's used in photography. Instead of folding it down and storing it, I have it sitting on top of a shelf in the foster room. Apparently, Cupid go up into the shelf, then into the soft box, then fell. Once she landed, she realized she could not get OUT of the contraption!

When I walked into the room, she just sat there and stared at me. If I hadn't checked on her...yikes...she might have had a bad night and I might of had a poop filled soft box...so to speak.

I think Cupid was embarrassed and I was certainly amused. Amused enough so that I didn't help her right away. Bad foster mommy. I had to take photos first. Hey, I have my priorities.

Dear Clare,

Thank you for the homemade cat mats. I know I'm supposed to give them to the foster cats-and I will, but I had to “test drive” one on my cats first.

Dear Clare,

What did you put in the cat mat? Spencer's sense of smell is poor. Normally he isn't interested in catnip. Is there something you want to tell me? Spencer is bunny-kicking the shit out of this mat. His eyes are glazed over. What is going on?

Dear Clare,

My cats won't share. They want their own mat. If they don't get one, they'll spat.

Dear Clare,

There is more square feet of cat, than there is square foot of cat mat. Can you make me a bedspread sized one?

Dear Clare,

Do you know if there's a catnip rehab facility in Connecticut? I'm thinking Bob might need to go there. He looks like he's had a bit too much and Nicky can't stop rolling around and yeowling incoherently. I'm afraid the neighbors are going to call the cops.

Dear Clare,

Nora would like to know if you can rub her belly to maximize her user experience (since she can no longer reach her own belly).

Dear Clare,

Nicky also asked if you could rub something, but I had to edit out what he said. I blame the drugs for his ungentlemanly outburst...plus, he had a surgery a few years ago and that sort of limited his options in that department, anyway.

Dear Clare & All My Dear CiCH Readers,

It's friends like you that are like a big mat of catnip for me. I can wrap myself up in your comforting words and breathe deep, feeling suddenly quite invigorated and alive when only moments before I was too busy licking my wounds to do much else.

With Love,

Robin

At almost four months of age, Blitzen is looking like a proper kitty now.

After a long, miserable night, spent mostly with food poisoning and an empty bed, I managed to get up another day and begin the usual rounds of caring for the cats. Tomorrow Blitzen is slated to be neutered. I called the Vet to double check that it was still all right to bring him, bearing in mind he has something on his head that is...I'm not supposed to make a diagnosis to this Vet, but...it's RINGWORM, OK?

It's hard to hold a wiggly kitten still long enough to look and my close-up vision ain't what it used to be. It wasn't until I looked at the photos that I could see just how bad things were looking.

You tell me that's not ringworm!

There's the telltale crust. It's gotta be ringworm. I've been treating it topically, but I wonder if I should do more? I guess I can wait until the Vet sees him tomorrow. Of the 4 kittens, he was the sickest, the longest, so it's not a complete surprise, BUT..now what? What about his siblings? He's going to have to be with me another few weeks. There is no where to quarantine him too. Everyone has been exposed. I'm in full “fuck-it” mode about this ringworm nightmare.

Sick or not, I've really fallen for this little guy. I'm not sure I can part with him. Maybe I'm willing him to stay here and he's responding by getting sick again? Sure. I have super powers. Why can't I have the super power that wins me a huge lottery payout?

I'd settle for super powers that make Blitzen be the last cat (or PERSON) I EVER see with RINGWORM!

I was just thinking about this blog post. How I was going to write that this is it. In a few days, I can start putting some of the fosters up for adoption. FINALLY! We have an adoption event coming up on March 6th. Perfect!

About 5 minutes after I took this photo of me with Blitzen, I thought I would check on this bloody scratch I found on his head a few days ago. I couldn't really see it, but it felt crusty. My heart sank.

I got Sam to hold Blitz for me so I could look with a magnifying lens. Yeah, looked ringwormy. Then I got out my black light and looked again. I think it was florescing green-the telltale sign but his tear ducts looked a bit green, too.

So tomorrow I'll see if I can get the little bugger over to see Dr. Larry. If it IS ringworm, I can probably kiss any hope of getting this kittens adopted before they are adults, out the window. At almost three months off schedule, this is just killing me to have them here this long.

Oh well. Not like this is all that surprising. What I'm waiting for is for ME to get it. I predict I will get a big BALD ringworm lesion on my head just around my birthday in April and my trip to attend BlogPaws. Just you wait. I said it here, first!

Abby is the victim of cruelty. Her ear was sliced off by a heartless beast. Although she's suffered a great unkindness, she's still a sweet and loving girl in need a forever home.

Abby's been spayed and has all her shots. Her coat is sleek, black and plush. She asks us if we would please overlook her ears and see her good heart.

I don't have Abby's age. I'll post that info as soon as I get it.

Abby is located in GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, where our Will and new friend, Grayson was from. Transportation FROM Greenville, to your state CAN easily be arranged. Contact Carole at (864) 630-2872 or email at carole9281@gmail.com if you'd like to know more about Abby or are interested in giving her a forever home.

As always, please spread the word. Let's get this girl a home, quick!

Photo courtesy Isilwath and used with permission.

Our super good friend, Izzy fell fast asleep, comforted by her furry companions...ALL TEN OF THEM!

For those of you who don't know Izzy and her husband, Mark, they have the biggest hearts and have the most cats of anyone I know. They put ME to shame! Yes, they have 17, going on 18 cats! These 10, shown above, are their seniors. If you look in the back, right, you can see Mercedes, who they rescued last year from a Kill Shelter. She is 20 years old and was abandoned by her family. Thank goodness for people like Izzy & Mark who drove all the way down to Georgia to pick her up and personally transport her to their home in PA!

Next month, they are going BACK to Georgia to rescue another kitty! I think we need to put together a donation to buy these guys a super HUGE bed! It's the least we can do! Poor Mark. Where is HE going to sleep?

I'm guessing on the floor!

PHOTOS BY TOMOKAZU KOSUGA

I LOVE the Japanese culture and I really LOVE how much they LOVE their cats. I have a small stash of books I've bought from amazon.co.jp (yes, JAPAN). I have NO IDEA what they say because I can't read Japanese, but there are so many great photos, it doesn't matter! Maybe some day I'll go to Japan, but with my fear of flying and lack of funds, that doesn't seem like something that will happen any time soon.

Apparently, Japanese landlords are douches. Most don't allow pets, so Norimmasa Hanada decided to change things. She opened Neko no mise (Shop of Cats) and the rest is history. Anyone lonely for the company of a cat or who is shy about meeting people, heads to Ms Hanada's shop. For a small fee, about $9/hr, her patrons PAY to sit in the cafe and pet and play with the cats. They can even buy food and treats for the cats for an extra charge!

You got that, right? They PAY to sit in the cafe with the cats. The "cover charge" pays for the cats Vet visits, food, litter, etc. and keeps out the folks from staying all DAY. Okay, we have shelters in this country that need people to come visit the cats-if not adopt them. Why not combine these two things together?

TOMOKAZU KOSUGA covered the story and it was picked up by Viceland.com (oo!) and translated into English-whew! To read the entire article, click HERE but keep in mind that this web site is more “adult” in nature, but not really bad at all. I'd rate it at a PG level if that's of concern.

Now, I just LOVE this idea, but am wondering if it could be done in the USA? What are the regulations regarding having cats in a shop that might serve coffee and tea? I'm thinking Covered in Cat Hair Cafe, coming to your town, soon! Who wants to bankroll me?

I was just informed today that PetAg, the makers of KMR had been supplying tainted product through 2009 and that it had caused the deaths of many infant animals. I was shocked to hear this, since I use KMR for most of my foster kittens. I wondered if my cats were sickened by this, too? To say the least, I was FURIOUS!

Thing is...could it be a that PetAg was the victim of an over zealous activist group? How EASY is it to start a rumor via social networking sites and let it spread like wildfire?

I checked Snopes right away and didn't find anything-yet. I also looked around the FDA's web site and found NOTHING. I have to ask-is KMR safe or not? Should I throw my container out or keep it in the fridge?

This is what PetAg had to say about it:

“PetAg announced today that in a February 4 discussion with Food and Drug Administration officials, the company was notified that a complaint received about one of its dry formula products was "spurious." The FDA official notified the company that it was not conducting an investigation.

The company previously notified its customers that it was the victim of an activist group distributing misinformation about the company and its products through the internet.

PetAg President and C.O.O. Darlene Frudakis said, "We are gratified to learn that the authorities see this malicious campaign for what it is. We will continue to work with all federal authorities and our supply chain to set the record straight about the safety of our products."

I find it HIGHLY suspicious that I can't find ACTUAL information regarding this "tainted" product on FDA's site or via Snopes. I expect we'll see info on one of these web sites soon-hopefully to help clear matters up.

Until then, I STRONGLY suggest everyone to keep an open mind. PetAg may be a victim here OR countless newborn animals are the victims. Until I know for certain, I'm not going to have knee-jerk reaction this. We all need to dig deeper to discover the truth.

If you've had ANY problems or suspicions about KMR or if you have accurate information from a trusted source about KMR or PetAg please let us know ASAP!

I know. It's so close you can almost smell it, right?

This is what I get for letting the kittens run around in my bedroom without giving them access to a litter pan. I also should not have shown Dancer and Donner that it's fun to drink out of the faucet. Now they're obsessed with playing in both of the “jack and jill” sinks. One of the kittens got the great idea to “drop off a few friends at the pool” when I left them unattended for a few minutes! I left them alone too long, so it was my fault.

I got everything cleaned up and bleached and the kittens back to their room. Later last night, I let them back into the bedroom for some play time. They weren't even in the room for 10 minutes before I got a death-whiff of something NASTY. I hoped one of the kittens ripped a “toot,” but as I made my way to the bathroom (MY sink, by the way), it was clear that Dancer was just finishing up taking (really it would be LEAVING) a dump.

Great. Now I need to keep them locked up in their room for a day or two. I don't want this to become a habit. Also, I better get a litter pan in my bedroom when I let them play in there.

I know it could be worse. As Sam said; "At least it wasn't on the bed."

My answer was: “As far as we know.”

I let the kittens out of their room to have a break while I built the cat tree. They saw the parts and got all excited! Each kitten had to sniff-test everything before they got bored and ran into the bathroom to rip the towels off the holders ('cause it's FUN).

I read the directions. I only needed ONE tool. How hard is this gonna be to build? Piece of cake! I just needed to find a 7/16" wrench (though I had to look up WHAT a wrench looked like online, first!).

This is not bad at all. I just have to screw THREE legs into the platform that has FIVE holes in it. Okay there's a clue here. Not all the holes look the same. Two do not have threads in the hole, so they must not be for the legs?!

I screwed down the legs, but they didn't fit tight to the base and I was worried I'd strip the screws, so I did the best I could. I know I'm going to use bolts on the opposite end of each cedar post, to connect it to another platform. I'm thinking this will give the cat tree the rigidity it needs. I thought it was weird that the bolts were driven into the bottom of each post, along with a tag, reminding whatever fool was building this thing that yes, THIS is the bolt you need.

Why isn't the bolt in a NICE PLASTIC BAG? Why is the FOUR HUNDRED MILE LONG BOLT in the end of the post? I use the wrench, not sure which end of it, to get the first of THREE bolts out. I turn it. The post turns, but the bolt does not. The post is ROUGH cedar, so my hands are going to get full of splinters if I hold it tightly.

I get a wash cloth to protect my hands, grab the post and give the bolt a turn. FINALLY it budges a QUARTER of a TURN. WHAT LUNATIC PUT THE BOLT INTO THIS POST? Was it a sister with PMS, too? I hope a woman would have more sense. This f-ker was in there so TIGHT that the best I could do was do quarter turns, even stopping every so often to MEASURE how much of the damn bolt had come out of the damn post, to see if I was ALMOST DONE. It got to 1 3/4" and I took a break. I read my book for awhile. I played with the kittens. My hands hurt and I was already getting a knot in my neck. I was not going to give up. I would just go slow.

I had no choice in the matter. My only speed was SLOW. I got up and went back and tried again. This time I discovered that being fat is an advantage. I could hold the post with my left hand, press the post against my stomach to keep the bloody thing from turning, then use my right to unscrew the damn bolt.

It worked.

It took an hour to get the three legs put on the cat tree. Just about that time, Sam came home. He must have either remembered I was having PMS or took drugs, because he came into the bedroom, saw what I was doing and offered to help get it finished up. He was nice. Something was wrong. Maybe he knocked off a piece with a Mistress! Of course! That was it! Instead of going to the Store, he shagged a cheap floozy! I'd have to check the fridge and pantry to make sure he really went to the store! I didn't say anything, but I simmered, waiting for further clues.

The rest of the assembly was very easy-of course, because Sam showed up. So no one will believe what a beyatch it was to get those bolts off! My biceps knew better, plus I swore I had a splinter just over my belly button.

The kittens gathered around to inspect the new cat tree before it was delivered to their very lonely and bored Mama.

Sam moved the cat tree for me while I stood in the bathtub, holding Cupid in my arms, waiting for the next fight to begin. We were both being very careful to use as few words as possible and to just get the job done so we could separate again until the next mating season would draw us back together.

I placed Cupid on her new cat tree. She gave it a sniff and jumped off it. Great. Another wise expenditure of funds I don't have.

She came right back, jumped up and begin to investigate. I scratched my fingers against the nice, tall sisal post to get her attention. Right away she grabbed it, dug her claws in deep and stretched out her back. It must have felt good to her since there is nothing soft in the bathroom she can scratch.

She posed pretty for a few photos. At first, not sure what to think about this thing.

I hoped she would warm up to it and in a few minutes of me petting her, she began to relax and enjoy her new hangout spot.

It made me forget I was hormonal to see Cupid enjoying herself. Although there's little room for me to sit down with her, at least during the many hours she's alone, she can get up high enough to see out the window and scratch and nap on a number of different platforms.

I counted my blessings that I got that cat tree built without killing anyone and that Sam and I had an unspoken truce. I would go back to the bedroom and read while the kittens played. Sam would play his guitar in the basement. Cupid would enjoy her cat tree. All of us alone, but somehow still together, under the same roof. Now we just had to wait for all this nonsense to pass and for life to settle back down again.

Update: Groceries WERE purchased. No floozies were had. Cupid enjoys the out-of-bounds, brand new, cat bed that's on the top of the dryer. So far she doesn't hang out on the cat tree unless I'm in the room. Hmpf.