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After Nicky's poop-a-thon in the bathroom, I decided it was a good idea to check in with the Vet, to make sure something wasn't wrong. It's so unlike Nicky to misbehave, that it set off an alarm bell for me. It also made sense to visit our Vet because Nicky had been sneezing a lot lately and we needed to rule out a problematic Upper Respiratory Infection.

Poor Nicky. At least he doesn't have a fever or a URI, but Dr. Larry, discovered Nicky was "uncomfortable" in his abdomen so he decided to shoot a few X-rays. It became clear that Nicky had food compacted in his intestines!

This painful situation is easily treated with some Laxatone and observation (for now). The thing that really kills me is that Nicky often goes into that same poop-a-thon-bathroom, jumps on the counter, paces back and forth and CRIES! We could never figure out what was bothering him. If I had only paid attention, we could have caught this even sooner. Nicky has been crying for months, but hasn't shown any signs of feeling badly in any way.

Nicky has been crying a lot since he got home. I believe it's just due to being stressed about being in the car, this time.

I promise to LISTEN better to my cats. They ARE telling me they need help. It's up to me to pay closer attention to that.

Just look at Spencer's face and tell me you didn't quit worrying about money for a minute!

OMG. He's so CUTE! I am so in love with my bratty cat!

Welcome to my World!

Yesterday, I smelled something awful. I got off my ass and walked around the house, searching for the offensive stool. Nope, not in the litter pans. So where was it?

I discovered, to my dismay, a fetid faggot of fecal matter left on the bathroom floor. Not sure who did it, but must have meant "someone" preferred the litter pan to be cleaner, sooner?

This morning, I heard a scratching sound, followed by Sam yelling; "Nicky, NO!"

We now know it's Nicky-the-pan-avoiding-pooper, but we don't know WHY he's doing this. The litter pans weren't "that bad." So what's bothering our boy? Apparently he reached for the toilet paper, this morning in an attempt to wipe! Yikes!

Guess who's going to the Vet tomorrow? Go on, guess!

P.S. How insane am I for taking photos of my cat's turds?

...see above.

I'm not gonna spill any beans, but maybe, just maybe Orange Cat might be adopted!

I can't say anything more than that right now because it's not for sure, but with any luck
this fine fellow will be able to rest in the comfort of having a forever home.

I'd like to address a few concerns that have been posted that OC's (formerly known as Scotch) owner would prefer to have the kitty with him/her, but can't afford it. If you read the note (see below a few posts), you cam see it says "I can't fix him this time." This may be referring to the two bloody patches on OC's back, near his tail. He has chewed his fur off, as well as the SKIN. He has some sort of allergic issue to this one area and if his E-collar is removed, he will continue to bite himself raw.

If this owner is disabled he or she may not be able to deal with this cat's medical problem. Perhaps they tried to care for him, but the treatments didn't work and they gave up. If it DID have something to do with costs, paying a Vet bill wouldn't get this owner to keep their cat. OC will need ongoing, special care for a long time, perhaps the rest of his life. Someone would have to sponsor OC to go back to his owner-who STILL might not be able to care for him since he'll need medication and to be watched carefully until he heals.

This does, however, bring up a question: Can a cat be happy with more than one family? What constitutes happiness for a cat? My Mother's cat, Bob Dole seemed perfectly content living with my Mother. He got NO Vet care, his teeth were ROTTEN, his diet, awful and he contracted FIV+ from living outdoors and not being neutered.

Bob lives with me now. His teeth have been removed/cleaned, he's neutered and has regular vet visits, his diet upgraded, he lives indoors with 6 other cats he seems to adore. He gets play time and lots of attention. Bob purrs a lot and enjoys playing, but Bob doesn't seem to be any happier here, even though his health is MUCH improved, than he did when he lived with my Mother.

I think cats are happy if they get the basics and if they get more than that they're truly blessed.

I realize I haven't talked about the pain the Owner felt in abandoning OC and suggesting that he be euthanized if the Vet didn't want to deal with him, but I think that's pretty cowardly and callous. If I loved my cat and was up against a wall and couldn't care for that cat, I'd ask people for help. I'd ask until I found someone who gave me the answer I could live with. I wouldn't sneak over to a Vet I don't know, dump my cat there with a note and not even the courtesy of providing ANY medical history on the animal, and just say "Well kill it if you can't deal..because I can't deal, so I'm just going to leave it here."

The more I think about it, the less sympathy I have for the owner. They should have asked for help, instead of hoping their crap shoot paid off by making their cat someone else's problem. OC won the abandonment lottery-of all the places he could have been dropped off, it was the one place that may just change his life for the better.

Wow!

...lots of things have been going on here in Covered in Cat Hair Land. Adoptions, rescues, transports, bathing (cat baths, not people though we DO tend to shower here, daily, usually)

I'm going to catch everyone up. Bear with me it will take a few days, but here's a start.

First up. Wanna help rescue animals but don't have any way to foster in your home?

GOT A CAR?

GOT AN HOUR OR TWO?

GREAT!

Sign up to be part of On The Road Again "a volunteer animal transport group dedicated to aiding rescue animals in moving to their forever/foster homes. We combine over-the-road truck drivers, pilot cars and personal vehicle transporters for quicker and more efficient transport of our furkids."

This past weekend, Sam and I picked up SIX Brittany Spaniel puppies that were being transported from Tennessee to Connecticut! LOTS of folks volunteered to care for these dogs, each one driving between 50 and 100 miles, where they would meet the next driver and hand off the pups.

Look at these guys!

I didn't even KNOW what a Brittany looked like. These guys were all adorable, sweet natured and, thankfully, quiet! Even though Sam and I are both allergic to dogs, their transport route went by our home, so we had to jump in and help. It was made more exciting because we were also the last leg of the trip—which was ON TIME! Imagine that long of a drive being so perfectly timed? I can't, but it worked great, everyone was really nice and the trip perfectly co-ordinated.

In the hour we had together, I fell completely in love with these dogs. What was so strange to me is that I've been around cats so much, that being with dogs was a big shock. If we had been in a car with six cats it would have been insane! These guys just napped and softly nibbled my fingers. They also responded to me talking to them and we all know that cats will take a message and get back to you, instead of pay any attention!

No, I'm not going to give up on cats, but, um, now I want a GOGGIE!

So get off your butt. Sign up with On the Road Again and make a difference in animals lives!

HALP! HALP! I'm out of cat food!

This, just in. If you're in the area of Dinwiddie VA (Below Richmond VA), a
dog got lost in transport!!

Doris  wrote:

PLEASE CROSS POST

DOG LOST FROM TRANSPORT IN Dinwiddie VA (Below Richmond VA)

She is a Miniature Schnauzer. 
She has on no collar. She is a Mill Dog and was being 
transported to her Foster Home.

If you can help look for her now in Dinwiddie VA or know of
anyone that can help please call Bonnie at 609 206-5268

Thank you,
Board of PuppyMill Rescue.com 

...another ass wipe onto the nice green Duvet!

Thank you, Nicky!

Last night LuLu was reunited with her brother, Sammy. Our Director, had Sammy in foster care at her home, but Sammy wasn't doing too well on his own and I realized that LuLu, though making progress, was suffering from something, as well. She was friendly to me but she was just limp. She didn't play much, if at all. I couldn't get her to eat unless I sat with her. Clearly, something was wrong, but I feared she was ill.

I called M. and she was having the same concerns with her foster kitten. We both agreed to reunite the kittens as soon as possible. Within a few hours, the kittens were back together in my home.

I was VERY pleased to see that after a quick hiss, the kittens knew each other and snuggled up right away. I saw huge changes in LuLu. First, she ate for me. Once she saw Sammy gobbling up food, she joined him and they both ate well.

This morning, LuLu wanted to PLAY! She gained so much confidence, just overnight that I was stunned. Clearly, she needed her brother. Just being there, gave her the freedom to quickly dash in and out of her dog crate to play outside the crate walls. She climbed a bit and used one of the cardboard scratchers. She seemed to truly be enjoying herself, while her brother calmly looked on.

This is the sort of thing I live for-knowing I'm helping make a difference in getting a kitten off to a good start. Now, I feel like I can make some progress on the road to getting these two a forever home!