18 months.

That's how long I've been trying to find a cure for Gracie's dermatitis. I am so stressed out from all the tests, treatments, baths, specialists NOT curing her problem! I know it stresses HER out and that stresses me out, too

I'd planned on writing a post about taking Gracie to visit a homeopathic Vet. About how you need to have a different mindset about expectations of results. That it will take time.

If you factor in that Gracie had LOTS of different meds for a year, then it will take a very long time for them to work out of her system. She's only had homeopathic treatments since January. She's on a very restricted raw diet. I have to be PATIENT.

Two weeks ago, I thought that FINALLY Gracie was starting to improve. She had chewed the fur off her belly, but it was starting to grow back. Instead of an armor of scabs, the size and spacing of the scabs was much improved.

Then I tweaked her diet and she got a new treatment. I don't know which did it, but something really effected her badly. I noticed her skin got worse, so I put her back on her old diet. Today, she went to her "western" vet, Dr Larry, because I thought she had an injury to her eye.

Her eye was fine, but when we flipped her over to see how her belly was, this was what we saw.

Gracie did this to herself. It's from over-grooming. At the left is her belly and the injury goes inside her left rear leg.

It was very difficult NOT to cry when I saw this. I was in such a state of shock, I didn't know what to say. I was ashamed that I missed this horrific and painful injury and all I wanted to do was give her a big fat shot of steroids, which I KNOW would make her feel better, but which, in the long run will kill her.

What makes matters worse was that I chose not to do anything for her. Her homeopathic Vet would not agree to give Gracie ANYTHING right now-espeically steroids or antibiotics, which would be the next steps. We were able to reach Dr. Hermans, who quickly re-arranged her schedule so that she could see Gracie in a few days and she also told me some things I could do for her to keep Gracie comfortable until her appointment.

Dr. Larry, bless him, with the most open mind of any doctor in the universe, suddenly told me that he felt that I should get Gracie in to get acupuncture done because he'd seen amazing results. Perhaps it would help to calm her down and break her OCD-ish cycle of over grooming?

Instead of pushing me to use "his method" of treatment, he respected Dr Hermans wishes (and mine) and he gave me good suggestions. Gracie is going to get acupuncture in early June, or sooner if they can fit me in.

Dr. Larry says a home for Gracie by herself is the ultimate answer, but I reminded him that she was FINE for years in this same house, with the crazy foster cats. I hope that if she was all right once, she can return to good health again one day. Right now I want to crawl into a hole and hide. I feel terrible for my baby girl. Just terrible. I need a magic wand so I can fix her up and help her be happy again. I can't be a bad cat-mama. I just can't.

Unfortunately, it looks like in this regard, I already am. If I could find Gracie a great home (along with her daughter, Petunia), I would do it. But who would want a cat with a known medical condition? I can't promise it would go away. This is so frustrating and exhausting.

Please, please, please. Let me find the cure for my cat! I'm running out of options.

Okay, gang. I've decided to open up the ability to leave a Comment without my approval, even if you haven't signed up to be a member of CiCH.

This does not mean you can go crazy and spam up my web site. I'll still be moderating all posts, but heck, it sucks to have to wait to see if your post is live, so I'm going to make it easier and see how it goes.

So, welcome! Leave a comment. It's easier than ever before, but I AM WATCHING YOU. And you know who you are! I reserve the right to lock down comments again if I end up having a gillion sneaky spam messages!

As promised! The video clip of the News segment from last week's announcement of the “Fur for the Gulf” program.

I don't know about you, but the last time I could bend that far was when I was 8. Bltizen makes it look so easy!

Okay! Okay! I'll quit taking photos. Go back to your bath.

...RINGWORM!!!!

I HAZ IT.

Note: this is a SMALL, dime-sized lesion on my side. Sorry the photo is crappy, but do you REALLY want a nice, clear image? No. I doubt it! I started treating it two days ago. Hopefully it won't SPREAD.

Ah...ringworm. You suck.

My Friend, Karen does cat rescue in the area of Miami, Florida. She needs help getting the word out about her foster kitties; Pearl & Summer. In a purr-fect world, Mama-Pearl and daughter-Summer would be adopted together, but she certainly understands that it's a lot to ask, so she'd be thrilled with two good homes for her sweet girls.

Mama-Pearl. What a sweet face!

Beautiful rescued mom PEARL and her gorgeous 11-week-old baby girl kitten, SUMMER are terrific, affectionate kitties! They're looking for loving people & good homes. Both are healthy, tested negative for FeLk/FIV, w/shots & dewormed.

Pearl is 2 years old & spayed, & spay is included for Summer. Little Summer is a tri-color kitten (with too-cute markings on face and tummy!). She is perfectly socialized & friendly with everyone – confident, playful & loving.

Baby-girl, Summer. Irresistible Cutey!

Pearl is a pretty, purring, chatty, playful young adult tortie with bright colors, gentle & outgoing. Both are so easy to handle & so easy to love. They adore people & will be ideal companions. Hurry to adopt adorable Summer and/or sweetheart Pearl for yourself & they’ll thank you with big purrs!!!

To adopt precious PEARL and/or baby SUMMER, please contact Cat Network mom, Karen at 305-665-1639 or karen90@attglobal.net today!

p.s. Both Summer and Pearl have adorable facial markings, and Summer has bright, cute zig-zag colors on her tummy. They both love to purr and be cozy with their people!

Dawn breaks for me at 5:45AM with the melodious strains of vomiting cats. I rise, stumble down the hallway and mop up the mess. Thinking I cleaned it all up, I head down stairs to check my email only to find out by stepping barefoot into another puddle, that I missed some. Fortunately, I didn't go back to bed after I cleaned off my foot. My cellphone rang at 7:15AM. It was a local reporter with our NBC affiliate calling to tell me that they wanted to send a crew over, TODAY (instead of tomorrow, as I planned) and that “the sooner the better” would be good.

Okay. The store doesn't even OPEN until 10AM and I needed to get Sally Sox and her kittens to the store ASAP! I didn't dare call anyone that early, so I sent out emails right away, then began to wait nervously until I could call them guilt-free.

My Director jumped in to help me make calls. I flew over to Southbury Printing (thanks guys for getting everything done in time!) to pick up the flyers and banner, got back to Your Healthy Pet and got everything set up and ready to go. Thankfully, Sally's foster mom brought the cats. I got it done by 11 AM!

I'm very pleased with how the banner came out!

Inside Your Healthy Pet with everything set up.

I called the Newsroom to let them know we were all set. Ha ha ha! Another story bumped us, so they said we'd have to wait a bit and they would call me back to let me know when they would arrive. Okay, deep breath. Good chance to take some pictures of the kitties and try to calm down.

This is Caruso at 8 weeks.

Mimi with her siblings.

The excitement of waiting around was too much on the kittens. Meanwhile the humans were fussing around the store. Of course, today was the day for the surprise inspection by the Fire Marshall of Newtown! While the Owner's of YHP were moving things around and looking panicked, I tried to think about what I would say if interviewed. I wanted to be clever and interesting, prepared and smart. I knew they would cut down whatever I said to a sentence or two, if even. I hoped I wouldn't screw it all up.

About 90 minutes passed. The Fire Marshall left. Debbie, the foster mama, mentioned she hadn't fed the cats at all that day. Smart move, so the kitties don't need the litter pan, but...they were so hungry, we decided to feed them. I guess they were hungry because they wiped out their food in seconds. I began to imagine kittens pooping while the cameraman was there, but what could I do?

I was jonesing for some tea. Getting up after 4 hours of sleep was starting to hit me. As the cats washed their faces and resumed napping, I started to fantasize about caffeine and or sleeping on the floor behind the counter. Maybe they could shoot the segment without me? What had I gotten myself into?

Finally! The camera man arrives! His name is Trevor and he was very nice and friendly. I expected an uptight snob for some reason. He was neither. He told me how it would go. I helped him set up the shots to establish the story, which I think he appreciated. Being an Art Director for over 20 years came in handy, so did naturally being bossy.

Trevor shot a lot of video. Somehow we managed to wrangle Caruso and Sally Sox into letting me brush them on camera. We used some bonito flakes as a treat, hidden next to a clump of cat fur to keep Sally Sox in place. In my mind's eye I imagined how every shot would play out, but the last segment was going to be the interview and I was the only one on camera.

Trevor told me to look at him, relax and not look at the camera. Ha ha ha. Easier said than done. He said I could stop and start again if I felt I needed to-and which I did. I was so amped up I talked fast, but I think that in the end, I hoped it would come out as being passionate. Either that or I was going to look like a doofus.

The NBC-30 News is broadcast at 5:00pm, 5:30pm and 6:00pm. Our segment was at 6:00pm. I was shaking and light-headed by the time it came on. I saw myself and heard myself talking. I burst into hysterical laughter! Was that REALLY ME? My goodness I looked like a baby seal with no neck. Overall, the bits without me in it did go well, but honestly, I love to be in front of a group teaching or training, but not this..oh no. I definitely have new admiration for people who can be calm on camera (and who have a sleek “Audrey Hepburn” neck).

I'll try to get a copy of the segment to post here. Until then, here I am in my full doofus-where-is-your-neck glory.

So that was great. Cough, cough. Now we wait and see what happens next. Will get get a TON of fur to ship to Matter of Trust? or just an embarrassing lump that we'll secretly just throw out for being inadequate?

I don't have time to worry. Apparently, I'm too busy being famous. I was also in the Danbury News-Times today, too! Gosh, fame. I'm so important that I can't even keep up with all the press I'm getting!

I swiped this photo off the DNT web site, so it's THEIR photo and they get the credit. See link above for more...

Nicky looks completely confused, while I'm just trying to look hot. FAIL!

It's 7:45PM. The day flew by. How will I face tomorrow without being on camera or having reporters asking to quote what I say? At least I have cat vomit to look forward to. That's the one thing I can pretty much count on after the studio lights dim and the reporters drive off to bear witness to the next “breaking” story.

I'm not big on tooting my own horn. My efforts are all about saving cats. That said, it's been a very strange few days. I'm getting my 15 minutes of fame and then some...

Monday I asked my Director about doing a “Fur Raiser” for Matter of Trust. She liked the idea. Tom, the owner of our local pet food store liked the idea and offered to help by being the drop off location for any fur we collect. I began designing flyers and a banner, some web graphics and whatever else we need. I also wrote the Press Release and our Director sent it off to the local paper. I sent it off to the local News stations.

On Wednesday, a reporter for one of the local newspapers saw a comment I made on Facebook about the Brookfield Craft Center closing its' doors. She asked to interview me about it and I agreed. I used the opportunity to tell her about our “Fur For the Gulf” Fur-Raiser and she liked the idea and said she would talk to her Editor about it. The Editor liked the idea and asked her to interview me AGAIN and to send a photographer to my house to get a shot of me brushing the cats (easier said that done, I can tell you that!).

Nicky is going to star in the local paper in a day or two! Here he is just after the photo shoot, still looking like a model.

Out of three news programs I contacted, one, NBC, contacted me right away and want to do a story about us. With any luck, they'll be at Your Healthy Pet on Saturday, early in the afternoon. I've arranged to have our mama cat, Sally Sox there with her 6 kittens-just for the photo op and hopefully some viewers will fall in love with the kitties and adopt them. Why not? Kittens have to be brushed and can donate fur, too!

Today the article hit about the Craft Center. I think it's a hoot. If you want to read it, it's HERE. Tomorrow or Saturday or Sunday or who knows when, the articles about the Fur For the Gulf will be out.

How much fur will we collect? I already know a Vet and a groomer who is going to donate fur. I have a little bag from our photo session (most of it ended up on me) and I have a feeling we'll get a lot more. No one knows if this will work or not. If we'll be stuck having to cough up a lot of money for shipping or if we will scratch our heads and wonder why we did this. I wish we got all this press over our kitten programs, but it's a start. By doing something a bit unusual, I was able to get our group some attention. I have to say, the irony of writing a blog called: Covered in Cat Hair and knowing I'm about to collect cat hair on purpose, didn't go unnoticed.

So two newspaper articles and a tv news spot. Not a bad start. If anyone wants my autograph, just drop me an email. Hee hee.

I love what Matter of Trust is doing to help protect the shore birds and wildlife, who are in danger of becoming victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. If you haven't already heard, Matter of Trust is collecting human hair, scrap wool and pet fur to create “hair booms” and “hair mats” that effectively soak up the spilled oil.

Since I volunteer with a cat rescue group, I figured it would be a great fit to do a “Fur-Raiser,” where, instead of asking for money, we ask for “fur-nations”—fur that is groomed off dogs and cats that we will later ship to Matter of Trust. Even if I have eight cats, brushing them won't give me enough fur to make even one hair boom! We need lots more!

If you live in western Connecticut, USA and want to bring some fur-nations (dog and cat fur-only), we'll be accepting them at Your Healthy Pet starting this Friday, May 14 through to May 28, 2010.

YHP is also giving out treats to every pet (while supplies last) whose fur is donated and owners can also enter a drawing to win gift certificates and other fun prizes for pets!

And if you'd like a flyer to print out and hang up at work, you can do so by clicking the image, below.

Let's get brushing those pets and help the animals in the Gulf!

Looks like our good friend, Sockington made the headlines again. Fortunately it was not due to having many secret Mistresses. Socks was at it again, being featured for his Twitter follower-prowess, which is now at over 1.5 MILLION! Socks is so big, he caught the attention of THE People Magazine-May 17th issue, page 152! Are we proud of you, Socks, well, DUH, of course!

Would we be AS proud of you if PeoplePets didn't do an additional article about you called: “The 5 Things You Didn't Know About Sockington?” (that happened to include our former foster, Tweetie?) Well, yesssssss, yes. Of course!

See point number 2, above. Thank you to Helin Jung, my charming friend at PeoplePets for including Tweetie and moreso for declaring aloud that I'm a comedian to the general public! Maybe I can get a booking doing a “stand up comedy, socializing feral cats world tour,” next?

Who knows what's next? I know that Tweetie is doing well, hogging the food at meal time so he has to be separated from Socks and Penny Cat and that otherwise he's getting along well with his “Dad.” Of course what PennyCat thinks in another story.

Oh and WELCOME People Pets readers! I forgot my manners. Hope you'll come back and visit again, soon!

I promise. No more creepy close up shots of my feet! (see below a few posts..wait, no, don't look).