Fluffocks

My little rescue group, Kitten Associates, is in a terrible jam. A few months ago, we rescued Miss Fluffy Pants from lousy living conditions outside at a Palette Factory where she lived on scraps. MFP was thin, her coat poor. She was dirty and miserable.

©2012 Maria. S. This gorgeous Maine Coon mix is in dire need of a forever home.

Since she's been in our foster home in Georgia, she's blossomed into a ten pound beauty. She's more than ready for her forever home, but due to one simple fact-that MPF has FIV+, we are having a very hard time finding her a placement and because we can't move her out of her foster home, we CANNOT HELP SOME KITTENS WHO ARE IN URGENT NEED OF HELP.

The problem is, that even though we did a Western Blot test to confirm the FIV+, in actuality she may NOT have it at all. When we rescued MFP, she was already spayed. Since we've seen some very odd things done to cats in the South-like a 4-paw declawed cat who was NOT spayed-it makes me wonder if MFP was vaccinated against FIV+, too. It would give us a positive test result, but we can't tell if she really has FIV+ or if it's from a vaccination.

©2012 Maria. S. MFP loves people, is ok with dogs, and ok with cats.

As you may know, FIV+ is not a death sentence. With good diet and living indoors a cat can do just fine. The only way to spread the disease to another cat would be if MFP deeply bit into the cat and I mean the type of bite that would send a human to the hospital. My cat Bob Dole was FIV+ and NONE of my 7 other cats got it from him and he lived with us for six years.

One of the WORST things that can hit a small rescue like mine, is to have a hard-to-place cat to find a home for. It prevents us from helping other cats because we are NOT going to put MPF back outside or leave her to fend for herself.

We made a commitment to her and we will honor that, but there are six kittens living in squalor who we desperately want to help and we cannot help them unless MFP finds her forever home soon OR we find an awesome, Non-Profit, No Kill Shelter or Rescue who would be willing to take MFP and find her a forever home-a shelter that has the size and space we do not have.

©2012 Maria. S. MFP is about 2 years old and is in good health.

Maria and I have been asking for help, but it has fallen on deaf ears. We're trying to do something for these kittens, but it's Kitten Season in the South and everyone is getting overloaded. Now we're faced with knowing about a problem and being unable to have the resources to do anything about it.

Please help us find a wonderful forever home for Miss Fluffy Pants or a responsible rescue who would take her. Little lives are at risk! Contact me at info@coveredincathair.com if you're interested in adopting or doing a shelter transfer with us. Transport IS available. MFP is completely vetted and ready to go.

©2012 Maria. S. She loves to play, get pets and be brushed, too.

WE NEED HELP TO PLACE MISS FLUFFY PANTS SO WE CAN OPEN UP THE SPACE TO HELP SIX KITTENS & their feral Mom. As I was writing this post, I found out that two of the six kittens have not been seen in two days. We've decided we can't wait any longer. We're going to risk it and take on the remaining kittens and their feral Mother even though we don't have the space for them and they will have to be caged. We need to do an Emergency Fundraiser so we can get these kittens vetted ASAP! Over the course of a few days the kitten's eyes have sealed shut from some sort of infection. If we wait a second longer they may go blind.

©2012 Maria. S. The kittens as they were last week, when we thought we had time to find them a rescue or get MFP a home. Now the gray one and one of the two black ones are gone.

©2012 Maria. S. The little white kitten. How is she going to survive in these conditions?

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©2012 Maria. S. This is the SAME ginger tabby you saw in the above photo, TODAY. Even though he can't see, he came over to Maria to be petted.

Use the ChipIn Widget, below if you'd like to help these kittens. They'll need vetting (times five) ASAP, antibiotics, food, etc.

©2012 Maria. S. I know how you feel looking at this photo. We're on it. We're going to get these kittens to the vet as soon as we can. We just need help puling the funds together.

The donation you provide to this Emergency Rescue is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. The money will go to my 501©3 Non-Profit Cat Rescue: Kitten Associates.

If you'd prefer to send a check, please make it out to: Kitten Associates and please note on the check the funds should go to "Bright Eyes Fund" mail it to:

Kitten Associates
P.O. Box 354
Newtown, CT 06470-0354

Any funds not used for the care of this family will go into our General Fund.

If you can't make a donation, you can help us by getting the word out. Every dollar helps and every Re-tweet or FB Share does, too. THANK YOU for caring about these little babies!

WARNING: THERE IS A GRAPHIC PHOTO OF AN INGROWN CLAW BELOW. VIEW WITH DISCRETION.

Just when I think I understand cats, something happens that reminds me how wrong I am. Things here are about as terrible as can be. There's a complex territorial situation going on between the cats that results in urinating and defecating out of the litter box. It feels as though I'm Sisyphus. Instead of my task being that I must push a boulder up a mountain every day, only to have it roll back down the hill just as I reach the crest for all eternity; my task is that I believe I've finally worked out what's irking my cats and what will solve their issues, only to have them fight at 3am, urinate in more areas, ruin more things and turn my house into, literally a waste-land (hopefully NOT for all eternity). One day I would like to get up in the morning, walk down stairs and not have to look for, find, and clean up cat urine for an hour before I can do anything else.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Gracie a la Instagram

As you also may recall, my finances are in horrendous shape. It took me a few weeks to get up the nerve to even write about it-then anther few weeks to work up the nerve to upload the post. I spoke of my humiliation in not being able to provide Vet care for one of my cats. Over the past few weeks I worked up the nerve to talk to Dr. Larry about it, figuring I had to try to do something to help Gracie.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Gracie always feels a bit less stressed if I cover her with something while we wait for Dr. Larry.

There's a Demotivator poster that sums up how I feel. Perhaps the mistakes I've made will help others to do better? Right away I learned that I only have to ask and my Vet will tell me I can pay off Gracie's Vet charges over time-and take as long as I need. I have NEVER paid a bill late, always up front, always in full. Dr Larry knows he can trust me and because of that trust, I was able to bring Gracie in to see him yesterday and not worry about the bill.

©Despair.com "Mistakes"

The goals were: 1. Re-check the growth on Gracie's abdomen. Is it cancer? Is it worse? Does it require surgery as we thought three months ago? 2. Assess Gracie's teeth for dental cleaning-they NEED IT.

Gracie is a fragile cat. She's VERY timid, but also VERY sweet. She would never hurt anyone. She cowers in fear and trips to the Vet cause her to tremble. Gracie also suffers from Milliary Dermatitis which I have written about over the years. It's basically a rash of unknown origin…and trust me, we have tried to figure out what is going on with her. Her skin, which was once so covered in scaly, raised scabs that she felt like a reptile. She barbered (chewed off) her fur, vomited daily and bit herself raw and bloody. I ended up using homeopathy which helped her emotional state. We only feed her raw. If she has any canned food she gets worse. Her skin is not perfect, but it's much better. She doesn't vomit daily. She has a bald patch on her tummy, but it's not bloody. I would consider her to be mildly stressed, but overall in very good shape compared to how she was last year.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Of course Dr. Larry won't see Gracie under the towel-or so she thinks.

But Gracie is fearful and skittish..and very hard to give a pill to. She was abused before I ever got her to foster and the scars of that stay with her no matter how quiet and sweet we are with her. She's come a long way, but still tends to run off unless she comes to us. Lately she's been climbing on us at night and sleeping on the bed. Some times I hear her walk into the room. I hear a "click" as one of her claws tap onto the wood floor. I made a mental note to get her claws trimmed when we were at the Vet. I never heard a cat's claws make any sound on the floor before.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Dr. Larry listening in…

Little did I know that one observation and decision would later come to shock me.

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I don't trim my cat's claws. My eyesight isn't that good and the last time I did it I almost cut off a foster kitten's toe. I DO hold the cat and Sam clips the cat's claws-at least the cats we can handle. Gracie has extremely fluffy paws and fur between her toes. She's so skittish, we just don't bother her. I had NO idea there was anything at all wrong with her paws. She did not limp. She did not cry out. Perhaps that she has been climbing on us every night-maybe she was asking for help? I can't say.

All I know is I was holding Gracie while Vet Tech Amber was trimming Gracie's claws. Gracie trembled as usual, but didn't make a fuss. I didn't even have to scruff her.

Amber clipped the back claws, then began the front. She had to spread Gracie's toes apart to see past the fur. She stopped and quietly said; “Oh, she's got an ingrown claw. Let me get Dr. Larry we have to use special clippers for this.”

Before she left she showed me what was wrong. I gasped when I saw it. It looked unreal. There was her claw, turned into itself-a deadly pointy hook, jabbed deeply into her paw. How she was walking around the house, I had NO IDEA. I felt a nauseating flush of adreneline hit my gut. What the HELL?! All I could think of was how fast could we get that out of her paw and how much PAIN Gracie must be in right now-and that she isn't even making a fuss!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. The horror of an ingrown claw.

Dr. Larry came in and took a look. As I've heard so many times, his voice took a serious tone. There was no time for sedation. The claw would come out. Dr. Larry just had to make a few cuts to remove it from her paw. Because Gracie is so submissive, he was able to work quickly to remove the claw. Gracie barely struggled. Perhaps she knew he was trying to help. What relief it must have been when that claw came out after a few, quick snips of the nail cutter!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Snip, snip, snip-DONE!

When I saw the claw laying on the exam table, I truly felt sick. I could see a line of blood. It indicated just how deep that claw was into her paw. This had been going on for a long while now-at least three months because that was the last time Gracie was at the Vet. Months of blinding pain. How did she not give me a clue? Or did she show me, but I didn't take notice?

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. The line of blood indicates where the claw was outside the paw (to the left of the line) and into her paw (from the right side to the tip).

I learned that the older the cat gets, the thicker their claws become. They grow faster as the cat ages and the sheath that usually breaks off every so often, does so less often and that's how ingrown claws can occur.

Gracie is not a polydactyl. It was her fourth toe on her front paw…I called it her ring-toe. She has a hole in her paw and is on antibiotics. She could benefit from a soak in DILUTED betadine solution, but with the meds on board it's not a must.

I looked for information on ingrown feline claws but didn't find much about it. I did discover a kooky looking poster with 3D illustrations of what to do if you discover your cat has an ingrown claw. If it's bad you MUST get your cat to a vet, but some times you can deal with it at home if your cat won't bite your face off when you handle him or her. Here's the info: Step by Step instructions from GoToAid-CATS Download a Poster to keep on hand-pardon the almost pun.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Sleeping under my desk. Relaxed and pain-free at last.

After thinking about it for awhile, I recall seeing Gracie chewing at her paw. I've seen cats do that before to remove the claw sheath. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but that's what I should have been looking for.

I hope ALL of you will take a look at your cat's claws TODAY-especially if they're older! Trim their claws if you can. Take them to the Vet and have it done if you can manage it. Get a friend to help you do it. It's also a good time to remind you to make sure you have plenty of adequate areas for the cat to scratch. You should provide vertical and horizontal surfaces for scratching. I have cat tress with sisal covered posts for vertical scratching. I use corrugated cardboard scratchers for horizontal scratching. I have a chunk of red cedar, too. Cats like it and it's aromatic. While it didn't help Gracie this time, it may have prevented the other cats from having a problem. In 30 years of having cats, I've never had one with an ingrown claw before.

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The biggest surprise was how Gracie acted not even a day later. For the first time in YEARS, I found her, not sleeping away from everyone on the bed, but sleeping right under my desk as I write this. She's not lightly sleeping, ready to RUN off at the slightest sound. She's asleep. Her posture is relaxed. She must be feeling so much better, though there is more to be done to help her feel really good.

The reasons I brought Gracie to the Vet in the first place, were eventually addressed. I discovered that Gracie's growth has reduced in size from 10 mm x 14 mm to 10 mm x 7 (still a nice size for a diamond, but even better size to show a shrinking cyst). Dr. Larry is going to drain it when Gracie gets her dental on Monday. He may send the fluid out for testing, but right now it doesn't look like cancer! Gracie's front teeth are okay but the back teeth are NOT. They're causing her pain, so between the antibiotics and dental cleaning she should be really feeling great in another week.

As for myself, I've never cared for the taste of humble pie, but I have a feeling I better acquire one soon.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. A still from the Oscar-nominated film: “The Nightmare on Cat Bed Street”

Spencer, the Mascot of Covered in Cat Hair, has reached a new zenith in acting. Not only does he portray an innocent sleeping cat (which anyone who knows him knows he is FAR from innocent), but he reveals a level of raw emotion rarely captured on film.

I hope you'll be as moved as I was when I first screened, The Nightmare on Cat Bed Street…Enjoy!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson

It began simply enough. I was trying to take some photos of Mazie. She's taken to sleeping in the little basket that hangs off the cat tree. Most of the cats are too heavy for it. Nicky tried it once but the results were less than stellar (in his mind...to me the results were hysterical!). I need to update Mazie's photo for Petfinder. She's been here for almost a YEAR! We gotta get her a forever home!

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Umm...yes you are!

As I photographed Mazie, Spencer and the DOOD had to investigate. Mazie, content to literally hang out, wasn't bothered. I snapped a few photos, then noticed that Spencer and the DOOD were getting into a playfight.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Mellow Mazie in her hanging bed-basket.

Of course I had to capture the antics as long as no one was getting hurt and the fighting was kept to gentle bitch-slapping and not claws out and ready to rumble

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. You can tell it's Spencer by the overabundance of pouff.

What was almost as amusing as Spencer and the DOOD going at it was the fact that Mazie continued to sit there, unfazed by the the ruckus. Blitzen lurked in the background. He was probably smart to avoid getting into the middle of it.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Three cats, one cat tree. Now that's a good use of a cat tree!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer and the DOOD begin warming up. Mazie just sits there.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. The only thing missing is the sound of Spencer snorting while he tries to breathe and smack the DOOD at the same time. Blitzen's on the left. See him?

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Mazie? Are you just gonna sit there? I guess so.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Gotcha!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Gotcha big honkin' tail! (Hi Mazie! Still sittin' there!)

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer's got that fed up look on his face (so does Mazie, it seems). This won't last much longer.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Shot looking UP from underside the second level of the cat tree. DOOD!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer, the mascot of CiCH declares playtime is over. Time for the napping phase of the day to begin (again). I hope the DOOD leaves him alone! Mazie is STILL in the basket!

I'm in trouble. A lot of trouble!

I get emails and calls every day about cats needing a new home. Their owners give them up because they are suddenly allergic to them, or they're moving and their new landlord doesn't allow cats (so why MOVE THERE?!) or they've fallen on tough times or they just found the cat on the street. Whatever the reason, they're out there. So many there's no way I could even make much of a dent by saving one cat, but heck, it makes a difference to that cat.

I admit it. I was missing MacGruber and Polly. The house is silent without them running around. Okay, I don't yell much any more either, since the two of them were pretty good at getting into trouble, but I MISS it, you know? Also, my own cat, Blitzen is very sluggish and sad. He has no one even close to his age to play with and he just follows me around the house now.

©2011 Wei H. Photo from Craigslist Ad.

So I felt weak. I got an email from our local rescue group mailing list. It was a copy of a Craigslist ad for a Free kitten, 2-3 months old. Litterbox traiend. That's it. No other info. Craigslist doesn't allow postings like this so they aren't up for very long-which means, the contact info of the person who wrote the ad, is not valid for more than a day or so. The rescuers try to intercept these ads and get those animals help because the people giving the cats away are giving them away, unvetted, not spayed or neutered!!!, and to just ANYONE, so those cats could be harmed or worse.

Many times these cats are kicked outside to fend for themselves if the ad doesn't work. So, I replied to the ad. Did they need help with the kitten? A few days passed. I got an answer. YES, they needed help.

Oh dear, now I actually have to do something! Okay...my foster room is booked. Phil will be here from Georgia on Saturday. My only other space is my bathroom. I guess that will have to do. If this cat isn't as advertised or is nasty, I might have him here for a long time. It's very tough to take on something without having any idea of the outcome. You're responsible for a LIFE. YOU have to choose, if this cat can be adopted and what the heck to do if it's a mess!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Cutie!

In a month, I'll have Amberly's family here, then The Angel Babies, so this little kitten BETTER be adoptable and I better be able to get him neutered in time-knowing that the S/N Clinic near us always books out this time of year-at least a month. Oh boy...well...It's a risk worth taking, I think.

Then there was the family...I have to say dealing with them did not go smoothly at all. First, they blew us off after we went to all the trouble to make a vet appointment, get the room ready, and get ourselves in the car to meet them, then they say they can't be there for 2 more hours! So we re-scheduled and while we were on the road, anyway, we went to Target to buy a new litter pan for the kitten.

Then they didn't want to sign the Surrender form, which would protect us should they ever want the cat back and find we had already adopted him to another family. That was announced in an email I got at 1am this morning. They said NO, we will just not bring the cat if we have to sign the paper.

So bleary-eyed and half asleep I had to try to "nicely" tell him in my reply, not to worry. That it was a common thing to sign off on and that it was just so that WE were not sued if THEY didn't like where the cat went after they gave it to us. At 8 am he wrote me back saying; OK, thanks for explaining. See you at 9:35 AM.” Yes, 9:35 AM, not 9:30 or 10...hmmm...odd.

Sam and I were both sure we would never see the kitten.

We pulled into the Park & Ride off I-84 to wait for the owner, who I didn't know anything about other than he had an Asian name, to bring the kitten. A car was already there waiting even though we were 15 minutes early. There were two Asian ladies in the car, one waved at me. I waved back. Their windows were open. I thought it was strange. I didn't see a cat carrier. I got out of the car and said hello. Turns out they waved at the person in the car BEHIND us and did not have the kitten! Oops. I live in a pretty much “New England Yankee” sort of demographic area so what were the odds we'd see another group fitting the same heritage as the owner of the kitten?

At 9:30 AM, an SUV pulled up. Definitely our guy. He got out of the car and smiled, then went to get the kitten. They had closed him up inside a small, covered CAT LITTER PAN. It was clean, but really? No holes in it to breathe? Sam took the litter pan and got in the car to transfer the kitten into our cat carrier. The guy gave me the paperwork signed and I signed it, too. I asked if there was anything I should know about and he, in a round about way, said the kitten peed on soft things when they first got him. Did they give him a litter pan? I don't know. Then he said he used the litter pan, but was weird about telling me if the cat pees on soft fabric that's on the floor, like a rug or cat bed. May have a litterbox aversion issue. Other than that, he said the kitten was fine.

©2011 Sam Moore. Meet DoodleBug!

He never told me the cat's name. He didn't give me any of the leftover food, if there was any. I asked him if they fed the cat. His mother said something in Chinese, not sure what, but he nodded at her and said the cat was fed breakfast. That was it. No remorse, no sadness, not even a goodbye to the kitty. No donation to provide for the cat's vet care, which I had asked for a few times. Oh well.

They left just a few minutes after they arrived. I got in the car and looked inside the cat carrier. That was it. I was “done.” What a sweet little face was looking at me from inside the carrier. When we got to Dr Larry's I took him out. He was purring. He was FLUFFY. He has a little white TIP on his stubby black fluffy tail! He didn't mind being held. His fur was very soft.

Sam almost whined at me. He wanted a turn holding the little guy! So we traded. He nibble at Sam's whiskers, then got a bit over excited so we put him back in the cat carrier. Lauren came out and we took the kitten out and put him on the countertop. He calmly explored this new place and I saw his butt. It was just the right amount of FLUFFY. He had that cute little butt-wiggle when he walked. Oh shit, I'm in trouble.

I think I'm in love.

In December of 2009 I rescued nine cats, not all related, from a kill shelter. I named them after Santa's reindeer and as a group, they picked up the nickname, “Santa's Team.”

This was the fundraiser poster I created for this rescue. You can see the entire gang!

When I picked them up off the transport, it was clear they were all very sick. I have my reasons as to why this happened, but I can't say why without facing repercussions-other than to say, the transporter was not even looking at the cats for the 36 hours they were on the road or giving them fresh water and probably not any food, either.

Some of the cats had raging high fevers, one had ringworm, which basically gave it to all my cats and my foster home's cats, too. It was a nightmare, to say the least, but all the cats lived and went on to be adopted into good homes. You can read more about them by doing a search for “santa's team.” Here are a few links: The Curious Case of Cupid and The Foster Cat Journal

©2011 Dave Musen and ©2009 Betsy Merchant. Cupid in her home and Cupid in the kill shelter with her babies.

Part of the rescue included a mama, I named, Cupid and her four offspring, Dancer, Donner, Prancer and Blitzen. Cupid was emaciated from being nursed on for too long. She weighed just five pounds. In a week she gained about a pound, once I gave her better food and got the kittens off her. That was only the beginning of a startling transformation.

©2011 Dave Musen. Every day is filled with fun surprises!

It took a few months before Cupid got any applications offering to adopt her. At the time, I was with another rescue group. They had a different idea to what makes a good adopter than I did. For this group, I had "special" permission to get what I wanted: NO going outdoors and I was really going to grill the family to make sure these cats were going to the best home. My plan did not work for all the cats. I think I made one adoption of two of Cupid's offspring that I still regret, but the cats are doing fine, it's just not my ideal.

©2011 Dave Musen. Yes, that is a DOG next to Cupid. Hee hee!

The other thing I am very careful about is adopting to home where there are very young children. It's just not safe for the child or the cat, so if I see on an application there is a toddler, even though I still process the application, I usually don't move forward with it.

©2011 Dave Musen. Toying with her dad's foot.

We had an adoption event around Valentine's Day. I met a man with his 9 year old son, his wife and their baby. The man had a connection with Cupid, but because of the baby, I wrote them off. He said they were thinking about getting a cat, but not sure. It seemed to be just a radom thing, nothing would come of it.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. My boy Blitzen is Cupid's son. Notice any resemblance?

Over a month later, I got an application on Cupid from that same man. His name is Dave and he lives here in town. I went through the motions, but really didn't think it would be a good idea. They had two dogs and a baby. Would Cupid be happy?

I called the family and spoke to Dave and voiced my concerns. He told me that he is often home working and that they had a Nanny to look after their baby and the nanny loved cats, too. That the baby has constant supervision of three adults. Their Vet reference was really great, too. They did everything for their dogs and they were willing and interested to feed Cupid a raw diet (they do for their dogs, too).

©2011 Dave Musen. Merry Christmas, Cupid! I see you got some gifts, too!

I told him he could come meet Cupid with his son, but I couldn't promise the adoption would go through. They came to visit twice and both times the son was very sweet and loving and Cupid seemed to like both of them. The wife was a harder sell, but she came along. Dave was really the one smitten with Cupid and I could see it in his eyes.

I went through with the adoption. A few months later, I got an update that Cupid was doing great and that they were really impressed with how sweet she was with the children and their dogs. That was almost two years ago and I've since left the group I was with so updates would stop coming, too.

©2011 Dave Musen. Cupid loves her doggy buddy.

The other day I was at my local pet food shop and who should be there, but Dave, getting food for Cupid and the dogs. We had a great chat about everyone. Cupid is doing fantastic. She has probably gained four more pounds and is up to about ten. Her coat, as you can see, has filled out to the extreme. Although she always seems to have a sad look on her face, she is living large, that is for sure. From what I hear, she is very very happy.

©2011 Dave Musen. Looking simply divine, Miss Cupid.

She has the BEST life, loves the dogs, loves her people. She will never want for anything. After what she suffered, she deserves this amazing home, with a dedicated, loving family. It doesn't get any better than this.

I'm glad I was able to work through my own hesitation about this adoption because this truly was the perfect family for her. I am very grateful to them for providing for her and for making her life the best, ever. Thank you!

Now can I just find a home this nice for Mazie? For Phil? For Cara? Well...Cara may have found a home, but that's another story for another day.

I love all cats, okay except for those nudie-ones. Yick. Cats need to have fur if at all possible. Sorry! Although I may struggle with loving cats equally, I admit being a sucker for a few things. 1) BIG CATS, 2) FLUFFY CATS, 3) CATS WITH BLUE EYES, 4) TUXEDO CATS.

Meet cat ID# 5/19-1791. He lives in a cage at Henry County Care & Control.

©2011 Henry Co. Care & Control. Waltz, anyone?

Cat ID# 5/19-1791 goes beyond being just big-boned. He could be your dance partner he's so tall or he could keep your entire bed warm at night. He will chat to get attention, but has a tiny tiny “meow.”

©2011 Henry Co. Care & Control. Big hugs for a big lug.

ID likes other cats, but is not too keen on dogs. ID is chill. He likes to hang with his human friends, too. Apparently, ID enjoys a good meal every so often, maybe a few times too often.

ID# 5/19-1791 has lovely blue eyes and a nice, fluffy tail. At Henry County Care & Control they say he might be part ragdoll. I think he's 100% fluffy-esque.

©2011 Henry Co. Care & Control. That is MY kinda cat!

After yesterday's loss of Big O, I felt a strong desire to do something life-affirming. I read the plea about cat ID# 5/19-1791 and I looked at those big blue eyes and I thought, why not? We can always make room for one more, right? I'll sort out the details later. For now, this cat has been at the shelter too long and we know what that means...every day is one day less he has to get out alive.

In honor of telling Death to go suck it (see yesterday's POST for more on that), I made arrangements for this gigantic love bug to get busted out of his steel cage and into temporary foster care.

©2011 Henry Co. Care & Control. No more cage for you!

He is FREE as we speak. He's getting vetted, then going to Aunt Bobbie's house to be fostered until his quarantine period is over. After that, we'll put him on a bus or something and get his big fluffy butt up here to Connecticut where we'll find him a super-awesome home.

In honor of one of our supporters, we're going to name cat ID# 5/19-1791, Phil. Yes, Phil.

Meet Phil, our latest rescue. Welcome to the family Phil. Chapter 1 of the story of your new life starts today!

©2011 Henry Co. Care & Control. You may begin to adore him in 3...2...1

UPDATE: Phil is neg/neg for FIV+ and Felv!! YAY!!!! And he only weighs 15 pounds?!!! Must have big bones!

For the past three weeks, I've taken Polly, Chester and Cara to see Dr. Larry at least once, some times twice a week. The kittens are just NOT “getting over the hump.” They get mildly better for a day or two and seemingly overnight they get very sick. They also don't all have the same symptoms at the same time. I've learned not to freak out when I see Polly's eyes all watery again or Chester sneezing, but...what can be done for them?

Last week, Dr. Larry and I had a long talk. He was very concerned that the kittens have FIP. For those of you not familiar with Feline Infectious Peritonitis, let's just say that it's a death knell for any cat who gets it. It's highly contagious, as well, which means I could have put ALL MY CATS, even Bob Dole, at risk for getting this incurable disease.

I did NOT want to think this is a possibility. I pushed back, saying the kittens were chronically ill, BUT they were thriving, in some way, too. They did PLAY, they ate well, they WERE gaining weight. Yes, they were sick with some sort of horrible URI that wasn't responding to MONTHS of medications, but could it be FIP? Oh no..PLEASE NOT THAT. Please don't make me have to EUTHANIZE MY FOSTER KITTENS!!! I could NOT IMAGINE A WORSE CHOICE TO HAVE TO MAKE. NOT MY LITTLE ONES. NO surely, not them. Granted my life sucks right now, but having to face this would put me over the edge and into a dangerous place.

That's why I couldn't write about it. I was too sick.

So we ran tests, even though Polly fussed and screamed, being the sickest, we decided to do the tests on her. We ran a PCR, which might tell us if she has Calicivirus, Herpes, etc. We ran a full blood panel, a stool sample, bartonella screening, re-snap tested her for FIV+/Feline leukemia. The tests cost $600.00 and many took the better part of a week to get results on.

While I waited for test results to come back, I spent time with the kittens, and their mom, Mazie, too. The kittens slept on me for hours. I didn't mind spending that time not working. My head was killing me. Having a headache for two months is not really fun. I loaded up on painkillers and we all took a nap. The kittens have grown fond of me, in their way. Once in awhile, I get a purr, especially out of Polly. Her coat is now like silk, from the grain-free food. I love to pet her while she snoozes. She sounds like a stuffed up duck when she breathes.

Cara tugs at my heartstrings. At 16 weeks old, she is only barely 3 pounds. She has so much mucus in her, if she eats too fast, she regurgitates her food, then hysterically tries to eat it back up, only to pass it out again. I have to feed her very slowly and still she is anxious to gobble up whatever she can. She is so tiny, with such big owl-green-eyes, I can't help but want to do whatever I can to save her life.

The test results started to come in. Bartonella-negative, Bloodwork, ok, but showed she is anemic, just slightly. Stool sample showed positive for a type of coccidia I haven't heard of and I will have to report on exactly what this was later since it escapes me just now. The PCR was inconclusive-probably because Polly has had so many antibiotics. Dr. Larry feels they have a heck of a herpes virus infection...DUH! We knew that going in! Would he take FIP off the table now? He said, YES, maybe, but he also insisted we snap test Cara and Chester for FIV+/Feline Leukemia. So we did that. Negative/Negative. Thank GOD.

Dr. Larry called a vet he knows in Arizona who works with shelter cats. She said she's seen this before. She suggested we hit this and hit it hard and that would get rid of what ails these cats. The problem is, there goes another $400.00.

Here are the meds...I am deworming them with Panacur, it's gonna blow out whatever parasites they've got. They are getting shots of B12, Zithromax, Baytril, Terramycin for their eyes. Most of this will take two weeks of daily or twice daily application. If the kittens don't hate me now, they will soon. I'd rather they hate me than have FIP any day of the week.

The other problem, as usual, is funding. I've asked so much of everyone that I can't even bear to ask now, so I'll just post this ChipIn and if you can help the kittens, that would be very much appreciated. If you can't, no worries.

These kittens deserve a chance at a healthy, long life. If I can get them over this, then I can start the happier task of finally finding them good homes. For kittens who've been sick almost every day of their short lives, it really would be remarkable to see them healthy-at last.

And if this doesn't work...I'm just not sure where that path will take us next. I won't let them down. I just won't, no matter what.

Even if I find out their Mom has RINGWORM...yeah...surprise! She's got it.

Halp.

THIS JUST IN FROM MARIA. NEWS ABOUT HER CAT, CHOCO:

I have really good news! He had no signs of keytones when they checked him at 3:00. He was very happy to see me and was all over me. Potassium is back to normal and I brought him some food to eat. Boy o boy was he hungry. We only gave him a half a can to start and he was definitely wanting the whole can. I also brought his insulin and gave him a shot after he ate. He still needs to go to my regular vet in the morning but it looks like he will be coming home tomorrow!!!

©2011 Maria S. Choco with food on his face! A good sign after what he went through yesterday.

Of course, this is SUPER AWESOME NEWS and it's SUPER AWESOME that MANY OF YOU JUMPED RIGHT IN TO HELP MARIA WITH HER SUPER-LOUSY VET BILL! We're still trying to raise another $700.00 or so, so if you can help out, we would VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT!

©2011 Maria S. Choco. Glad to see his MAMA!

It's tough to put into words just how much Maria does for at-risk cats. She is one of the best-she LOVES all cats and will do anything to help them. It's OUR TURN to help her!

©2011 Maria S. The ever-too familiar steel cage, but at least this time we KNOW this kitty HAS a loving home. Hs'e not in a kill shelter, thanks to Maria!.

Here's the LINK to the donation info. Remember that the PayPal email address they use does NOT have an EXTRA SPACE IN IT. The email address has the extra space to prevent spammers, so DO READ THE DONATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU TRY TO DONATE! THANK YOU ALL!!

One of the best things about fostering is getting updates on the kittens after they've been adopted. It's ironic that the family I put through the wringer to adopt a kitten, is really great about providing me updates. This family has three dogs-one is a “King” doberman who weighs about 120 pounds. I was not too excited to adopt to them, at first, but I did a home visit, then gave them a laundry list of “must do's” before I would move forward with the adoption. I did NOT want to have anything bad happen to my wards-especially Sugar Pie, who was very tough to let go.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. When we were young.

The family told me stories about how they raised their dogs with a pet CHICKEN! I even saw photos so I know they weren't pulling my leg. If those dogs could be with a chicken they could be with a kitten. They also had invisible fence IN their house so the dogs could not go upstairs-which is where they would start off housing Sugar Pie.

I even asked them to get a cat tree so she'd have a place to get away from the dogs if she was scared, so they custom built her one! Okay, so I had to adopt to them and it's worked out really well.

©2010 J. Prevelige.

Sugar Pie is now named, Jasmine. She gets along with the dogs, just fine and even keeps THEM in line. I'm told she is the most loving and affectionate cat they have ever known. She sleeps with her mom and dad every night, either under or over the covers or on or next to their head. She is adored and loved and growing up to be a spectacular beauty.

©2010 J. Prevelige. Will you look at that FACE?! What a sweetie!

I couldn't be happier for her or her family and I'm so glad I made the leap of faith. These people are really really good folks who treat their animals like their kids.

©2010 J. Prevelige.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for us and it certainly is great timing to have some good news about a very sweet girl.