WTF?!

After all my excitement over Spencer possibly being more Norwegian Forest Cat than mixed breed, tonight I was petting him and was suddenly alarmed by what I found.

Spencer had a LARGE bald spot behind his right shoulder blade! A few days ago I thought his fur looked a bit odd. I could see his pink skin appear as stripes through his dense coat. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the big bald spot. I thought that perhaps I caused it yesterday when I combed out a good sized mat. The matted fur was in the same area, but the mat was not THAT BIG. This is a BIG area.

I checked Spencer's left side and I saw the same thing-a big bald patch. I almost threw up. My gorgeous baby's fur is gone. The skin is pink, smooth, no signs of broken hairs, blood, scabs, nothing. Perfectly clear of fur.

I Googled: "causes of hair loss in felines" and saw far too many possibilities from symmetrical alopecia to hyperthyroidism to mange, flea bites, ringworm, dermatitis. Oh God. Here we go again. Another cat with skin problems. It could also be caused by anxiety.

Spencer has been fine. Just fine. He had a a few fleas a few months ago. He was given Advantage once a month for the past three months. He never had it before then. Was it the Advantage? Wouldn't he be bald where the Advantage was applied?

I have no answers. It's not an emergency, so I'll attempt to get to sleep. Dr. Larry isn't in until TUESDAY. I'll call tomorrow to give them a heads up. If they think Spencer needs to come in sooner than Tuesday, I'll be ready.

There are things I can bear-being fat, I can bear being estranged from some of my family members, but not this...I get so much joy out of seeing Spencer. His little wiggle-walk and super pouffy butt fluff (aka, fluffocks). He just makes me smile every day. Even if he lost all his fur, I would love him just as much, but my heart would break. He's so magnificent. Yes, I'm deeply attached to him. He's my boy and I love him, dearly. I'm not over reacting...it's just that I feel this tightening in my heart.

What does this mean for Spencer? What will come of this discovery? Is this going to get worse? What will happen to my boy and how can I make it better as soon as possible?

Oh no! Oh no!

During the course of my life, I've never had a purebred cat. All my cats were rescued from the Pound or sort of fell into my lap. While I figure one day I'll find a purebred that needs to be rescued, for now it's just me and a house full of "mutts." That is...

...until I decided to watch Cats 101 on Animal Planet this afternoon.

I was intrigued by their teaser ad, showing the selection of cats they were to highlight. There was a Havana Brown, Abyssinian, Ocicat, blah blah blah, Norwegian Forest Cat. I did a double-take. The cat they were showing was a doppleganger for Spencer. As the show began, my heart started to race. Was I having a heart attack or was I just excited the Spencer had a secret that was about to be revealed...one that would "change our lives FOREVER" (that quoted part should be read with great authority and grandeur and maybe a bit of reverb).

So I sat there and watched and listened. The narrator talked about some of the traits of the Norwegian Forest Cat. Things like, tufted toes (check!), big-ass bushy tail (check!, though he didn't say "big ass"), tail often has a WHITE TIP (CHECK!), triangular shaped head with really fluffy ear fur (CHECK!), thick double-layer coat (CHECK!!!), extra "pouff" around the head (CHECK!!!) rounded tipped ears (CHECK!!!).

Look at his tail! See the white tip? See the look of dementia on his face? Wait, that's not a trait...is it?

Holy crap. Spencer's gotta be a Norwegian Forest Cat! I went online and looked at some Breeder's photos. You tell me Spencer does not look like this guy!! Spencer is just as pouffy! What do you think??

CH Meisterhaus Talia of LostWoods. photo: lostwoodswegies.com

Is my precious pouff a "Wegie?" I feel like I just won the Lottery!

READ THIS

Oh my GOD. I'm REALLY REALLY scared to think of what this might mean for cats with URI's who are at shelters and our own cats...

It was announced today that the first case of H1N1 Flu was been diagnosed in a CAT. This Press Release from the AVMA describes the situation in detail.

What do you think? I'm afraid to even put out this news because of how "hot button" the topic is-and what it could mean if people over react to the news.

Oh boy...this is a terrible day indeed.

I'd rather feel horrible that I posted something based on a serious communication error, than feel horrible because some animals died. Last week I reported on a mama and her babies getting euthanized at Henry County. Some cats DID get put down, but I'm trying to find out which one's Betsy's e-mail to me was regarding.

I just learned from my friend, Barbara at WCR, is that the Mama and her babies seen below ARE ALIVE AND WELL at a clinic in Norcross, GA.

I am VERY SORRY for the tears I've caused, though I must add, that some kitties DID die, so to say the tears were wasted, would be wrong. I will ramp up my efforts to double check future announcements so this does not happened again.

My apologies to all...and if you're interested in ADOPTING some cute kitties, let me know!

They said if I could keep him restrained for five minutes that should do it. Who were they kidding? Two seconds in and my right bicep had already endured multiple lacerations. I was convinced my left eye was in imminent danger. I should have put a shirt on before attempting this. In fact, safety goggles were probably in order. How could an otherwise docile 8 year-old be so strong? Four seconds in and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would last. This is what I get for skipping Total Body, I thought to myself.

Will someone please tell me WHY it's necessary to INHALE buttock-fumes? Do I go around doing that to MY friends and family? If I did, I certainly would keep that to myself!

Just thought with all the pleas for help and sick cats and traumas, it was time for something ELSE to balance the load a bit. Sure, I could have chosen a CUTE photo of a kitten, and I did, sort of.

I got Gracie and Bob to see Dr. Larry today. Bob was due for his blood test re-check. This will tell me if his ALT is on the way DOWN and his liver function is improving. Also, it will tell me if his kidneys are still OK after the "metacam incident."

My poor Gracie. She's biting the fur off her hind end and on her back. Every other day, she vomits up the small clumps of fur. Either she is SO stressed that she's self injuring or she is SO uncomfortable she is biting off her fur in frustration from being itchy. I can't tell. What I can tell you is that Gracie will now be on Amitriptyline, an anti-depressant. The hope here is to help her to relax. If the stress goes away, maybe she will not pick at herself and her skin will clear up. Dr. Larry gave her a shot of Vetalog to keep her comfortable. She hasn't had a steroid in 10 months so I thought it would be safe. It's the only thing that clears up the dermatitis. That way she will stop itching and biting herself!

The worst news is not really news. Dr. Larry said that Gracie, in a home with no other animals, would probably resolve her issues and be fine. I know she's a nervous nelly and I do my best to give her attention, but with 6 other cats, that's tough to do. In my heart, I agree. Gracie (and Petunia) would be happier in a home together with no other pets. Finding a home for a 6 and 9 yr old cat, not so easy to do-certainly not one that would have to be a FANTASTIC owner. I'd HAVE to do a home visit and deeper background check before I'd let them go, but the idea of seeing them leave that really kills me. I also feel like a failure.

It's not over yet. I'm going to keep trying to help Gracie feel better here. We'll try the meds for two months and see how she does. Maybe she just needs help coping for awhile and once she has some success she can go off the meds and stay here!

So with all that swirling around in my head, I'm trying to coordinate another transport of four kittens to CT from down south. It's been nutty and I seem to write an email, just as another arrives. Questions are many. Answers are hard to come by. I will be happy when this is wrapped up.

Then I get home from the Vet. No sooner than I get here, my Intern calls me into the kitchen. There's an injured hawk in a tree outside the house! Oh geez...we have a high wind advisory today, no wonder the hawk is hurt! So, for another few hours I was on the phone with our ACO, Carolee, someone from Wildlife in Crisis, a wildlife "guy" who comes to get the nutty animals out of your attic and such, and a raptor rehabilitator named Darlene, who was super nice and helpful.

This little Broad Winged Hawk had some sort of eye injury. According to Darlene it looks to be an OLD injury (because it's dry). She said he would learn to adapt and shouldn't just perish from the injury, though I swear I think my intern wanted to climb a tree to get the hawk so we could get it to the Vet! I put some "oops it expired" pork on the deck and some ground beef, hoping he'd come eat, but no luck. After a few hours of hanging around, he left.

I'm trying not to write that I'll "keep an eye peeled" looking for him, but I will keep an "eye out" for him...okay, I'll look out the window to see if he's in the yard. If I find him on the ground, I know how to capture him and get him some help. Meanwhile, where DID MY DAY GO? I have gotten nothing done. Wait, I'm finishing this...okay I got one thing done. Crap. I need more time, but I need a nap, first.

It was a crazy day! I'm emotionally drained and I didn't even tell you about the 3-day long fight Sam and I had, so I have a good excuse to rest now, and eat a cookie. I need a cookie.

This is Melody. Apparently, after living for 19 years with her family, when they moved away, instead of taking her with them, they abandoned her in the hallway of their apartment building. What are the last days of this animal's life going to be like? Living in a shelter where she will never be adopted and die without the love of a family? What family would take her when her days are coming to an end?

Melody needs the compassion of a special person who can be there for a cat who doesn't have a long life left to share. Melody has no known health issues. All she needs is a warm bed and love.

Right now Melody's staying at Animals in Distress. 203-762-2006. Here's Melody's posting and here's the main web site for Animals in Distress if you'd like to get more information on Melody. Anyone who can open their home to this special kitty is a SAINT in my book and right now Melody's going to need divine intervention to get her a wonderful, last, loving home. I hope she finds it soon. She deserves to know love, again, before it's too late.

It's already been a week since Huggy "Mama" Bear left for her new home. Where did the time go! Just last week it was August, I swear!

Huggy has been renamed. I'm a bit sad about this change. Normally it doesn't bother me that cats have new names in their new home, but Huggy was such a special kitty, it would have been nice to leave things as they were. Her new name is, Holly. Nice name and gee, I guess only a few letters away from her old one.

Oh yeah, we're cool now that we're adopted and all! I am not sure who took this photo. Either I did or Ryan, my nephew. Hmmm.

As you may recall, Huggy, er, Holly and the boys all went to the same home. I drove Dash (renamed, Dash!) and Snuggles (renamed, Turk) to their new home last Thursday night. I HAD to clear the house to make room for two more fosters, so I offered to do a late night drop off. The one thing I didn't figure on was, yeah, it was DARK outside at 8:30pm! No one has house numbers and all the mailboxes are on ONE side of the street, not both, so even with GPS there was no way to figure out which house was #8! Of course, stupid me, I forget to bring the phone number of the new owner! I had to spend $150,000.00 (maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit) to call Directory (Rip off) Assistance only to find out that NO ONE WAS HOME!

So we sat there in the car and waited awhile. Sure enough, I recognized the car and like a good stalker, followed them into their driveway once I had them in my sights.

I felt badly bringing the kittens over so late at night, but the Dad, Chris was really nice about it. He unlocked the door and we entered his home. His son was wearing his Boy Scouts uniform. Looked really cute. His pants needed to be hemmed. I have no idea why I would notice that, but I did. I guess it made him cuter. Anyway, Chris called out to Huggy saying she had been sleeping with him and his wife and was doing well.

Huggy was NO WHERE to be seen! Chris called and called to no avail. Huggy had vaporized into thin air.

I felt a bit uncomfortable about all the fussing to find Huggy. I didn't want to stress her out and I didn't want Chris to feel bad that I wasn't going to see her. Then, as I stood at the bottom of the stairs, I saw Huggy RACE down the stairs from the second floor where Chris had been looking for her. She FLEW right past me. She was hunkered down LOW, scared out of her wits. The house was big and wasn't packed with stuff so sounds really carried. I could see why Huggy/Holly would be frightened.

Resigned to not getting to say hello, I asked if there was a small room to put the boys into and Chris just said to let them out and to first show them the litter pan. He walked us into another room and there it sat, the one thing I did NOT want to see!!!!!...one of those monstrous "automatic" poop scooper litter pans. As Chris blithely lowered Snuggles/Turk into the pan I told him that those pans have the highest rate of causing inappropriate elimination of any box. Kittens can also get hurt in them. Well, Chris was havin' none of that. Saying Huggy was using it (what choice did she have?) and it was fine. (ok, call me when the cats start peeing all over the house). Also, there was only ONE pan for all THREE cats. Hmmm...

I realized that this was the FIRST home visit I've ever been on. I had to wonder how many other adopters I'd be rudely telling to ditch their litter pan setup or more? I shudder to wonder.

Litter pan blunders aside, they are super nice people and I just heard that after a day Holly (see, I can remember things!) began to recognize the boys and all three are back to their lovey-dovey selves.

Hopefully, I'll get more updates on the kitties in the coming months. It's funny how anticlimactic the entire farewell was. The boys found the litter pan, then Dash ran off (dashed off?) to explore. I waved to the boys, knowing I'd already loaded them with kisses before I left my house and called out to Huggy (she was STILL Huggy then so there!) hoping one day I would get to see her again.

So we're done. Three lives that surely would have ended in a Kill shelter in Georgia, to three lives that get to be lived fully, with two happy children and two parents who will give them all the love and good things every cat deserves.

Yes, these cats definitely won the Lottery. That's for sure.