When I accepted these burn kittens into our care, I had no idea the challenges that would result from it. It is 3:44 a.m. right now and about two hours ago, I woke up to a horrendous crash upstairs. Both Ash and Magoo flew down the stairs as I came out of the bedroom. There was poop flying out of Ash’s bum- this is something she has displayed after her long stay at the vet when she first got here. It’s a stress reaction. It is PTSD at its smelliest. It is so sad that she displays this. She will poop on herself when she is stressed out and that stress can be as simple as taking mats out of her long fur, or taking her temperature to see if she is sick.

Her eyes become so dilated once she is even gently restrained. Scruffing her is out of the question, this is met with her whole body going stiff and then the trembling starts. She will bite, she will scratch and she will growl throughout the whole restraining process and through it all, poop will start flowing out of her.

My shelf upstairs had collapsed, they were rough-housing and running amuck which is what they do through-out most of the night. It took me about an hour to locate her. She had clawed a hole in one of our couches and was hiding within. She was stiff as a board, but unhurt and covered in poop from her rear down to her tail. I wrapped her up gently and took her into the bathroom to clean her up. I knew, that this was going to be a lost cause. Because when you bathe her, she poops all over you, the bucket, herself. It’s really a no-win situation.She can be perfectly clean after the bath and picking her up and putting her on the floor, she will poop again. It’s maddening.

I’ve said this before, I don’t have proof, but I think she was mishandled while she was gone. When she was finally released back to us, we noticed she was deathly afraid of hands. It always brings me to tears when she displays this behavior. They have been de-wormed, they have been de-flead routinely. She is not sick, she is eating, drinking and even using the litterpans normally. She has a new pheremone collar on right now. (I keep a stock of these on-hand because they work so well.)

Right now, she is decompressing in our bathroom. I know her bum is really stinky and dirty, but going in there to wipe her off or give her another butt bath will only cause her to poop all over herself.

They are both so sensitive to noise, change, any variation of their routine will send Magoo hiding so efficiently it can take days to find him, and she will send poop flying everywhere.I don’t want to take her back to the vet where she developed this behavior. She has done this since she returned which is why I know she isn’t ill. They don’t go outside, they don’t even want to go outside. I never have to worry about them rushing the door when I am carrying groceries in or doing other things. They are the only cats in the house right now.

In the morning, I am going into town to a shop that carries the Bach Flower Remedies and see what Gloria might recommend to calm this situation down. I’ve had enough cats in my care to know that if she did have a bacterial infection or some sort of parasite, my floors would be covered in poop and pee. She uses the litter pans and only presents the flying feces when she feels stressed. It’s why they both were returned a month after they were adopted out. The family could not deal with the fact that they are not “normal” kitties.

They will be here till the end, or they will be the end of me! LOL I am not sure what will come first. I just keep trying things, but even the simple act of picking her up to pet her can become a stinky situation. I will not give up on them, I just had to vent. Now that is 4 a.m I will go outside and feed early and try to catch a nap before the sun comes up.

People sometimes ask me why I take the high-risk rescues, this is why,  because I never give up until I absolutely have to. Look at this beauty- would you give up on her?