We all have them: days when you just need a little something to get by. Maybe you stepped in a mud puddle and your socks got wet. Maybe your cable TV went out and couldn’t see what kind of tie Matt Lauer was wearing today. Perhaps you lost that peel of chocolate that insists on sticking to the Reese’s Peanut Butter cup wrapper.​

Whatever your situation, sometimes we all have a day when a boost could really turn your day around… to turn that frown upside down.

Well, how about some kitten cuddle time? Yeah, you heard me right! 15 minutes of cuddles with a cute kitten… delivered RIGHT TO YOU. For REAL!

WHAT?!

It’s happening TODAY! Thursday, October 29, from 11 am to 3 pm!

For the third year in a row, Uber is making its drivers available in select cities to deliver kittens right to you. In its first year, Uber hosted UberKITTENS in three cities. Last year, it was expanded to seven cities. But this year, they’ve really stepped it up to now delivering in 50 cities across North America. That’s right FIFTY CITIES! That’s CATrageous!

Sauerkraut is partnering with Uber and the Central Oklahoma Humane Society (the organization that rescued Sauerkraut) to promote the event. In conjunction with the kitten delivery, first-time Uber users can also use the Promo Code SAUERKRAUT to get a $20 credit on their first ride!

WHY? you might ask.

Uber is partnering with rescue organizations across the country to raise awareness around pet adoption, and to give back to local shelters. And most of the kittens being delivered are adoptable! The Uber driver will arrive with a representative from the shelter, and you can work with them to see if your kitten is available to join your family.

In its first year, UberKITTENS adopted out six kittens; last year, that number rose to 21. And who knows how many might get adopted this year?!

And even if you aren’t looking for a kitten to adopt, hey, I can personally tell you there are few things which can set a day straight quicker than a kitten nuzzling your neck or nibbling your earlobe!

HOW DO I GET SOME OF THAT ACTION?!

You can check on Uber’s website to see if UberKITTENS is available in your city. Hoping to cuddle a flame-point in Fargo? You’ve got it. Craving a tabby in Tucson? You’re on.

If they’re in your home town, use the Uber App to request your kitten delivery between 11 am and 3 pm.  For just a $30 “snuggle fee” you get 15 minutes of playtime. The best part? With that, Uber then turns right around and supports the rescue organization!

And remember, even if UberKITTENS isn’t available where you are, if you’re a new Uber user, you can use the Promo code SAUERKRAUT for a free first ride up to $20! AND Uber will donate $5 of that to Sauerkraut’s alma mater, Central Oklahoma Humane Society, no matter where you live!

So help out shelter cats, help out the rescue organizations in these fifty cities, and help *yourself* to a little stress relief!

One of the things that makes our little Sauerkraut unique, as I'm sure you've noticed, is that she wears clothes. Hopefully it’s one of the things that you find charming about her!

But it’s not unusual for us to get comments or questions about Sauerkraut’s clothing. It’s true that many cats do not like to wear clothing. I’m sure you’ve seen videos of a cat that someone has dressed up, and the cat either freezes and tips over as if they’ve turned to stone, or they race around trying to shake off the outfit as if it’s made of cat nip and firecrackers.

Some cats are cool with clothing, and for those cats I think it can be really cute to see them in a Halloween getup or dressed to the nines for the Oscars. As long as the cat is cool with it, and their owners have a good relationship with their cat, then all the better!​

But for Sauerkraut, we keep her in clothing for a reason. 

Then one morning, we found that Sauerkraut had a wound, above her crest and below her neck. We looked closely but didn’t see anything immediately amiss. We speculated she’d gotten into a scuffle with someone else.  We separated her from the other cats so it wouldn’t happen again, but even sleeping in the bedroom with us, her wound continued to grow.​

We took little Kraut immediately to the vet, where they tested her for mites or other possible skin conditions that would cause a wound like that. All the test results were negative.

Humom did a fair bit of research, and in discussions with Sauerkraut’s most excellent veterinary caregivers, the idea of Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome first came up. For those not familiar with it, Feline Hyperesthesia, also known as FHS or sometimes "Twitchy Cat Syndrome” is an abnormal sensitivity of the skin, and is most commonly caused by neurological disorder.  Sometimes the fur along her back will ripple, and she will suddenly start scratching or grooming herself incessantly.  The disorder will also display itself in sudden, unprovoked running or jerking, or twitching and thumping of her tail, as if she was startled. The injury to her neck, we deduced, was self-inflicted; she had scratched herself so obsessively that she has worn the fur away. ​

To keep her from getting at the wound so it could heal, the vet suggested we put a bandana or something around her neck. (The traditional Cone of Shame resulted in her refusal to eat or drink, or even move. Keep in mind that at this point, she only weighed a little over 2 pounds.)

We couldn’t find a bandana that small, but we had a hooded harness we’d been using with her when we would bring her to her vet appointments. We put it on her backward, so the hood hung down in front and kept her from being able to get at the healing scar.​

What happened next was, well, almost a miracle. While she had on her little outfit, she stopped all of her abnormal behavior. No twitching, no scratching or over-grooming at all. The scar healed, and as long as we kept her in an outfit, she did no harm to herself.  We were pleasantly surprised, and absolutely delighted. And we knew it was solving the problem when a couple months later, Sauerkraut got out of her outfit overnight, and in that short time had another episode in which she scratched her neck raw again. 

And it’s also taken a lot of trial and error. She doesn’t like sleeves. She doesn’t really like hats or hoods. She isn’t crazy about velcro. She loves the soft and thick fabrics. She sometimes enjoys supervised “nakey time” where she runs around without her clothes, until she starts to get twitchy.

If you notice any kind of difficulty with your pet, or your foster, take the time to get to know your cat, their preferences, and find the treatment that yields the best results. And as always, it’s important to do this in partnership with your veterinarian.​

Sauerkraut is doing well with clothes. She’s happy, healthy, and as adorably scowly as ever. Not to mention, she’s a fashion diva!  :)

[As before, to be imagined in the voice of Keith Morrison from Dateline]​

She is known by many as the sour-faced and tender-hearted cat of internet fame. But that’s not how this feisty feline got her start.

Oh, no indeed. Her beginnings are far more rooted in a darker life. For many young people in America today, the thought of growing up in the rough and tumble world of inner city gangs and street fights might strike fear into their hearts. But for Sauerkraut, she accepted that way of life. Not only did she accept it, but from many accounts, she embraced it, even sought it out.

As we’ve heard in Parts 1 and 2 of this exposé, Sauerkraut grew up in a home of comfortable yet modest means. While they never lived a lavish lifestyle, they had all the things a young kitten would need. Food in the bowl, fresh litter in the cat box, and plenty of time on the catio. She was the last cat to be adopted by her Pops and Humom, about two years after her more infamous siblings - Brock, Molly, and Cal - had been made a permanent part of their family.

Sauerkraut came to her foster family at just a few weeks old. The story of her early months is familiar to many: health problems including failure to thrive meant she needed special attention. She was later diagnosed with a heart murmur, and at that time, her foster parents decided to adopt the wee lass. Her older siblings took her in immediately, and the bond especially between Brock and Sauerkraut became a strong one. 

Surely, her early influences were somewhat colored by Brock’s misadventures. And Sauerkraut began to act out. Her parents found wounds on the young kitten, and thinking at first they were from her siblings, they isolated her for her protection. But the injuries continued, and they discovered the source of her scars were from Sauerkraut herself. 

After consulting with counselors, doctors, and peer groups, Sauerkraut was diagnosed with Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. And while it helped in her care to know her condition, it didn’t help the youth among her friends. She was small. She had to wear clothes for her FHS. And being adopted, well.. that’s always a point where other kittens her age might begin to pick on her.

The gentle teasing from her friends didn’t seem to bother young Sauerkraut. But what was happening inside… it was feeding her darker thoughts, hardening her heart.​

She saw how successful a cat could be following a life of wrongdoing - and lets face it, it’s not just her older brother that showed her this, but it’s all over the television today. 

​Before long, she was not just running with the wrong clowder, but this young cat, she was leading the gang.

If there was trouble to be found, well Sauerkraut had a nose for finding things like that. She fed on the excitement of running in the streets, getting wrapped up in clashes with the police, living life on the razor’s edge.​

Her first stint in jail was after a small run-in with the local law. She was out after curfew, and was discovered by a local policeman in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex. “She was vandalizing the residents’ cars,” the officer told this reporter, “with some stolen produce. And I’m too wise a law man to fall for the banana in the tailpipe.”

Perhaps a day or two in jail would cure her of her misadventures, but she learned from others while in the slammer. It was fuel for the fire in her soul.

“She went on like that for months,” her Humom related in one of Sauerkraut’s trials. “But she is a good cat. She only LOOKS sour!”

Sauerkraut found herself locked in the state penitentiary for a period of time. And it was here that she began to turn her life around. In an interview for Scared Straight: Kittens Behind Walls, she told a Discovery ID producer, “My sister Molly visited me here one day. It had been weeks since I’d seen anyone from my family. And she told me I had a kernel inside me of goodness, a core of decency. And that kernel was called ‘hope.’​

“And I realized it was true.” She paused to wipe at her misty, crystal-blue eyes. “I had so much to look forward to… so much I could teach kittens about how to avoid the kind of life I’d led.”

After volunteering for various prevention programs across the state, the judge released her early for good behavior. She has returned to her home, back among her parents and siblings now. She still volunteers for those prevention programs, returning to the jails and the prisons as often as her busy schedule allows. She also has begin to tour the country, to raise awareness about special needs fostering and adoptions. ​

For this young cat, she still has so much to offer. She has so many tales to tell. And you’ll have to forgive her if some of that hard life comes out from time to time, for in her words, “Well, the Thug Life.. I did love it. But I was glad to leave it, and I’ll never go back.”

A NOTE FROM POPS:

It’s been a lot of fun to write this “exposé” and in case anyone wasn’t already aware, it was written as satire, and any reference to people both living or dead was solely for comedic effect. However, there was a bit of me that was taking this seriously: there are a lot of cats out there that do lead hard lives. Too many animals - both cats and dogs - are living in the streets. And there’s a lot we can do to help. While the intentions of “armchair advocates” are good, that isn’t nearly enough. ​

Please consider volunteering at your local animal welfare organization or shelter. We can all have some part to play in this effort, whether it’s in Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, donating money or time to support shelters and animal welfare groups, fostering, adopting, or even cleaning animal cages or walking some dogs.. there’s something each and every one of us can do. Consider even sharing this blog so others can hear this message. Thank you for your efforts!!

[As before, to be imagined in the voice of Keith Morrison from Dateline]

It’s a Cinderella-kind of story. But not really. There was no evil step mother. No spoiled and entitled step sisters. But there certainly was one very strong, very determined cat who took it upon herself to care for her household.

But that care and determination, well… they come at a cost, don’t they?

Molly was one of four siblings when she came to her foster family as a tiny lass. Perhaps it was the early passing of one of her brothers that made her become the cat she was to be. She took it upon herself to become the disciplinarian, with a *bop* to the head of her brothers when they got out of line. Or when she began to manage the cleanings of her siblings, keeping them well groomed, even if it meant an upset stomach and some extra hairballs for her later on. ​

Why, from an early age she even took on care of the family dogs. No, not even the traditional boundaries of species was going to keep her from caring for those around her. It was just in her nature, a part of her very fiber of being.

And while her family gained its fame and infamy in the media, she also found herself thrust into that spotlight. The guardianship she assigned herself for her feline family, the protection she gave, the discipline she dolled out with a steady paw… yes, they earned her a reputation even outside of her home.​

She was first noticed by Martha Stewart. While Molly’s brother Brock was in the court system under suspicion of wrongdoing, a chance encounter brought “Brockstar” into contact with Ms. Stewart while she was undergoing her own infamous legal troubles. He confided in her that it was his sister, the demure and publicly quiet Molly, that kept the family in line. And when Martha saw what Molly came into court wearing on one cold and windy day, she was struck by the poise - and the jaunty, feathered, self-made chapeau - that made her decide this was one cat that needed her own spotlight.

Molly was soon on the covers of Martha’s magazine, appearing on morning television shows, and even a Fourth of July special on HGTV. She was a natural in the kitchen, in the craft room, and now in the boardroom as she began to see an empire build up around her. And yet, while she had assistants, producers, tailors and designers flocking around her, Molly maintained the same serious, maternalistic demeanor at home. She still cared for the other cats, the dogs, her adoptive parents.

After a while, well, we know how the story goes. It became too much for her. The long hours, the television appearances, flying to Europe to sample fabrics and Morocco to taste custom-ground spices… it was more than one cat could bear alone.​

To comfort herself, Molly turned to her own vices. She stopped caring for the dogs and instead took to… well, let’s just say the time she was spending with them was beginning to raise some eyebrows.

Unlike the Cinderella whose story she seemed to be following, there was no Fairy Godmother, no chariot of mice to cart her away from her hard and demanding existence. “I found her one morning, unconscious from exhaustion,” her Humom told this reporter. “We knew she’d gone too far - taken on too much for her to bear alone.”

At first she went to a local, out of the way rehab center, but they weren’t prepared to deal with helping her meet the demands of her life. The Betty Ford Clinic finally was able to help her deal with her plight. The Cat Wing of the Ford Clinic was her home for several months.​

And when she emerged… she was a cat reborn. She had decided to shed the shackles of celebrity, to return to her humble home. That same home that had once been such a burden on her, had once been the place that demanded so much, well now it felt like slipping on that old comfortable set of shoes.

Molly now lives back with her family - her adoptive parents, her famous and infamous siblings, and even the dogs. She has given up the fame, the fickle fortunes of the limelight. These days, Molly - once the media darling of runways and craft shows - can be found lounging on the catio, soaking in the sunlight of a warm Oklahoma afternoon. 

She still keeps one eye on the television though, watching for her old mentor and confidant Martha, and thinking… someday. Maybe someday…​

[To be imagined in the voice of Keith Morrison from Dateline]

It’s the stuff that dreams are made of: a cat of privilege, raised in a comfortable home in urban Oklahoma. A clean litter box every day, fresh catio air, and a caring family. But things don’t always go the way a loving mother or father might hope for their feline children.

This is the story of three different cats. Cats that had the right upbringing, the right environment, and the right dreams. Squandered opportunities and poor choices, each culminating in a lesson we should all bear in mind. ​

These are the lessons we all must heed, lest we find ourselves caught up in the wrong clowder.

He had humble beginnings. One of a ragtag group of foster children, brought into the child welfare program at a very young age. Brock, or "Brockstar" as he became known as an adolescent, was not your average cool cat.

​Handsome, rugged, with a thick undercoat that made him impervious to insult or hardship. His family describes him as confident and at times caring, but he was always one to add a little "bite" to his affections. "He was always so fluffy, so cottony, but... then he'd lay next to your arm and before you knew it, CHOMP, he had his teeth on your skin," his adoptive mother said.

Oh no... his humble beginnings did not result in a humble feline. He knew his good looks and charm could take him places that few could imagine.​

Before anyone realized what was happening with this fine fellow, he had become mixed up in the wrong crowd, the kind of cats that you just don't want to bring home to meet your momma.

And with his slightly cross-eyed charm and beefy size, his friends looked up to him as a natural leader. But where he was leading them... that's not where you want your kittens to go.

He discovered catnip at a young age. Likely inadvertently given to him in a package delivered from the pet food store, he took to it immediately. Rolling around in the nip, getting it in his fur. Yes, he was hooked the moment he found it.​

Before long, the short nights and the long days of travel began to catch up with him. And so did the federal authorities.  Court and law enforcement documents we've discovered found that for years, the FBI and local police were investigating him for wrongdoing.

But at each turn he was able to dodge the law man.​

One day, according to his friends and family, he woke up and realized what was happening - what his life was destined to become. And he didn't find it pretty.  "We were so worried about him," his Humom told us. "We always hoped that the good cat inside of him would help him find his way back to us."

Brockstar, that same cool cat that was seen leaving Opurrah's house in the wee hours of the morning, sneaking into the back door of the Late Late Show to have private meetings with Craig Furrguson, yes, he had decided to turn a corner in his life.

Now a devoted pastafarian, he has completely given up his old habits, his old ways. Today, he can be seen visiting with inner city kitties and sharing his experience with them, helping to keep them from wandering down the wrong, dark path. He volunteers his time to work with other foster kittens. He knows that life. And he knows how to help them stay out of the dank corners of Catnip Alley.​

Next in our series, we follow Brock's sister, Molly - forced to raise her siblings from the time she herself was a child.  Kittens raising kittens, in Part 2 of our exposé.