Drunk Uncle Otis

Sometimes in our moments of weakness (or on what I like to call “level red mental health days”) we make these impulse decisions and it may not feel like the smartest in the moment but either you are going to learn from that weakness or you are going to bloom from it

– Drunk Uncle Otis was the moment of weakness here in the adorable house of misfits but it is a journey that we have elected to take as a family in ongoing efforts to continue to fan the flame that is our dumpster fire family (said with absolutely love)!

Drunk Uncle Otis was scheduled to be put to sleep at a clinic about an hour or so from me, the “owner” stated that the original D.U.O was 17 years old and no longer used the litterbox and it was simply his “time”.

Que the record scratch here, folks.

Luckily thanks to the observant and empathetic eye of the veterinary hospital they realized that:

1. If dude was 17 that he was the most impressive looking, Benjamin Button ginger in the world – they have him estimated to be about 6 years old. (oh the stories people will weave!)

2. D.U.O is also front paw declawed and has a mild form of cerebellar hypoplasia and since he was “no longer using the facilities” he was no longer worthy of compassion or love (total FYI he has had zero litterbox issues since coming to the land of adorable misfits).

The face of judgement after an ear cleaning!

I am sure that you all know how difficult it is to adopt out handicats to stable and loving homes let alone them being older (or having multiple handicapable qualities) so you know my inner guilt began to play on me (that and I was having reruns of when Bifford was D.U.O’s age and scared all alone waiting for his time to shine).

So just slap a kick me sign on my back and a dunce cap on my head as #MadMax and I embarked on our Saturday morning adventure to go get Drunk Uncle Otis (who is named after the drunk uncle from the Andy Griffith Show).

Pretty much instantly I knew that the D.U.O would be joining our happy band of misfits as we were not even two miles from picking him up (with well over an hour left in the car on the freeway) and D.U.O gifted #MaxMax and I with what I had initially thought was throw-up only to be delightfully tickled to know that it was, in fact, urine that he then began to roll around in without any shame in the world.

But in that moment, I knew he would fit in with the other handipets here aboard the S.S PEN15 and that filled my heart with a morbid sense of happiness and fulfillment.

Thinking I had this handicat mom gig in the bag I placed D.U.O in our spare room with a baby gate installed to keep the others out and he in (imagine my utter shock when I thought I outsmarted the ginger handicat by putting up said baby gate only to be schooled while he cleared it like he was a catapult jumper) in addition to what we can only assume was being beat up and bullied at his former home because though he is not mean he speaks three levels of Satan whenever he sees one of the other handicats galivanting about the house behaving without concern by D.U.O and his saucy attitude sprinkled with some few choice words.

Was I absolutely concerned that the handicats would react poorly to D.U.O? Sure!

Are they? Abso-sh!t-ley not! They could give two cat turds less that this red menace is bouncing around the house grumbling to himself.

I understand (and remind myself multiple times a day) that I cannot save them all, I cannot take *all* of the handicats or overstretch my limits but I *can* agree to help when I can, educate when I can, lend a hand when I am able to.

And in this particular moment something called me to D.U.O. I know there are plenty of adult handicats in the world needing love and homes but for the moment I will consider this a win because we are changing the life of one handicat in particular: Drunk Uncle Otis (as well as Bifford, Bart and Max!)

Category: Awareness, Fun, Miscellaneous, misfits | LEAVE A COMMENT

When Life Hands Ya Lemons…

John Lennon once said, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans…” and I never understood what that meant until I was sucked into the most recent whirlwind of poo covered tornado that has come into my life.

Buckle up friends, it’s a wild wild ride.

I have finally learned what it is like to feel like Bifford (the constantly drunk looking, woozy feeling) –well, sort of – and I thought I had my fair share of gnarly neurologic episodes of my years dabbling with epilepsy (totally the universe’s gift of course) but boy was I far from wrong as the universe proudly announces to hold their beer while they razzle dazzle my paperweight of a brain with more shenanigans.

Last year I got COVID-19 and though my symptoms were mild (thanks to the vaccine, wearing my mask and washing my hands) I had no idea what the lasting effects would be but I was soon to find out one of them: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) which commonly happens after viral illnesses and usually affects women between 13-50 (lucky us right ladies?). Basically, it is a blood flow issue where you can feel extremely lightheaded, faint, nauseous, diarrhea and much more fun exciting things. The absolute kick in the shin? There really is no absolute cut and dry treatment plan (when is there ever?) but essentially with diet changes, lifestyle changes and more there is hope the symptoms lessen over time though it is something that could last anywhere from a few months to a lifetime.

So awesome.

On top of being epileptic and having a plethora of mental illnesses (again, don’t we all in one way or another?) I was gifted with this too. Meh it is another hurdle in this crazy chaos we call life and what else can I do then roll with the punches?

Anyway, enough of the plight that is my neurologic health there are exciting things on the horizon for the Misfit’s Campaign!

–              Our carrier tags are improving! It is so cool to have all you friends on this journey with us (I am sure a lot of you remember the very early on, rudimentary carrier tags and have watched them progress to what they are today) so now we are diving into this technological world – sublimation printing. Essentially sublimation printing is baking ink onto a surface making it hardier and more durable (which is exactly what we want in a carrier tag!) and will come in an array of colors, designs and handicapable abilities. Tentatively we are hoping to launch these bad boys by the end of November/early December 2022! We are still going to provide them free to those who apply for one (of course you can receive more for just the cost of postage).

–              Though our main goal is cerebellar hypoplasia awareness we realized that when we adopted Maxwell that other adorable misfits needed someone to be their voice, for those misunderstood – so we are branching out to adorable misfits of all walks of life. This means that in addition to seeing Bart, Bifford & Maxwell you will see guest appearances from Lucipurr (who is behaviorally challenged) and Bessie (who is vertically challenged) as well as from fellow handicapable friends and their parents. The whole idea for us here is to show the world that “hey! We are all a little messed up in our own special ways, but we are rockin’ it!”

–              Constantly updating our Misfit’s map! Not only will it include handicapable cool veterinarians but will be branching out to include misfit cool rescues, organizations, friends – because it is all about helping one another for the greater good of these adorable misfits, am I right?

Between the new chaos and the usual chaos, I have to say that I am utterly exhausted but thankful for each and everyday!

Friends, I must thank you all because I haven’t been tending to the campaign like I would want to. Sure, that means that messages don’t get replied to as quickly, tags may not go out as fast and some of the content may be recycled (more than once), if you are following us on Instagram (@PresidentBifford) & TikTok (#Presidentbifford) then you will see that there has been mountains to climb in our personal, professional, emotional and mental lives and we are working ever so diligently to process all of this in order to better continue to work on what is so near to our hearts: misfits.

Category: Awareness, Campaign Information, misfits | 2 Comments on When Life Hands Ya Lemons…

“Four-On-The-Floor” Rule!

One of the “rules” that I heard upon adopting Bifford was “four-on-the-floor” and all I could think is “what the he!! does that even mean!?” But it makes sense when handling a cerebellar hypoplasia animal and one of the various ways you can ensure their safety!

Cat’s usually have no issues with landing on their feet when they jump down onto the floor but CH pet parents know that this is usually not the case with cerebellar hypoplasia animals.

The rule of thumb “four-on-the-floor” is an effective and friendly reminder to new pet parents, friends & family members to place a CH pet gently onto the ground while properly ensuring all four of their paws are planted firmly on the ground before letting go of them.

Note: This does NOT promise that they will not fall/stumble over but will help ensure they do not fall/stagger from a distance!

Most pet parents (or humans in general!) know that generally cats can jump from a distance onto the ground and land successfully on their feet without issue. This is NOT the case with cerebellar hypoplasia animals and if someone was to let a CH pet jump from a distance this could result in injury to your special baby (or injury to you attempting to catch a falling pet, get caught by a claw etc.!)

“Four-on-the-floor” is a safe, effective and cute way to remember that CH pets need a little assistance when being placed on the floor!

So remember to “PLANT THOSE PAWS” on the ground!

Category: Awareness, CH-Proofing, Did You Know?, First Aid, Miscellaneous, Veterinary Medicine | LEAVE A COMMENT

Pet Insurance & CH Pets

We have received lots of messages pertaining to cerebellar hypoplasia pets & pet insurance and unfortunately we have not been able to find a pet insurance that would cover “CH” pets! Below is listed a chart courtesy of DVM360 that shows the top pet insurance companies and breaks down the “dirty details” of each insurance company.

Upon speaking to one of the pet insurance companies “Figo Pet Insurance” I kindly asked them to specify their “pre-existing policy” and how this pertains to cerebellar hypoplasia pets.

“Cerebellar hypoplasia will be considered a pre-existing condition even though the pet is born with it unless it happens to not show signs or symptoms until after the pet has a policy. The earliest you can insure a pet is 8 weeks old and we have a 14 day waiting period for illnesses. In order for the cerebellar hypoplasia to be covered, there would need to not be any signs or symptoms until the pet was at least 10 weeks old…”

I then asked Figo Pet insurance about “accidents or illnesses” [Figo Pet Insurance states that you can still get pet insurance for a CH pet BUT any illnesses/injuries that could be related to CH would NOT be covered by pet insurance] so I asked them to clarify that.


“We base all coverage off of the medical records your veterinarian provides. With CH the coverage will heavily depend on if your veterinarian feels the accident or illness is related to the CH. For example, if your vet states “CH caused pet to fall over and break tooth” it would be considered due to a pre-existing condition. If your vet states that there is a broken tooth and does not consider it due to the pre-existing CH then it could be covered
We could also offer coverage for other accidents or illnesses that your vet deems unrelated to the CH like urinary issues, allergies, diabetes, or cancers…”

So the jury is still out on pet insurance! In our opinion we feel that the pet insurance companies will try to connect any injury/illness to CH (thus the pet insurance not covering the bill for!) so personally we feel it is not worth having your CH baby on pet insurance but always stress to do your homework! If you are looking into insurance for your CH pet contact them directly and ask questions pertaining strictly to cerebellar hypoplasia!

We recommend looking into Care Credit (www.carecredit.com) which is sort of like a credit card that you can only use at the veterinarian’s office (or you can personally use it also! I recently used my care credit at the dentist office!)

Category: CH-Proofing, Did You Know?, Miscellaneous, Veterinary Medicine | LEAVE A COMMENT

#Misfits4Ukraine

Friends, it is hard these days to not turn on the TV or go online and be faced with sad, devastating images of the atrocities going on in Ukraine so in all of this bleakness we wanted to share with you some shimmers of light.

First off we want to be very clear in saying that we misfits stand with our friends in Ukraine and continue to send them love, prayers, compassion and support in any way that we can. Our hearts continue to break over the utter chaos and devastation that our friends (both two and four legged) are suffering in Ukraine.

Since this disruption for our friends in Ukraine we have gotten requests for carrier tags from not only Ukraine but also neighboring countries – all with the intent of giving them out so animals have a chance of being identified if they have a special ability but also leaving owners the ability to put their name and number on it in the event they are separated.

We continue to receive brief messages of families that are grateful for these carrier tags in a war torn area and several that were reunited with their handipet thanks to our carrier tags.

We even received an email from one pet parent that did not stray away from talking about cerebellar hypoplasia despite bombs going off in the distance. Friends we are in this together! We continue to show our support for Ukraine and we hope that you will also!

Keep fighting the good fight misfits!

Category: Awareness | LEAVE A COMMENT