Confessions of a Blogaholic

We are taking Stink to yet ANOTHER vet! He ripped half of his face and all of his chin hair off within the last few days; he's started licking (i.e. cleaning) himself for hours at a time again; his ears are filling with goo again. Ugh...what a poor, poor cat.

For those who don't know...we must've adopted the sickest, grossest feline known to mankind. Short of changing his diapers every day, Nathan and I have had to do everything for the monster since we got him 3 years ago. In the last three years, we have:

1) Treated him for 3 months for ear mites (Doctor #1's orders--even though she did 3 ear mite swabs and found nothing!)
2) Bathed him in feline anti-itch dip
3) Been through periods of having to clean his ears daily (not to mention trimming his nails and having to smell his AWFUL poop!)
4) Wait...let me dwell on that poop smell a minute, because I don't think you know how bad it really is. We have to keep the litter boxes in the bathroom because every time he goes, you have to turn the fan on. In fact, it is SO bad that although Nathan originally named him Oreo, we changed the name to "Stink" because it was much more appropriate!
5) Given him fish oil to help with dry skin (in case that was the cause of the itching)
6) From September through December last year, we took him every 2 weeks for a whopping $40 allergy/steroid shot.
7) Purchased the MOST EXPENSIVE limited-ingredient cat food in the universe
8) Put him on a HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPRESSANT (Doctor #2's advice) that hospitals give to patients after they've had an organ transplant to stop his immune system from overreacting
9) Tried to food test him ourselves
10) Switched from good ole' regular cat litter to this "Yesterday's News" brand that literally consists of newspaper pellets.
11) Did I mention that we have to smell his god-awful poop??

I know what you're thinking...That cat sounds like too much trouble. Why don't you just put him down if you're so miserable and he's so sick? Well, that answer is simple...he is the most fun and amazing cat I've ever seen in my life. First of all, he's a HUGE (approx. 20 pounds) baby who loves to sleep curled up right next to me and always greets us like we've been gone for days. He can play catch (and bring the object back, just like a dog), and he purrs all the time. He's fantastic, and we love him. For now, he is definitely worth all the effort.

Let's see what this feline specialist we are taking him to has to say. I REALLY hope she can help without charging us our first-born child!!