Last year, I thought it would be fun to write an annual letter about my cats (read the 2018 letter here). Traditionally, year-end newsletters are written about people and are short summary of major events (including health problems) from the family for that year.
Below is the 2019 letter! The health status or vacations of humans is not included in this letter.
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The 2019 annual letter
Dear friends,
Another year of living with cats is coming to an end soon! We made it an entire year without adopting any new cats!
I am hoping for a happier ending to 2019 than 2018! On Christmas Day 2018, my neighborhood lost Chloe, the feral mom cat of my Nacho. My vet did surgery on Christmas Eve for a prolapsed rectum, but she was too sick and passed away by Christmas morning.
We did some unplanned cat fostering in 2019:
- Oswald, the tuxedo cat that I helped to rehome (renamed to James by his new owner)
- Rocky the super friendly white stray cat eventually taken in by the Humane Society
- Scarlet the tortie mom cat and her four kittens stayed in our playpen until Happy Hearts Feline Rescue had room
- Lilly, a cat from my neighborhood, was my foster cat for 18 hours. He turned out to be a male very sick with wet FIP. For the first time in my life, I had to make the tough decision to euthanize a cat.
In April, we lost Kilala. She was 16 and battled thyroid disease for a few years. She died at home while Ted and I were away.
Lina, Charlotte, and Charcoal had their teeth cleaned with Lina, also having a few removed. Since Lina is 16, blood work was done first, which was okay enough for surgery. Having the teeth removed improved her quality of life.
Nacho had a breakthrough with her social skills. She comes to us to be petted! The petting is on her terms only as she runs off if the petting isn’t her idea.
Taco is still full of energy at age three. He likes to chase all of the other cats and play with my hair! He still suffers from chronic sinus problems due to the eye infection he had as a kitten.
We used Feliway (a pheromone diffuser, affiliate link) for most of the year, which seemed to help Charlotte get more comfortable with the other cats. Charlotte had a scary episode where she was unable to poo for nearly a day! Fortunately, that situation passed.
Charlotte with Heidi. Charlotte will now assume she is the favorite cat, as she is the only one in a picture that isn’t part of the group photo.
Violet and her twins, Jake and Elwood, continue to be enjoyable and cute cats. Violet laid on my lap for the first time ever! Jake and Elwood are happy cats with their tails up most of the time!
Buster is still our big boy! He’s lost some weight recently and has had some litter box woes, which we hope are not signs of any serious issues.
This year we added heated cat houses to the shed for the three outdoor cats: Pork Chop, Midnight, and Charcoal. Charcoal had a bad ear infection during the summer but he responded very well to the treatment!
I continued to help my neighborhood and a few friends feeding outdoor gets with Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). If you feed cats, please get them fixed!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Heidi and Ted
More Annual Cat letters:
Heidi Bender is the writer and founder of the Joy of Cats. She enjoys sharing cat information and providing helpful cat tips. She considers herself a cat lady and currently cares for eight cats.
<3 (((((((( ^^ )))))))) <3 Fly free, whole, healthy, and forever Cherished, sweet Chloe! I am so sorry to hear of her passing and hope you have happy memories of the time you had with her.
Wishing you all a warm, safe, comfortable Winter and holiday season, and the same for 2020!
It’s been a year since Chloe passed. We enjoyed seeing her in the neighborhood for a couple of years before she got sick.
Thanks for the 2020 well wishes! Same to you!