Who is this swaggering stranger introducing itself as 2025?
What did it do with 2024, or 1981 for that matter?
Do cats follow any calendar, other than the primordial cycle of giblets and nuggets?
And most importantly: how does Theodosia, age one hundred nine, remain untouched by years?
The thing we call “a year” is capable of higher speeds than any land mammal, except Prescott when the Food Hallway Portal opens. So, if you find yourself jogging into January a little breathless and bewildered, take it easy on yourself. Better yet, open the Food Hallway Portal and crack open a can of giblets to split with Prescott. (She’s generous that way.)
And be of good cheer.
Although Theodosia will not disclose her secrets of immortality, she will twitch her two-inch tail shnubbin when she sees you. That means you have remained sufficiently beautiful for everything necessary in 2025.
Yes, kittens, we have made it through another year, and it is good to be here, at Tabby’s Place, together. Whether you are up the road or in Ulan Bataar, if you love our cats, you are here.
And if you are here, you have a solid place to stand. That’s not easy to come by in a New Year. “New” can sound promising or perilous, depending on whether you feel like a kitten or a crusty old crouton.
But if there’s one thing we believe at Tabby’s Place, it’s this: you are never too old to be new. You are neither impossible nor unadoptable. Even if you live through one hundred nine Januaries, you can still find something worth wagging your two-inch tail shnubbin over.
Fancy this: 2025 already knows cats we have not yet met. The year is giggling with anticipation, hopping up and down, impatient to introduce us to loves we will wonder how we ever lived about.
This time next year, our lives will be knit together with cats who don’t yet have names.
But first, we’d best remember the famous names of December:
Arrived: Pisa, Snickerdoodle, Mistletoe, Holly, Berry, Shortbread, Schroedinger, Sweet Pea, Dewie, Maxey, Sassy, Gaia, Colonel Peabody, William, Luke, Jed, Ned, Pippin
Adopted: Crisp & Cobbler (together); Yuzu & Citron (together); Ganache & Encore (together); Fable; Bobcat; Buckle; Finale; Theo; Itsy Bee; Juniper (pictured in top banner); Beluga (who joins fellow alums Salami and Hummus in the bestest home ever)
Forever Foster Fabulosity: Gus and Gaia (siblings with severe neurological disabilities, living in bliss with golden-hearted Karina)
Promoted to the Community Room: Farley, Scooby
Promoted to Heaven: Selena; Allen; Margarita (fostered by extraordinary Drew); Chaz (fostered by selfless Karina)
Too Wonderful For Words: That would be you, dear donors, the most generous beings who hath ever trod the Earth. YOU smashed through our cats’ year-end matching challenge goal, donating $190,000 before the ball dropped. Yours are the giving hands that never let a single cat drop. We are in grateful awe.
Stuff We Learned: Enthusiasm is required, but party hats are optional. Patience and poultry are both worth their weight. One who is loved can never die. And there is nothing more astonishing than getting to be here, together.
Good to meet you, 2025. We hear you’ve met cats whose faces we’ve not yet dreamed. They are about to come true.
It’s enough to make us all feel young again.