Happy New Year, kitten cherishers.

Angela here, Tabby’s Place’s Development Director, filling in for your faithful correspondent Karin, who is under the weather.

And so, alas, are some of our kittens. If not for nasty little infections, little Luke and Domino would have long since shipped off to their forever homes. Luke is almost entirely over his upper respiratory issues as of this writing, but tiny, talkative Domino has the mother of all eye infections. It looks as though his right eye has been replaced by the Eye of Sauron. Fortunately, it’s not anywhere near as awful as it looks, and Domino is expected to make a full recovery — and to be headed homeward very soon. (Below, you can see sweet Domino pre-eye-infection.)

But let’s rewind the tape a moment here. If the name “Luke” sounds familiar to you, you’re not imagining things. This long-haired love is the same Luke who was adopted from Tabby’s Place back in July.

By no fault of their own, Luke (pictured here) and adoptive brother Rick were returned to Tabby’s Place this winter. If we imagined they might remember all our love and affection, we were in for a surprise. The boys were terrified and clearly heartbroken. Sweet champagne-colored Rick, in particular, was overcome with fear.

But our volunteers are in the business of cultivating trust, and so they worked their gentle magic on the now-teenage twosome. Luke opened his heart in short order, and Rick took his buddy’s cues, albeit a bit more cautiously. Their courage was richly rewarded. Earlier this week, Rick went to his forever home — and Luke, as we noted, will do the same in a matter of days.

As for last month’s new crop of kittens, the majority (Autumn, Cinnamon, Pumpkin, Beverly, Tonka, TiVo, Roku, Seeso and Fire) have all tumbled off with families who already treasure them. Newbie Sweet Pea — who lives up to her name and then some — is having fun with Luke and Domino in the kitten room, while three-footed LuEllen is loving life (and neighbor June!) in the Community Room.

All this, and then there’s a fresh crop of kittens too new for news — but we’ll tell you about them next time around.

In the meantime, dear sponsors, thank you for being there for our little ones, younger and older, courageous and quirky, growing and glorious and adored all. They are blessed beyond measure to be, in a very real way, your babies.