Happy New Year, Team TNR!

Cats don’t keep calendars. But if they did, New Year’s would be their favorite holiday. For just a moment, every human being on Earth has permission to believe in new beginnings.

Cats don’t need permission.

They wish we were as brave as they are, all year ’round. But, they’ll meet us where we are. And today, dear sponsors, we all meet on the fresh blank page of January.

Thanks to you, it’s “page one” of a fairy tale for former ferals, rumpled ragamuffins, and shy sweethearts who are long overdue for January joy.

This time last year, we had never seen the faces of the “great 138.” We had no idea we would be called upon to rescue not one, but two, desperate and overcrowded feral colonies.

On page one, you can never predict quite what love will ask of you. Perhaps that is for the best. Courage does not come in advance, but it always arrives on time.

Right on time, you were there through your faithful donations. Cat after cat, tale after tale, 138 strangers became Tabby’s Place cats. And now, January is the warmest month of the year … tied with the eleven other months!

Just ask Salami, Hummus, and Beluga. “Mr. Lami,” as staff called him, was one of the bravest colony cats. But the jubilant jelly bean was about to face the fight of his life.

No sooner had he decided Tabby’s Place was the “most bestest place in all the worlds” (I am quoting Salami himself here), he fell ill with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Had we been a month later in getting to him, there would be no Mr. Lami today.

But instead, there is not only a thriving Salami … but a whole family, feasting together on new mercies.

Salami sailed through his FIP treatment, only to be adopted with the “most bestest brother and sister in all the worlds” (again, a direct quote). Timid and trembling no more, Salami’s big bro Hummus has become a happy heap of purrs. Meanwhile, bashful Beluga, renamed Gouda, has apparently found her voice, meowing at valiant volume when she’s not cuddling with her brothers and humans.

(If you’d like to be all happy-weepy, scroll to the bottom of this update, where you’ll find video of Salami, Hummus, and Gouda, three “hopeless” cats, in their forever home. YOU did this, dear sponsors!)

They are far from alone. As you can see, fellow colony alums Shakira, Napkin, and Weston have become the queens and king of their forever homes. The adoptions accumulate, and the world of January 2024 is remade by love.

But new beginnings go by many names.

When you rescue 138 cats from a feral colony, you must love each one for who they are.

You, dear sponsors, are the front lines of unconditional love. You sponsor the TNR Fund because you love “TNR cats,” whether they become lap-loungers or receive our love from a distance.

Thanks to you, even the most feral of our new friends are enjoying fresh new starts. Ganache and Encore begin 2025 in a veritable palace, basking in sunbeams in a spacious barn. Their forever family treasures them and will keep them safe, while giving them the environment they need to thrive.

And then there are the colony cats still at Tabby’s Place. They, too, share in the hope of January.

Gallium, Polaroid, and Meridian may not yet want our kisses, but they are the cuddle corps for one another. Bello, the hub of hugs in our Lobby, has become a life coach in stress reduction. (Tell me you don’t breathe a little easier just looking at his photos.)

And then there’s Triscuit, who arrived with sad eyes, a wounded paw, and a broken heart so big, he walked low to the ground. There is only one thing to do for a cat so heavy-laden. We moved him into the office of Jonathan, our Founder and Executive Director.

Jonathan … and Baby Yoda.

Dear sponsors, there is no accounting for the alchemy of hearts.

You’ve experienced it, and so have I: you meet someone and immediately know they have been a missing piece from your life. You understand each other without words. You comfort each other with a single look.

Baby Yoda is Triscuit’s “someone,” and our little grey-and-white guy does not have sad eyes anymore. Constantly cuddling, the boys are each other’s new beginning, every day.

If not for you, they never would have seen this day. Yet here we are, all together, at the start of stories we can scarcely dream.

We could never have predicted the miracles of 2024. This time next year, we will be wonder-struck again. But why wait? We have full permission to be full of hope.

That has everything to do with you. Thank you, generous and golden-hearted sponsors.

The best is yet to come!

Love, your correspondent,
Angela