1-1-25: 2024 in Review

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2024 in review.

January

We started the year with 4 fosters in residence: Ouiser, Drum, Shelby and Clairee. Ouiser was adoption pending; we were just waiting for their spays/neuter to happen later in the month.

In mid-January – I introduced them on January 16th – we said hello to Huey, Louie and Dewey, the Ducklings.

They were a HOT mess. About 5 1/2 weeks old, they were pulled from an abandoned building in Huntsville – living in garbage, and literally pulled out of the middle of a cinder block. They were stinky and flea-ridden when I got them and those poor boys got a LOT of baths while they were with me.

The end of the month was eventful – first Ouiser went home. (She became Muffin, and joined big brother Waffle.)

And then Shelby, Clairee and Drum were adopted – together!

This was a big surprise to everyone – even me! – because Kara filled out the application for Shelby, and at the time told Brittany that if Clairee and Drum were still available when she came to get Shelby, she’d take them as well. And she did! Shelby’s still Shelby, Drum is now Murphy, and Clairee is Chloe.

A day later, I introduced the new foster, Crumpet – who was pregnant.

February

I thought we were in for a wait – not a long one, but a wait nonetheless – with Crumpet, but surprise! In the early morning hours of February 5th, she gave birth to 5 little kittens. Was she in the comfy red crate I thoughtfully provided? Why, no. She birthed those kittens in the pink cube, and she wasn’t amenable to me moving them. (Her birth story was posted on February 6th.)

I moved the Ducklings from the bathroom to the foster room and after they were a little scared at first, they decided a whole big room was much better than the bathroom.

On February 8th, I announced Crumpet’s kittens’ names.

(Pumpernickel, Babka, Crouton, Pita & Ciabatta)

For Valentine’s Day I took the BEST series of pictures ever.

March

On March 4th, I posted that Pita and Ciabatta had Swimmer’s Syndrome. It’s not a big deal, and oftentimes kittens grow out of it – but we opted to use medical tape to straighten out their legs (there’s more details in the post I linked), and ultimately both kittens wore the tape (which we replaced every other day) for a little more than a week. It worked great, and now we have experience for any future kittens with the condition. (It also didn’t slow either of them down one tiny bit.)

Huey, Dewey and Louie made themselves at home downstairs among the permanent residents during the day.

They headed off for their neuters on March 6th, and then came back here to recuperate and hang out with us for a while longer.

And on March 16th, all three boys were adopted together!

I moved Crumpet and the Crumbs into the foster room, where they continued to thrive.

From left: Pita, Pumpernickel, Babka (or Ciabatta), Crouton, and Ciabatta (or Babka).

April

Crumpet went for her spay surgery on April 9th, and all went well. There unfortunately were no inquiries about her, so on April 15th she headed off to Petsmart.

And in the April 16th post, I introduced y’all to the newest foster.

Meander!

In the early hours of April 17th, Meander gave birth to her kittens. I wrote the full story here.

Six little kittens!

On the 22nd, I announced their names.

Bolt, Dillydally, Lollygag, Mosey, Skip & Skitter. (We initially thought that all 6 kittens were boys – but oops! Turned out that Bolt, Dillydally and Lollygag were girls!)

May

Meander and the Hopalongs were still in my office, doing well.

The Crumbs were doing well, and everyone was adoption pending, just waiting for their spays and neuters.

After their spays and neuters, the Crumbs started heading off. First to get adopted were…

Crouton and Pumpernickel, who went off to Colorado! (Crouton kept her name; Pumpernickel became Churro.)

AND THEN! After several weeks at Petsmart, Crumpet was adopted locally. (Her new mom fell in love with her sweet face, and asked for her as a Mother’s Day gift!)

With only three Crumbs kittens left, and the Hopalong Gang getting more mobile, I decided to move the Hopalongs into the foster room and let the Crumbs have the run of the house.

And then Ciabatta and Babka went home to Knoxville, Tennessee! Ciabatta is now Sam Elliot (formal name for legal matters: Ciabatta Chibby Charlie Samelliott Chaplin {last name}, P. I.) and Babka is now Luci (legally Babs Lucipurr Snicklefritz).

In the May 28th post, I introduced y’all to our temporary foster Carson.

He had been with us for a couple of weeks after showing up on our doorstep obviously hungry and with a hurt paw. He’d been neutered and was ready to head off to Petsmart, BUT someone saw his description online and ended up adopting him (locally.) So that was very cool!

And in our bathroom – temporarily – was Tala and her three kittens, Sterling, Franc and Lira.

They were just with us for about a week, until room opened up at another foster’s house. (Unfortunately Sterling passed away while with us, but Lira and Franc remained healthy.)

June

Carson was adopted! He joined a family that included an older kitty, Chet, who is nearly an identical twin to Carson. Same white locket and all!

Pita, who was supposed to go home soon after Babka and Ciabatta were adopted, ended up needing to stay with us because she was peeing blood. A round of antibiotics didn’t help, and we needed to know what was going on before we sent her home.

She was diagnosed with Patent Urachus, which required a simple surgery to fix, and once it was past, she was expected to be perfectly fine. Coincidentally, Pita had her surgery and Meander had her spay surgery on the very same day.

Meander came through her spay surgery just fine. Pita came through HER surgery just fine too, but she looked very very rough for several days afterward. She was wobbly, confused, and restless, and just would not settle down. I tried to cage her, but that didn’t work well, and so I ended up keeping her in the small room that I call my office.

She went through a blip about 9 days after surgery where she just would NOT eat for me. I got worried and took her to the vet, and naturally the instant they popped open a can of food for her, she ate like crazy. The vet was happy with how she was doing; she’d gained weight and grown an inch!

And then she was adopted and went home. Hooray! She’s now a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, and her name is Pika.

With things calming down, foster-wise, and with no inquiries about Meander, I decided it was time to get her milk to dry up. So I moved her downstairs to the dining room, and she liked it quite a bit.

And then, she was adoption pending!

Speaking of pending adoptions, all her kittens were adoption pending too.

July

July started off pretty quiet. Meander was hanging out in the dining room downstairs, adoption pending. And her kittens were spending their days racing around the upstairs, and were also adoption pending, just waiting for their spays and neuters.

Once their spays/neuters were over, away they went.

First up was Dillydally! She is now Maple, and she joins big sister Muffin (former foster Ouiser) and big brother Waffle (as well as doggy sister Lexi and three human sisters!)

Next went mama Meander! She went to Lexington, Kentucky to join former foster Mollie (who was Millinocket, one of our Mainers in 2018.) Mollie was adopted with her brother Dexter, and Dexter passed away earlier this year. Mollie needed a friend.

And then went Bolt! She went locally and joined former fosters Nala and Sarabi (then Kes and Troi). She kept her name!

Lollygag, Mosey, Skip and Skitter were with us for one more week before they went home, so I let them have the run of the entire house during the day.

Then Skip and Lollygag went home! All the way to Oregon, where they are now Skip and Lolly.

The next day, off went Skitter and Mosey! They now live in Marietta, Georgia, and they’re now Merry (Mosey) and Pippin (Skitter).

On July 23rd, I introduced y’all to Natalie, who was pregnant.

August

August started out quietly and then we lost Natalie. I’m not going to go over it again, but I will link to the post I wrote about it. I still just can’t (don’t want to) believe it happened the way it did and I will always regret that it did.

This will always be one of my favorite pictures of Carmy.

When Carmy was five days old, I brought home his new family – Tina and her kittens Richie, Sydney and Jeff – though I didn’t introduce them to him right away.

A few days later, I did.

It took some time, but Carmy eventually learned how to nurse. We still kept a very close eye on his weight, and supplement fed most days, just to be safe.

September

The kittens and Tina continued to do well. Carmy still needed to be supplemented a few times a day with formula, but he continued to gain.

October

Led by Carmy, the kittens started eating solid food!

We had some friends come to stay for a few days while their family was out of town…

Muffin (formerly Ouiser), Maple (formerly Dillydally) and Waffle! (They did not meet Tina or the kittens, but had a good time while they were here anyway.)

On October 22nd, we said goodbye to permanent resident Newt. He’d been doing great and then suddenly was not, and he let us know that it was time.

With their spay/neuters scheduled, I announced that Forgotten Felines was accepting applications for Carmy, Richie, Sydney, Jeff and Tina. In short order, the kittens were all adoption pending.

The kittens met Uncle Charlie.

November

The BEST news of the month was that Kristi – who we fostered in 2018, and who has been available but unadopted ever since, was finally adopted!!

SO happy for that sweet girl!

The Luli & Cat socialization team came to visit, and brought Maple (formerly Dillydally) with them!

I did a Day in the Life post, for those who were interested.

An application on Tina was approved, and she was announced as adoption pending! (She’ll go home in January.)

The kittens went for their spay/neuters on November 26th, and came through just fine – though it was discovered that Carmy was cryptorchid (had one undescended testicle) and so they had to do an abdominal incision to find the wayward cajone. (With the help of AI, Fred wrote a song about it.)

After a couple of days of recovery time… Sydney and Jeff were adopted (together) and went home!

They joined a home with an older kitty who needed friends.

December

In early December, I heard from the people who had applied (and been approved) to adopt Carmy and Richie. (Fun fact: they live in California, and yes – they were going to come here to adopt them!) Due to life circumstances, they needed to pull out of the adoption, so the boys were available again for about a day. And then they were adoption pending again! They’ll go home in early January.

December was a very calm month, really – with everyone healthy and pending adoption, I got to just relax and enjoy them, which is something I always appreciate.

Over the week of Christmas, Waffle and his sisters Muffin (former foster Ouiser) and Maple (former foster Dillydally) came to stay with us. They are very sweet, polite guests and their few interactions with Carmy and Richie were pretty calm.

As 2024 ended, things are pretty chill. We’ve got Tina, Carmy and Richie in the foster room at night, and they have the run of the upstairs during the day. They’ll be heading home soon, and while of course we’ll miss them, we’re glad that they’ll be going to wonderful forever homes. Things tend not to stay too quiet around here for long, but it’s nice for now.

2024 was such a terrible and wonderful year. I hope to never lose another cat the way I lost Natalie… and I hope for a 2025 full of wonderful moments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a total of 31 fosters move through this year.

We have 1 former foster who is at another foster’s house, as of yet unadopted: Katia, who we fostered in 2018.

We have 3 fosters in the house at the moment: Tina, Carmy and Richie (all are adoption pending and will go home soon.)

We have fostered a total of 548 since 2005.

Here are the sweet faces of the fosters we had in 2024.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The state of the permanent residents in 2024.

It was… a year. Newt, who turned 18 this year, was doing great until he wasn’t. He went downhill over the course of a few weeks, and although we didn’t want it to be so, we knew when it was time to say goodbye to him. He was a good, sweet boy who never gave us a moment of trouble, and we certainly do miss him. The post paying tribute to him is here.

We’re ending the year with 3 (or, as Fred says, 3 1/2 if you include Rocco). In the spring, Trixie decided to seek out greener pastures. We see her from time to time, but she’s settled in at a house not far from us, and she seems to be happy (and very, very well fed!) She walks across the property every now and then, and has NO desire to be petted by us, which is FINE BY ME. (Ingrate.)

Rocco’s doing fine. He continues to spend most of his time on the front porch or in the garage, and occasionally goes for a stroll through the house to check for food.

The remaining permanent residents are getting older but are spry and doing well.

Charlie, (and Rocco) will be 5 this year, Alice will be 15, and Khal will be 11. I hope very much that we end the year with the exact same cats we started it with (AND NO MORE.)

Here’s what they look like now.

Newt, 2006 – 2024.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE: I will be doing away with this section after this year. It takes much more time to put together than the rest of the post and if you’re curious about any former fosters, you can always use the search in the sidebar to look for them.

Former Foster Updates we received this year.
(Arranged, roughly, in the order in which we fostered them.)

Kaylee – Kara’s kitten – April 18th.
Pete (formerly Marshall) and Lucy (formerly Monday) – January 29th.
Sherman (formerly Trader Joe) – January 24th.
Jethro Tull & Thunderclap Newman (TC) – January 19th, September 27th.
Branwen (formerly Juniper) – August 2nd, September 26th.
Felicity (formerly Chesnee) – December 25th.
Dorothy – May 6th.
Maggie – October 29th.
Flynn (formerly Kohle) and Hook (formerly Puff) – January 17th, January 23rd, September 24th.
Khaleesi – April 16th, August 26th.
Norbie – September 10th.
Amber (formerly Ambercup), Phoenix & Stardust: January 5th, January 10th, February 28th, April 5th, May 22nd, June 7th, June 20th, July 29th, November 12th, November 27th.
Periwinkle (formerly Bert Macklin) & Patches (formerly Art Vandelay) – July 16th.
Kristi – November 18th.
Mollie (formerly Millinocket) – January 11th.
Albert & Willie – January 15th.
Rhus (formerly Rochefort) and Oleander (formerly Constance) – February 12th, June 17th, October 4th.
Luna (formerly Winter) – March 20th.
Periwinkle (formerly Tater Tot) – July 22nd.
Sylvie (formerly Ruthy Ruthenium) and Minnie (Nikki Nickel): April 9th.
Ivy – December 27th.
Kudzu & Mondo – January 12th.
Dolce (formerly Jocasta) – August 28th.
Cricket (formerly Jenny) & Filly (formerly Brianna) – September 12th.
Joni and Marcy (formerly Joanie and Marsali) – March 25th, August 5th.
Roger – August 30th.
Lincoln & Lilly – February 8th, November 18th.
Opal (formerly Myrtle) and Ruby (formerly Zelda) – June 24th.
Tiger (formerly Rufous) & Dotty (formerly Wren): May 13th.
Raven & Elaine (formerly Plover/Tater & Starling) – April 24th.
Kirk – January 3, January 16th, February 13th.
Nala (formerly Kes) & Sarabi (formerly Troi) & Bolt – May 21st, July 23rd, October 10th.
Jethro (formerly Spock) & Elly Mae (formerly Janeway) – February 19th, July 29th.
Sakana (formerly M’Lynn) – January 8th, January 11th, January 18th, January 26th, January 31st, April 2nd, December 24th.
Crumpet – July 18th, August 29th, September 25th, December 3rd, December 23rd.
Crouton & Churro (formerly Pumpernickel) – May 24th.
Sam Elliot & Luci (formerly Ciabatta & Babka) – June 19th, August 8th, August 12th.
Carson – June 13th, November 4th.
Pika (formerly Pita) – July 1st.
Meander – September 9th, October 2nd, October 7th, November 18th, December 2nd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m just going to go ahead and cut and paste what I’ve said for the past several years in a row because it still holds true (and I am lazy).

As we begin this new year, I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for reading. I know that a lot of you say that you like to start (or end) your day at Love & Hisses, reading about the kittens and the permanent residents. You give me (and each other) advice, ask and answer questions, fall in love with the kittens we foster and our permanent residents, and grieve with us when we lose someone. I started this site because I can’t shut my face about cats and kittens, and to have y’all enjoy the pictures and stories I post means more than I could ever begin to express. I appreciate each and every one of you, whether you’re here every day or just come by every now and then. We’ve built an amazing community here, and I certainly could never have done it alone.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so very very much!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previously
2023 in review.
2022 in review.
2021 in review.
2020 in review.
2019 in review.
2018 in review.
2017 in review.
2016 in review.
2015 in review.
2014 in review.
2013 in review.
2012 in review.
2012: No entry.
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: This is going to be hard – it always is – but I have to trust that they’ll end up in fantastic homes with people who spoil them as rotten as we do.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

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