My goodness. Another year has already gone by – summer is here, which means the 4th of July, which means Happy Birthday to my wonderful, loving, sweet, and precious rescue, Kizmet, who turns 9 today! It’s been a crazy year, but we made it. Me, in large part thanks to the camaraderie and calming nature of Kizmet’s presence, as he’s always nearby, I think to make sure I’m okay in his mind.

Everything is okay, buddy. Take the day off and enjoy your birthday. Happy Birthday, and Happy Birthday to America, too. And if you missed it, I shared an invaluable post a few days ago with some summer survival tips to keep our feline friends safe, happy, comfortable, and healthy during the commotion of the 4th of July, record high temperatures, and the influx of family and friends venturing back into our homes for social events and celebrations. I hope you’ll take the time to read and share it. Click here for the article.

This is Zoey a few days before her 13th birthday. She is still a youthful and stunning cat. Photo inset was her at about 12 weeks old.

It’s odd. According to  International Cat Care, cats are elderly once they reach 11 years with senior cats defined as those aged between 11 – 14 and geriatric cats 15 years and upwards. My Zoey has been a senior for a couple of years now, but I’ve never considered her a senior. With today her 13th birthday, she continues to astound me because, with her, nothing has mellowed with age. If anything, all of her behaviors have intensified over the years.

Her meows, already piercing with their bleeping, yelping yowl sound have become so loud you can hear her outside. She still runs around the house like a kitten, jumping up on things and scaling walls and doors like she’s Spiderman with ease.

She still “kills” plush toys and drags them all over the house and her eyes remain bright, clear, and highly alert. She’s a handful, too. But I love my girl to the ends of the earth and back and every night without fail, she settles on the couch to cozy up with me for the night. Happy birthday, Zoey, and wishes for many, many more.

An image from 2011 of Zoey and me on the couch. She settles each night this way, and I love these moments with her.

We also want to wish a very special Happy Birthday to our beloved friend, animal lover, and blogger, Marg who shares the same birthday as Zoey. She is 82 today and anyone who wants to leave birthday wishes for her can stop by zoolatry.blogspot.com. We are also participating the the The Flowers for Marg on Nature Friday Blog Hop hosted by the Adventures of the LLB Gang.

According to the most recent White House briefing (22MAR21), the United States is vaccinating about 2.5 million people per day. There are 81 million people — or nearly 1 in 3 adults — with at least one vaccine dose and 44 million who are fully vaccinated. Eligibility requirements are changing too, with each state providing its own plan for deciding who will be vaccinated first. Here in Florida where I live, vaccines are now available for persons 40 years of age and older; persons determined to be extremely vulnerable by a physician; health care workers with direct patient contact; and long-term care facility residents and staff. Read more

Photo credit: Sam Lion from Pexels

Rescue animals were TIME magazine’s 2020 Pet of the Year and with the new normal associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s really not a surprise. With stay-at-home orders issued across the U.S. in March 2020 and continuing nearly a year later for much of the population, people and families are hungry for the love and companionship a pet can bring. According to a survey published in January 2021 from Porch.com, Americans adopted 750,000 animals from shelters since the pandemic began, a 3% higher rate than the previous year, with 55% of the adoptions, cats. Read more

From all of us at Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles, we wish you Happy Holidays, a Merry Christmas, and hopes for a wonderful New Year. We appreciate your love, friendship, and support. Stay safe and may better days for the world be ahead.