On this cold, rainy New Year’s Day (a far cry from the predicted ice storm we’d braced for this week), we’ve enjoyed having the chance just to relax and snuggle with Irie and Tiki and our cats. In this season of looking behind — and ahead at the year that awaits — we’ve been quietly reflecting on all we’ve been lucky to enjoy this year.
Not that it has been without its heartbreak. In February we lost our 15-year-old cat Felix to cancer. His loss was especially profound this Christmas, always his favorite time of the year.
This fall was also a challenging time with Irie’s ACL injury and TPLO surgery, followed by 12 weeks of recovery and very limited mobility. But we were so, so fortunate to be able to get the surgery for her and to work at home where we could be here every single day to help Irie. Her recovery was a huge highlight of this year.
Another highlight was the adoption of our kitten Lucky from Austin Pets Alive. He has been a joy and replaced tears with smiles. We can’t think of a better way to honor the memory of our Felix than by opening our homes and our hearts to another shelter cat. Lucky has quickly become best buddies with Irie and Tiki!
This year has also brought the growth of our site. We’ve been so fortunate to work with great sponsors this year including Kurgo, Nutrish, Snuggy Boots, Tuesday Morning, Skype, and more. And we’ve been so fortunate to have co-hosted a record number of Twitter parties this past year through our Event Barkers partnership.
This year also saw the publication of our The Healthy Hound Cookbook (Adams Media). We’ve busily promoted it this year. Our cookbook, Texas with Dogs travel guide, and our site have been featured in a wide variety of publications this year including USA Today Weekend, Ladies’ Home Journal, All You, and, next month, Woman’s Day. We’re so honored that Texas with Dogs is a nominee for Best Book in the Other Books Category in the annual Dog Writers’ Association of America awards, to be named on Westminster weekend. (And this year also brought a Muse Medallion and Certificate of Excellent from Cat Writers’ Association for our pet360 article on Zeki the rescued cat who became a rescuer.)
In the months to come, we’re excited to be unveiling new projects here on DogTipper, starting with a Buying Guide we’ll launch on Monday. We’ll be featuring the many, many products that we use in our own pet household, and hope it will help serve as a guide among the numerous products in the ever-expanding pet world.
In the meantime, though, we’re going to enjoy New Year’s Day. John’s got a big fire built in our wood stove; Tiki is snoozing on the rug in front of the fire while Irie naps on the couch beside me. We’re so happy for all that we have, and for the chance to share our little world with you all. We wish you and yours a very happy 2015!
~ Paris and John, Irie and Tiki, Linus, Inca, Coco, and Lucky
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