It’s been a while! Welcome to another year on The Quiet and Curious blog.
Late last year I took some time off blogging to spend it with my elderly cats, who have now become the feature and one of the main topics of this blog. I needed the time to reset myself and give this blog a revamp as well so that I could come into this year fresh and deliver some more valuable content.
So this year I’m bloggin’ about cats and nature.
Cat Tales
Sapphy, my brown and white tabby cat who you’ll remember was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure last year, is going incredibly well on her new medical regimen and continues to live her best life in the countryside being an indoor/outdoor cat. She’s now 14 and due for her next check up at the end of this month.
I’ll be discussing all that, as well as tips for how to give cats medication (she’s on three different medications to manage the heart condition so we’ve had to learn quickly).
Sophie turned 15 in September and continues to thrive as an only cat. She’s been losing weight, but after investigation no nasty cause could be determined so it’s something we’re keeping an eye on (and not holding back on the food!). She still has her regular arthritis injections, but her back legs have further deteriorated. More on that this year on the blog.
Last year I took a break from blogging for a few reasons. As I said, one was to spend time with my cats and sort my life out, and another was to navigate some chronic illnesses. I’ve been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (which is so much more than the fatigue let me tell you), and suspected endometriosis. These both come with a host of fun things to navigate (like a resurgence in migraine activity)!
I’ll be as consistent as I can with blogging, but thank you for your understanding if things get quiet on the blog or if I don’t answer emails for a while.
Speaking of the blog, you might notice it’s been through an exciting revamp! At the advice of seasoned bloggers, I’ve finally picked my one thing to talk about. Well actually I’ve decided on two, and they’ll be kind of broad, but the blog has a focus!
After much reflection and taking a step back, I realise that my love of elderly cats and all things senior felines is where my heart is for the blog. I love talking to people about my cats, I love hearing about other people’s cats, and there’s a 95% chance that if someone features a cat in their YouTube videos, I’ll subscribe.
As I said on my about page, I love my cats and other people’s cats and cats on the internet I’ve never even met. And elderly cats in particular.
I did something I’ve never done before and signed up to have a video chat with an Irish lad I watch on YouTube, which took a lot of courage. I’m a little socially rough being a natural hermit and preferring the company of and conversations with animals and nature rather than with people, but I led with something I’m comfortable with: cats. I led with, “So I notice you had a cat in your last couple of videos. Can you tell me about them?” because I’m sure there had to be a story (and there was), and I couldn’t remember what the videos were about but I certainly remember the cat’s appearance for all of two seconds in a ten plus minute video.
So get ready to hear and see much more of my cats, and tell me about yours at any time! If you’ve ever wanted to tell a stranger on the internet about your cat, this is your opportunity and your space to do that. Hopefully I won’t be a stranger for long to you and your cats!
This is also a space where I’m going to be talking about some challenging topics like cat loss and grief. If you’d rather not hear about this you can ignore or skip those weeks. But if it’s something you might find comforting, there’ll be plenty of resources and stories so you can navigate the grieving process in your own space and/or with a safe community.
Nature Time
Nature and the environment is something that I’m very passionate about.
Whenever I’m feeling grouchy or moody, it can usually be tied to a lack of one or more of three things: I haven’t written in a while, I haven’t listened to music in a while, or I haven’t been getting enough nature recently. It’s up there in the big three mood boosters.
In the very beginning, when this blog was just an idea, what I wanted to write about and talk about was the lessons and wisdom that nature has to share with us. It took me a while to revisit the idea and now make it a main part of the blog.
I explain my love of nature best on my about page, so I’d encourage you to have a read there so this blog post doesn’t get too long.
Final Thoughts
So welcome again to The Quiet and Curious 2024! I hope you enjoy reading, watching and learning on this space. You’re warmly invited to sign up for The Quiet and Curious email newsletter below where I share much more:
I’d welcome any feedback because while these topics are broad, whatever you reading this would like to read or hear more about is what I’ll write about. Let me know by emailing [email protected].
For now, happy reading!
Love,
