Our favorite posts from 2020

It's that time of year again ... Momma's been gathering our entries from 2020 for the Cat Writer's Association Communications Contest. Here are some of our favorites from 2020 in case you missed a few. Which one is your favorite?


Note: Not all of these were entered in the Contest, we're also sharing some posts Kat came across that didn't make the cut.

Feline-Human Bond

"Bear" from the anthology - Second-Chance Cats - for sale on Amazon.
The day my life changed started just like any other during the ten-year-long stretch I'd been fighting anorexia. I'd stayed up most of the night before, not wanting my meager encounter with food to end. At that time, to me, food was love. The time it took me to eat was sacred. A sandwich easily took six or more hours for me to eat. When I finished, I was filled with despairing sadness and loneliness. I'd been in treatment for anorexia twice before that day. Years of my life were devoted to anorexia, but I seemed unable to walk away from it, even when I came near death. The all-consuming nature of anorexia doesn't leave room for relationships. And then I met Bear Cat.

Our blog is somewhat unique in that we usually don't make a big deal about "gotcha days," cat/dog blogosphere themed days (like Cat Appreciation Day or Straw Hat Day) or blog hops. There's nothing wrong with bloggers who do - we always enjoy reading those posts - but I somehow miss the "oomph" to dedicate an entire post to any of these events. I'm not particularly "cutesy" and certainly not someone who does something just because everyone else does - I've always found my own way to be genuine and to honor my heart. I've never considered posting for Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day before - and I had no plans to do so this year either. This year, in the days leading up to Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, I found myself thinking of Kitty-Kitty even more than usual. I enjoyed the warmth in my heart and soul when I recounted to myself several of my favorite stories about her. So I decided to share my favorite stories about Kitty that have been floating around in my mind for the last couple weeks. This post is not heavily edited or carefully planned and executed - it's completely spontaneous and from the heart. Meet Kitty-Kitty.


As the year comes to an end, most humans evaluate the past year and choose one or two aspects of their lives to improve for the coming year. Those priorities for the new year might include anything from eating healthier to losing weight. Instead of the usual resolutions that we lose motivation to follow through on somewhere in the first three months of the new year, I challenge you to strengthen your relationship with your cat. Yes, the challenge is unusual – but a challenge that results in extraordinary rewards.


Rescue & Advocacy

With so many pets being adopted from shelters - with unknown stories - have you ever stopped to think about what your cat's life was like before you met? Have you sensed details of that story in your cat's behavior and personality? What words, emotions and experiences would you swear makes up your cat's unspoken story?


Reducing euthanasia by reducing the number of owner-relinquished cats: An introduction to keeping cats in their homes.
This year, we address the other goal of Remember Me Thursday’s awareness: decreasing euthanasia. How we can prevent so many cats from ending up in shelters and on “death row” from space constraints in our shelters? Spaying and neutering our cats and those living in cat colonies to prevent unwanted litters and microchipping our cats just in case they become lost are two ways to prevent the overload of cats many shelters face. But according to Weiss, et al, at least one-third of cats entering shelters each year are being relinquished by their owners. How can we help these people who struggle like I did with an untenable situation where I faced the most impossible choice of all – to give up my cat? By addressing solutions to the most common reasons owners surrender their cats, I hope to help owners keep their cats and decrease the rescues waiting for forever homes in our shelters. Perhaps the most powerful way to remember our orphan pets are to prevent them from becoming orphans to begin with.

Reducing euthanasia by reducing the number of owner-relinquished cats: Resources to keep cats in their homes.
Last week, in, "Reducing euthanasia by reducing the number of owner-relinquished cats: An introduction to keeping cats in their homes," we talked about how keeping cats in their homes would decrease the rate of euthanasia in shelters. By addressing solutions to the most common reasons owners surrender their cats, I hope to help owners keep their cats and decrease the rescues waiting for forever homes in our shelters. Perhaps the most powerful way to remember our orphan pets are to prevent them from becoming orphans to begin with.


Cats are inimitable and magnificent creatures - yet they possess quirks that cause even the most knowledgeable humans to scratch their heads. While cats are easy to love, these peculiarities can be challenging to comprehend. Do you ever get the sense your cat lives by a set of rules that you can’t even begin to identify? Do you use the term “cat stuff” to describe the things your cat does that you don’t understand?

In this post, Bear shares his adventures, rules and lessons learned – while catting. What is “catting” exactly? “Catting” includes all the delightful and less-than-agreeable iterations and quirks of being a cat. Bear’s catting adventures highlight the humorous and entertaining aspects of sharing one’s life with a cat. What’s humor if not the absurd, the puzzling and the irrepressible nature of our beloved felines?

I write this post with appreciation, admiration and love for Bear’s larger-than-life presence. If you’d seen the frightened and vulnerable kitten I met while he hid under a deck in the rain, you’d be as amazed and awed by the force of nature that I named Bear. He’s an unapologetic Momma’s boy – despite possessing enough cat to shore up his street cred. He saved my life and taught me not to be frightened and insecure – even though that’s the exact circumstance in which I met him. How many of these more strongly worded observations do you suspect come from Bear’s competing need to shore up his street cred?

Momma's vacation[ish]
Momma and The Boy are going on a short vacation in town. Because The Boy knows how much Momma worries about Bear, he devises the perfect way for Momma to keep up-to-date on the cat stuff going on at home. Okay. Maybe the "perfect way" doesn't turn out to be the most accurate way to describe The Boy's plan ... but he DEFINITELY gets points for trying! This post is proof positive that: 1) cats should NEVER be given smartphones, and 2) you can leave the cats at home but they'll follow you wherever you go - and that's what makes life with cats so worthwhile!

Momma resists Bear's charms and Bear's so desperate for loves that he resorts to letting The Boy pet him! Between Ellie getting involved and Bear's overlapping schemes, no one is getting any sleep. The Boy finally has enough abuse and leaves Momma and the cats to do their thing.

Broadening horizons.
Momma's texting The Boy asking for a favor ... but she doesn't have a phone that texts? What's going on? Let's just say that in this house ... this interchange is the definition of "broadening one's horizons." The moral of the story? Beware bored felines with the ability to text.

The cat beds are missing!!!! Who would do such a horrible thing to two cute kitty cats? Wait, we have two cute kitty cats?!? Bear says: "VERY funny, Momma! Readers, don't encourage her! She's NOT funny!"

While the cats' favorite beds are back where they belong after Momma washed them, the cats' other beds are MISSING! This post is more proof that if the cats aren't happy ... NO ONE is happy.

Bear's had it with having his blood sugar tested and getting insulin shots. Meanwhile, he finds himself in quite a bit of trouble with Momma and Ellie Mae. Secrets, a lot of blood, pig latin and lots of feline nonsense: what could go wrong right?

What was YOUR favorite post we shared in 2020? Which "good" ones did we miss?

© 2021 Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat - Published by K. Kern. 
All text, pictures, images, and other content are original and copyright by Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat [K. Kern], 2015-2021. No content on Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat may be used without the owner's [K. Kern] written permission. If you see this post posted on a site that isn't Momma Kat and Her Bear Cat, please contact cats@mommakatandherbearcat.com. 

24 comments

  1. Your posts are always entertaining and we wish you all the best!

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  2. We just came back to blogging after being gone for years and here we find a highlight reel of posts to read - most excellent! These really sound good and some might make the mom leak from the eyes.
    Midnight & Cocoa
    Mini & Fluff
    Tyler & Marty
    Beeb, Beanie & Bella

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  3. Amarula: My favorite posts are the ones where there are plenty of pictures of Bear and Bear mentions his love of torties!

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  4. You made some pawsome choices! Mudpie concurs with Amarula above :)

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    1. You know when two torties agree that you have something of value :)

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  5. Aww, Bear...be a good boy with your diabetic stuffs!
    You know you feel better when those numbers are where they should be.

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    1. Hmph. You mean because when I feel better, I can attack my sisfur and win? You have a point. ~Bear Cat

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  6. I enjoy all your posts , but my favorite was The Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day one about Kitty. XO

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  7. I remember all of those posts! Hard to pick one favorite...I can't, actually as they are all my favorite. I will say I have had my knickers in a tweets the last several days about animal and human abuse and let it slop over into the time I was helping Katie with her blog yesterday. She made me take that paragraph out as she felt it was disturbing our furriends. So, I'll say the one about keeping pets in their homes is a fave of faves because I care so much about the pet's welfare,

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    1. Yes, domestic violence and animal abuse coincide in the majority of cases. I honestly don't understand how anyone could do either though I've been a victim of physical abuse. The excuses need to stop (it's just a x, it's just boys being boys, etc). Society is only as great as it's weakest members or those without a voice (like children and pets).

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  8. You write some really great posts but our fave has to be the Feline-Human bond one.

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    1. We agree. And we know you and your Mum understand why, Athena.

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  9. I enjoy all of your posts and find it impossible to pick a favourite. Good luck with your entries.

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  10. Those are all really good posts and I can't pick a favorite either! Best of luck with your contest entries!

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  11. You are so talented, Kat! We always love your posts and articles. The Cat Bed Caper was our favorite by a whisker. :)

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    1. That's the one I didn't enter! I really wanted to - because the pictures made the story! And thank you.

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  12. All great posts! So glad to hear you entered the Communication Contest again this year. Purr purr purr.

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