2022 EveryCat Year in Review- with Jackie Ott Jaakola
This year has truly flown by, hasn’t it?! I am so very grateful to work among such a smart, passionate group of cat lovers and health experts – all with the same mission to help cats and their people. We accomplished great work in cat health research because of your dedication. Thank you to our friends and colleagues!
In July, EveryCat Health Foundation hosted a two-day symposium, “Health Breakthroughs for EveryCat: FIP and Beyond”, in collaboration with Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida. Over 125 attendees on-site and more than 500 virtual participants heard from 17 feline experts from all over the world, on topics ranging from feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) to managing healthy community cat populations. The event culminated with our first-ever Fabulous Feline Fete!
Our staff and Board members were out and about in the community this year, attending cat shows, public events, pet expos and extravaganzas, community fairs, veterinary conferences, and even CatCon in Pasadena, California! We were thrilled to meet so many of you, a diverse community of dedicated cat lovers everywhere.
If you or your organization would like to help feature EveryCat and cat health information at your own events, please don’t hesitate to reach out at info@everycat.org.
In collaboration with the American Association of Feline Practitioners, we published the Feline Infectious Peritonitis Diagnosis Guidelines, to help veterinary practitioners better assess FIP. We also put paws to the pavement to raise more awareness and research funding for FIP which was the focus of our 2022 Giving Tuesday and Cures4Cats fund-raising appeal. We successfully raised more than $40,000 for the Bria Fund for FIP Research in one month, through your generosity.
Two new Board Members were welcomed – Kathy Calhoun, who has been appointed to the Treasurer position, and Kara Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), a respected veterinary technician specialist. Both bring a wealth of information, knowledge, and experience to the table, as well as a hearty passion for cats.
This year we recognized the legacy of our founder, Robert Winn, with the creation of the Robert Winn Sustainability Fund. Tax-deductible donations made to this fund will be used for foundation growth to continue our high-level, meaningful feline health research in years of economic recession and unforeseen downturns.
In addition to webinars, we offered a little something on the lighter side with “Mewsings with EveryCat”, featuring all types of cool cats and fun facts. Episodes of Mewsings, along with all our past webinars, can be found on our YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to see the latest and catch any that you’ve missed.
Funding research is the focused mission and passion of EveryCat Health Foundation– it’s what we are all about. This year we facilitated three grant cycles and funded 22 research studies totaling over $680,000 USD. These studies cover many areas of feline health, including FIP, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, kidney disease, hematology, oncology, obesity, anesthesia….and more.
On the immediate horizon, the deadline to submit study proposals for the 2023 EveryCat Grant cycle is December 31st and we will be announcing a call for proposals for our special CaP-K grant cycle in January 2023.
We fund these studies thanks to your donations.
More than anything this holiday season, we wish you and your families, both two- and four-legged, peace, joy, and healthy holidays! Check out the wishes shared by some fellow cat lovers in my End of Year video, “EveryCat Health Foundation’s Holiday Wishes For Cats” on our YouTube Channel.
We look forward to a “Mew” Year of bright outcomes in feline health.
Kindly,
Jackie Ott Jaakola, Executive Director