Aby-a-Day – May 26: Nobody wants to see vacation photos

I’m actually in Florida right now. As a matter of fact, I did go to a cat show in Orlando today and met up with my friend Molly…but if you can believe it, there were NO ABYSSINIANS entered in the show! None at all! The entire Shorthair Premier class was only about 10 cats! It was crazy.

Still, there were some great cats. The Championship class had both a Cornish Rex and a Devon Rex in one final, and they were caged right next to each other so you could really see the difference between the two breeds. There were also two solid white Maine Coons, a male and a female, who pretty much made my argument for Kylie being a shorthaired Maine Coon and not, say, descended from American Shorthairs. I took a lot of photos with my new camera…but I haven’t had time to go through them yet.

So, here are some action shots of Angel, jumping…

…and scratching.

These were practice shots using the flash and the diffuser I got. As a side note, Richard Katris aka Chanan was at this show, and I actually had time to to chat with him a bit. He looked at my camera and asked me about the viewfinder; I told him it was brand-new and handed it to him to see for himself. He actually gave me some pointers on how to test the viewfinder/flash for lag! I’ve met Richard a few times, now, and I’m starting to get over my fangirlishness to an extent, but I’m sorry: Having Chanan give you cat photography advice is kind of like having Leonardo Da Vinci give you lessons on brushstrokes.

Aby-a-Day – May 25: Sweet Transvestite (Fashion Friday)

Apparently, cross-dressing runs in Jacoby’s family.

At the last cat show, Meg was saying that of his three littermates, Cousin Taz was a transvestite. I actually said he was more of an Abyssinian Ryan Seacrest, so extremely metrosexual as to be only possibly gay (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

And then we had Cousin Toki last week masquerading as a pretty pretty princess in one of Julie’s tiaras.

So, call it peer pressure. Call it genetic inevitability.

Call it Jake in a dress. One of Angel’s dresses, to be precise.

Evidently, Jake’s been learning supermodel poses from Sparkle.

If my husband finds out I put Jake in a dress, I’m in big trouble. Hell hath no fury like a man with one boycat with compromised masculinity.

Shut up, Tessie.

Aby-a-Day – May 24: Protection racket

Last week I Tweeted a photo of Jacoby on my chest, happy as could be that I was still in bed after my husband had left for work. He thought I was going to stay home all day with him! Alas, I was only leaving a little later than usual because we were getting our annual HVAC maintenance done.

He planted himself on my chest and purred and purred and purred…and headbutted me and licked my ears…

Just so happy! And when the maintenance guy walked up to the door, Jake heard him coming and ran to the door, growling. He’s done this before when he hears things outside the door, both at home and in hotels. He’s very protective of me.

He was friendly to the man, but he also made sure to be nearby when the man talked to me and when I paid him and signed the work order. The man even commented about how protective Jake seemed.

It seems that the more we go places and do things together, the more attached to me Jake is becoming. When I go to bed at night, he plants himself firmly on the bed, snuggled firmly behind my knees. I don’t even need to call him; he just comes on his own when he realises I’ve gone to bed.

We’re going on a small vacation soon; I hope he doesn’t miss me too much. Except for my weekend in Baltimore, I haven’t left him for any length of time since last year…

Aby-a-Day – May 23: Wordless Wednesday (Stop thief!)

Other People’s Abys: Award Winners and a Reno Jackpot

Angeline Watanabe of Abyzona posted this year-end report to one of my Aby mailing lists:

Lets hear it for a wonderful year! The 2011-2012 show season was a prosperous one for the Abyssinian world.

Drum roll…We ended the season with three national winners!

GC, NW Anqet Akasha – 2nd Best Kitten Nationally & Best Abyssinian Kitten
B/O Dianne Henderson

GP, NW Hitails Banjo Mooner – 5th Best Premiership Cat Nationally & Best Abyssinian Premier
B/O Lisa Maria Padilla

GC, GP, NW Abyzona’s Sparkler of Temecku – 24th Best Cat in Premiership Nationally & 2nd Best Aby Premier
Breeder: Angeline Watanabe
Owner: Julie Onstott/Ange Watanabe

Congratulations to these wonderful cats and their owners!

The Breed Win this year belongs to GC, BW, RW Shera Len Killian, a lovely red male belonging to Betsy Arnold. Congratulations to Betsy and Killian!!

Top Ten Abys in Championship:
1. GC, BW, RW Shera Len Killian (BOC)
(We saw him at the CFA show in Groton, CT last October when he was a kitten!)
2. GC, RW Bastis Social Network of Abyzona (BOC)
3. GC, RW Lyonwood Medicine Man (BOC)
4. GC, RW Saynday Sunkat Super Nova of 3 Janes (2BOC)
5. GC, RW Diva Hues Your Daddy? (2BOC)
6. GC, DW Greenville Quiana (2BOC)
7. GC, Omnia Mea Quia Nominor Leo
8. GC, Greenville Bimmer
9. GC, RW Licca Lady Asura
10. GC, RW Anqet Padparascha of La’roux

Top Ten Abyssinian Kittens:
1. GC, NW Anqet Akasha
2. GC, RW Zehnder Espirit
3. GP, RW Zehnder’s Rogier Vivier of NuDawnz
4. GC, BW, RW Shera Len Killian
5. GC, NW Hitails Banjo Mooner
6. GC, DW Greenville Zakka
7. CH Redferne Moses 2 of Tigerflower
(This is my friend Molly’s fawn kitten who we were benched next to at that same show in Groton last October!)
8. CH, RW Lyonwood Jambalaya
9. GP, RW DeVande’s Firecracker
10. CH, RW Aimables Archange II

Top Ten Abyssinians in Premiership:
1. GP, NW Hitails Banjo Mooner
(I met Banjo at the Crab & Mallet show in Baltimore back in March!)
2. GC, GP, NW Abyzona’s Sparkler of Temecku
3. GP, RW Glenlea’s Desoto of Ashaby
4. GP, DW Eritrean Red Bumblebee
5. GC, RW Astechs Under the Radar of Abiqua
6. GP, DW Masmera Cenegal of Russmania
7. GP, RW Astechs Amelia Earheart
8. GP, RW Cepheus Hina-Malama
9. GP, Diva’s Hues Your Favorite?
10. GP, RW Anqet Binkhaaphajaosuduangjun

Then yesterday, Angeline posted this to the Aby list:
Something quite special happened this past weekend at the Reno show. With lots of points to spare Zehnder Moon and Stars of Abyzona and his full litter sister, Zehnder Seraphina of 3Janes both achieved their grand championship title. What made this event even more special is that these two blue little pieces of heaven are only eight months old, AND they finished together on the same day! “Fina” and “Moons” are from GC BW NW Glenlea’s Rolls Royce of Purssynian and out of RW Purssynian Seduced By Moonlight. The 3Janes and I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to Monica Zehnder, Beth and Darrell Newkirk, and Brad and Donna Johnson for affording us the opportunity to own and exhibit these beautiful cats. This is going to be one heck of a grand party!

Thank you, Angeline Watanabe- Abyzona Abyssinians and Teri Kennedy-Julie Onstott-Elizabeth Koller a.k.a. 3Janes Abyssinians

Monica added that Fina and Moon’s half brother was also there, GRP Zehnder Roger Vivier, who was 3rd Best Aby Kitten last year.

It looks like the new show year, which started on May 1, is going to be a good one for Abyssinians! Cousin Taz earned 330 points in one show at the New Hampshire show we went to a few weeks ago.

Aby-a-Day – May 22: Pack up your troubles in your old cat bag (Cartoon Tuesday)

We’re off to Florida for a short family visit. This cartoon pretty much wrote itself.

I think that because Jacoby actually does get to come along a lot of the time I pack for a trip, he feels extra-entitled. There’s also a subtle shout-out to my sister.

(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)

Other People’s Abys: Lola, Niles, Cairo & Doctor Livingstone

Sometimes I find the most interesting things while randomly Googling other things.

In this case, I was looking for a specific LOLcat with the caption “Ha! Ha! Ha!” and I found this delightful page of a charming Abyssinian family.

This is the photo that came up in my search:

But I think this one is my favourite:

There are more photo sets of these Abys taken when they were 9 days old, 2 months old, and 9 months old.

There are also several pages of other cat photos, including a series on big cats and photos taken at different Northern California TICA and CFA shows as well as a page describing How to Fold a Somali that’s pretty great, too!

I wonder if my Google searches have been conditioned to give me Abys when I look for things?

Aby-a-Day – May 21: The treat thief (Hipstamatic Monday)

The other morning as I was getting ready for work, I discovered Jacoby chewing and licking a package of treats.

Now, these aren’t even his treats!

As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even like these treats.

These are Angel’s special L-Lysine medi-treats that he poached.

Luckily, the packaging on these is very strong.

Jake managed to poke a few tooth-holes into the bag, but he couldn’t make a big enough tear into it to extract any of the treats inside. He did lick it quite a lot.

How did he actually manage to get ahold of the treat bag in the first place? Stay tuned; the answer will be revealed in this Wednesday’s wordless photo series!

Aby-a-Day – May 20: A walk in the park

After the cat show in Concord, NH a couple of weeks ago, Jacoby and I couldn’t resist checking out Waterfront Park, which just happened to border on the parking lot for the showhall, Everett Arena.

I think it was his favourite part of the day.

I was amused that he was more active exploring the riverbank than he was the entire time he was on the agility course.

We’ve never really gotten to explore a river. We walk along Fort Point Channel, but we don’t really get up close to the water unless we’re on the dock.

I think after spending a day as a pampered show cat, Jake enjoyed a little walk in the wild.

And it’s a really pretty park, too.

My favourite part of the outing was Jake’s constant commentary. It was hard to get photos of him with his mouth closed, he was talking so much!

Aby-a-Day – May 19: Leaf me alone

Abyssinians are probably one of the most domesticated breeds of cat.

But with their tawny coats and golden (or green) eyes, they are one of the most wild looking cats.

Jacoby loves to hide in bushes when we go outside.

I wonder if he’s hoping to catch something while he’s hiding?

He may look wild, but Jake’s as domesticated as they come.

Other People’s Abys – Aby sighting on Etsy via Moderncat!

Moderncat posted about some amazing placemats available on Etsy. Guess what I immediately noticed?

Oh, yeah. That aqua design called “Curious Cat” is definitely an Abyssinian.

Check out the Animals in Color Etsy shop for more gorgeous cat designs!

Aby-a-Day – May 18: Tessie (Friday Flashback)

Disclaimer: Okay, Tessie isn’t, technically an Aby. But she is descended from Abyssinians only 3 generations back.

Tessie, née Bes Butterfly, flew from Tualitin, Oregon to Boston, Massachusetts, on 20 May 2005. She arrived around 10pm and we picked her up at Logan’s air cargo pickup.

This is the crate she flew across the country in…she seems to forgive it for its part in her ordeal.

She fit in right away. That same weekend, she was playing fetch with me.

She only hid a little bit. By the next morning, she was on the bed with us.

She bonded with my Siamese, Harri (who was 14 years old at the time) almost immediately. They were actually both born in the Year of the Goat, which might have had something to do with it (if you believe in that sort of thing).

She bonded with Patrick, too…sort of. Not like she bonded with Harri, but they became friends.

We actually adopted her because my now-husband wanted a “kitten of his own,” who turned out to be Kylie. Tessie had her own litter of kittens before she was spayed and we adopted her.

So she was, kind of, adopted to be a surrogate kitten momma because the resident cats were 14- and 11-year-old boycats.

It wasn’t entirely what you would call “smooth sailing” at the beginning.

Although Tessie quickly became Kylie’s role model…

…playmate…

…and surrogate mother.

Even now, seven years later, Tessie and Kylie are the best of friends.

Tessie also stood in as “Momcat” for Gun-Hee…

…and Jacoby.

Although, she didn’t like Angel when she came to live with us…and still mostly just tolerates her.

Despite her round Burmese body, Tessie is a very athletic cat. She wasn’t even two years old when we first got her, and compared to my old Siamese men, she was a whirlwind.

But even now, almost nine years old, she’s still remarkably agile. She loves to jump up into my husband’s arms.

Unlike most cats, she prefers cool weather to hot. In my old apartment, she used to camp out in front of the window AC unit.

One of Tessie’s trademarks is that she loves to flop onto her back for belly rubs. If she thinks we’re paying too much attention to the other cats, she’ll start doing this. It’s kind of her version of Puss in Boots’ “big eyes” thing.

Sometimes, she goes a little overboard with it.

Tessie likes to go outside…

…and she doesn’t mind playing dress-up once in a while.

Tessie is a smoke tortoiseshell, which means that her undercoat is white and her colour is only on the tips of her fur.

All the Burmese variants love their people. They are often called “velcro cats.” Last year when we went on a trip for a week, Tessie missed us so much that she started overgrooming her belly, pulling out her fur til she was bald.

Because she was doing this, and also because of the hairball issues that ensued, we took her to a groomer to get a lion cut. She actually really loved it! When she comes home from a haircut, she marches around proudly, as if she knows exactly how cute she is.

Happy anniversary, Tessie!

Other People’s Abys: Abys and Tiaras (Fashion Friday Extra)

You need to check out Abyfriend Julie’s newest creation, modeled, of course, by Cousin Toki:

Princess Tiara with Swarovski crystals and sequins

Made of wire, silver trim, and horsehair mesh, with iridescent sequins and swarovski crystals. Ribbon tie in the back and elastic under chin to secure to head. Specially shaped for a cat’s head.

Awww…! Isn’t Cousin Toki a pretty princess? It kind of goes along with what Meg and I were saying about Cousin Taz’s metrosexuality at the show in Hampshire a couple of weekends ago…we were calling him the Ryan Seacrest of Abyssinians…

…Even funnier, when I Googled “I’m a pretty, pretty princess,” I found <a href="this:

I guess Abys & Tiaras is kind of a thing?

Jacoby Can Has Cheezburger

I love the one slightly out of focus photo I posted last night where Jacoby is gazing off into the middle distance, plotting something…but what?

This is the best I could come up with:

However, if you can think of a better LOLcat caption, please, by all means, give it a try!

Aby-a-Day – May 17: New Camera

I got my birthday present early…a new Sony A57 SLT camera!

Bet you could never guess what my first subject was when I tested it out. I got my first camera, a Kodak Brownie Starflash, when I was four years old. The first thing I took photos of then, too, was my cat.

Still trying to figure out all the bells and whistles. I haven’t used an SLR since the old film days of the late 90s.

Angel’s all, “Why don’t you go take some more photos of Jake?”

“No. Really. I don’t think there are nearly enough photos of Jake.”

Jacoby finds the huge lens rather intriguing.

UC Davis announces new Cat Ancestry Test

I got this very interesting email yesterday:

As a client of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, you may be interested to learn about our new Cat Ancestry test. The test, developed by Dr. Leslie Lyons and the Lyons’ Feline Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis, can identify the racial origin and possible breed of a cat. The test also provides information regarding coat color and fur type.

As an owner/breeder of purebred cats, the test may not be useful to you, but if you have friends who own random bred cats, please let them know about the Cat Ancestry test as they might be interested to learn more about the genetic history of their cats.

For more information regarding our Cat Ancestry test, go to: http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/ancestry/

Thank you,
Veterinary Genetics Laboratory
UC Davis
PO Box 1102
Davis, CA 95617-1102
(530) 752-2211

It’s a bit pricey ($120), but if you’ve got a mixed-breed cat and wonder about his or her ancestry, this may be well worth it. Since I already got Kylie’s coat length and colour tested, this test may not tell me any more about what she is underneath her white, but I’ve sent them an email to ask if this new test will tell me anything more. If I get her the Ancestry Test, I’ll keep you posted!

Aby-a-Day – May 16: Wordless Wednesday (The Most Interesting Cat in the World)

Abys in Need: Lost Fawn Boy near Toronto, Ontario

Deborah Feltham of Glendoveer Abyssinians posted a message to the Facebook Abyssinian Cat Club on Monday:

Is there anyone on this list who has lost a ruddy Aby in the last few months (probably). I have just been notified of one who was found living in a feral colony, and the astute rescue worker trapped him and turned him in to a vet here. He is middle age and is suffering from his recent outside living but probably was well cared for prior. He is safe and being cared for but whomever owns him will have to prove ownership and care of his present health care before the vet in charge will release him. He is in NO danger of euthanasia unless his medical problems cannot be corrected!! Please contact me ASAP if you know anything about this Aby.

She updated the group last night:

Update on the Aby found in the feral colony. He is NOT a ruddy as you can see He is a fawn. We visited him today at the vet clinic. He is very affectionate and sweet. About 7 years old. DECLAWED!! I am not sure where he originated from as there are only a couple of breeders here in Ontario. Heather & I breed only red and ruddy, and I breed only ruddy. It appears that he will be ok but his mouth is very bad. He is a BIG Aby with a ton of coat.

We are still looking for his proper owner first. Judging from his condition, allowing that he has been outside for at least a couple of weeks, he was definitely well cared for prior. The owner may be frantic! We have already found another person whose blue Aby got out and has not been seen since early March, so we will check all we can first. Then, there is a possibility of adopting him out, but the vet who is caring for him is very attached to him herself. Let’s consider his owner first though, because even though he is declawed, there is no reason to feel that they did it, or what the circumstances were (they may be sick over this). They could well be someone who got him after he was already declawed also. His personality and condition despite his experience says that someone loved him. She also mentioned that he is not microchipped.

So if you know anyone in the Toronto area who may have lost a non-microchipped, declawed, older adult fawn Abyssinian…point them towards this post, or to the Abyssinian Cat Club on Facebook

Aby-a-Day – May 15: Alphabetical Privilege (Cartoon Tuesday)

This cartoon is the result of Meg and I rehashing the show least weekend.

I admit that my favourite part of the concept was the challenge of drawing Cousin Taz.

(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)

Aby-a-Day – May 14: Tiptoe Through the Tulips (Hipstamatic Monday)

For a few glorious weeks, the tulips bloom along Fort Point Channel.

I think Jacoby likes them, too. I have to be careful that he doesn’t lick or bite them, because they’re poisonous to cats (although the bulbs have the highest toxicity), but he doesn’t seem at all interested in them in that way.

He just likes them in the “I look awesome posing next to tulips” way.