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 13: Try telling HIM I’m not his mom

I love the front camera on the iPhone. I hope that when the long-awaited iPhone 5 is released, they increase the megapixels and improve the resolution on that front camera, because that’s the only downside: the photos are kind of lousy. Like, 1999-digital-camera lousy.

But they’re so much fun to take!

Even if they photos themselves are kind of crappy.

I don’t know how Jake knows when I’m using my phone as a camera, but oh, he knows.

I swear Jacoby is smiling in this shot.

Aby-a-Day – April 28: Jake the therapy cat

It’s been a while since Jacoby and I have done any Pet Partners visits, and that’s mainly due to my having surgery last August. But that doesn’t mean Jake isn’t therapeutic!

I stayed home sick one day this week with an attack of vertigo, and when I woke up from a nap, this was the first thing I saw.

Jake had cuddled up against my stomach to help me feel better! I had to carefully reach for my iPhone to get a photo without disturbing him, so this is a very close close-up shot!

To orient yourself in the photo, the burgundy and blue-and-white-flowered comforters are to the left. I’m on top of the comforters, and the black at the upper right is what would be my lap if I were sitting up.

The one thing I wish I’d been able to capture is the cute little stretch/hugging his back legs thing he did when I woke up and petted him.

Aby-a-Day – March 25: Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone…

Two weeks ago, I went to Baltimore to visit my sister. I had originally wanted to bring Jacoby with me so we could go to the Crab and Mallet CFA show, but we ended up going to the TICA show in Providence the previous weekend.

I’ve left Jake alone before, but we haven’t done a lot of travelling in the three years since he’s lived with us, and I’m pretty sure that this was the very first time I left him alone but my husband stayed home. Apparently, Jake missed me. A lot.

According to my husband, the first two days I was gone, he waited by the door for me.

He’d get all excited when he heard someone at the door, but then, when Jake saw it was only my husband and I wasn’t there, too, he’d deflate like a day-old latex balloon. “Oh, it’s you” was his basic reaction.

By Sunday, he’d given up all hope that I would ever dome home. He slept most of the day on Sunday.

I tried to FaceTime him on Sunday night…he went in the bedroom and looked for me, but he didn’t connect my voice coming from the phone to looking at me on the phone.

He was so happy when the front door opened on Monday afternoon and I was behind it! He was suspicious about the smells that were on my bags, though. I told him those were the scents of his cousins…

…Towson…

…and Spike!

We did go to the Crab and Mallet show on Sunday afternoon as spectators, just wait til you see who I met at the show!

Sparkle Claws Down Cat Myths

I had to post a shout-out to our friend Sparkle’s post this morning on Common Misconceptions about Cats, because in it, she perfectly expresses the way I feel:

Cats Are Not as Friendly as Dogs
I look at it this way: would you want to be friends with someone who liked everyone indiscriminately, or would you prefer to have someone befriend you because she decided you were special and worth it? Would you want a friend who was needy and always begging for attention, or would you prefer someone who had your back, but most of the time made no big deal out of it? When a cat likes you, it is a gift not to be taken lightly. We are friendly to the people we trust, and isn’t that a better way to be?

You would not believe the number of people who just couldn’t believe there was a CAT at the St. Patty’s Parade yesterday. And I hear it all the time: “OMG I’ve never seen a cat out a leash like this! How do you do it? Is he specially trained?”

Nope. He’s just my cat and I’m his person. Kind of like Catalyst and Catacombs, without the telepathy.

Most people don’t understand, but Jacoby does the things he does because I ask him to, and he likes to do them. I keep wanting to try to clicker train him…but then, I wonder what that would really do, since he already cooperates with me. Although I would like to teach him things like “Leave it”…

The one thing I would add is this: I have always said “Cats live up to your expectations of them. If you expect to have a cat who’s afraid of strangers, going out, being in a carrier, not come when called, not understand things like “Get down” or “Get off” and hide under the bed when you have company, well…that’s what sort of cat you’ll have. But if you expect a cat to be sort of a partner, a roommate, a creature that you can take out to the park, call over to you when you want to show them something, understand what you ask of them and comply because of your relationship, well…then you’ll have that sort of cat. Since I was in junior high, I’ve been leash-training cats; my cat in high school would go on bike rides with me in his own special basket. Harri, my Siamese, camped with me for 5 years when I was active in the SCA, and even when he was older he travelled with me.

And now Jake (and his brother Gun-Hee) rides the subway with me, helps me run errands and takes walks in the park, and also runs to the door when I come home to give me headbutts.

What cat myths do you hear all the time that really drive you batty? I’d love to hear them.

Aby-a-Day – February 6: Stuck in the middle (Hipstamatic Monday)

Jacoby, as the youngest cat in our household and the only boycat in a house full of girlcats, is just a tiny bit spoiled.

For example, he tends to command the best sleeping places.

And he gets mothered a bit, especially by Tessie, who’s the oldest (as well as the only cat who has had kittens of her own).

Carol at the post office always says that, in her next life, she wants to come back as Jake. I’d have to agree with her on that one!

Aby-a-Day – February 3: Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care (Friday Flashback)

The post I made last week reminded me of the first weekend I had Jacoby. Even though he’d only just met me, and we didn’t choose each other, he crashed out next to me for a nap.

Considering his brother, Gun-Hee, seemed to never sleep at all, it was a wonderful and precious thing to me that Jake felt happy enough to nap with me like that.

And it’s even nicer when he does it today. Not only did Gun-Hee never sleep (we think it’s because he knew, somehow, he would have a short life and he wanted to make the most of the time he had), but, until he got sick at the end, he never slept on the bed with us. Jake, however, is always there when I wake up in the morning.

I love it. I’m not, by any stretch of the most imaginative imaginations, a morning person…but he helps.

Aby-a-Day – January 29: Good morning!

Jacoby loves weekends almost as much as I do.

He knows he can’t wake me up (he saves the waking up maneuvers for my husband), so he just cuddles up with me and purrs for England.

It’s the best part of waking up, Folgers’ copywriters notwithstanding.

Aby-a-Day – January 26: “One of the ways in which cats show happiness is by sleeping.”

My husband took today’s photos. I’d been watching television and fell asleep (which is why I’m sleeping with my glasses on).

Jacoby usually does sleep with me, but he almost always sleeps near my legs, usually behind my knees. Still, it’s pretty good for an Aby; Gun-Hee never slept at all, and Angel usually prefers to sleep on the cat tree than on the bed.

But for whatever reason, he decided to sleep right next to my head this time.

Granted, I didn’t really know he was sleeping there until I woke up, so I don’t know how long he was there, but it was a nice thing to wake up to.

“Okay, Dad, enough with the camera and the flash. You’re gonna wake her up.”

Aby-a-Day – January 12: “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”

Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday photo featured a shot of Angel and Tessie getting along, again! This actually happened Tuesday night when I fed the two girls one of their favourite canned foods.

Unfortunately, this miracle wonder food is…Friskies. Friskies Savory Shreds Turkey and Cheese, to be exact. I’m not thrilled about giving it to them, but they eat it, and they love it. I never thought I’d have a cat that would not eat canned food, but all four of them are incredibly fussy about which brand and which flavours of canned food they’ll eat.

Because Jacoby is on prescription food for his urinary crystal issue, he eats his meals in his man-cave, aka the Sturdi-Shelter. Kylie, who is on Hill’s AD and kitten food because she’s underweight, eats on her own in the bedroom. Thus, Angel and Tessie, who have no dietary restrictions (apart from being extremely picky eaters), end up eating together in the kitchen.

Angel used to eat in the bedroom with Kylie, because she was so intimidated by Tessie. But since Kylie’s on a higher calorie diet and Angel really doesn’t need to eat high calorie food, sadly we were forced to change the dining arrangements. So that Angel wasn’t so spooked by Tessie that she refused to eat at all, I started feeding her on the cat tree, which is her “safe place.” Angel actually feels more secure at the very top, but I was afraid of her knocking the ceramic dishes off the tree from there, so she eats on the middle level, but it still seems to be high enough and far away enough from Tessie to work.

After each girl has eaten her fill from her own bowl, they generally trade places to see if the other cat had something better than they did…but on Tuesday, Tessie came over before Angel was ready to switch, and they ended up sharing! I was pleasantly surprised because, despite last week’s act of random cuddling, Tessie has still been bullying Angel. What she tends to do is wait for Jake and Angel to get into an Aby battle and then use that as an excuse to corner and attack Angel. I know she isn’t just joining in the Abys’ play fighting, because she never gangs up with Angel against Jake in these situations. She pretty obviously only ever joins in so she can whale on Angel.

But perhaps feeding the two of them together is at least starting to help them to get along, at least a little. Look at Angel’s happy tail!

…and, that’s all she wrote. Angel’s decided not to press her luck since the food’s run out, I guess.

It’s off to the top shelf for her to recharge her bravery circuits for a while.

Aby-a-Day – January 11: Wordless Wednesday (Again!?)

Aby-a-Day – December 13: Besties

Watching Jacoby and Angel together is so fascinating.

It’s quite interesting, really. Angel, with her rescue background, is a rather nervous, skittish cat. In her foster home, she was bullied by the senior resident cat, who was not only another Abyssinian, but an older female Aby. Cat society tends to be matriarchal, and the oldest female tends to be the “dominant” cat in a group, and for whatever reason, this girl took a dislike to Angel, and harassed her to the point that Angel was finally kept in an upstairs bedroom for her own safety. It’s a little sad, because Angel is actually a very social cat. Luckily, there was another Aby in the bedroom with Angel, so she wasn’t alone…but she was still confined to the bedroom.

In our house, too, Angel was picked on. Tessie, who is our oldest cat, both in age and in residency, to this day tends to bully Angel. Kylie was quicker to accept her. But when we brought Jake home, Angel was transformed. I haven’t actually found any research on this, but I really do think that certain breeds of cats recognise members of their own breed, and favour them above cats of different breeds. I’ve seen it with Siamese as well as with Abyssinians.

Where it took Angel a little time to feel comfortable around Tessie and Kylie, she was almost instantly friends with Jake. In fact, having Jake around actually helped Angel feel more secure around the “big girls,” too.

Even though Jake is so boisterous and outgoing, he and Angel still seem to have a bond that is different than the bond Jake has with the other cats. Of course, he gets along with everyone, but he and Angel share a special connection.

These photos were taken shortly after Jake joined our family. This was Angel’s preferred sleeping place at the time, and she never slept with Kylie or Tessie like this.

She cuddled up with Jake, though. I hadn’t seen her cuddle up with another cat since I met her.

She probably reminded Jake of his mother, and the other adult Abys at Sherry’s house, so he was a little less homesick those first few weeks because of her.

Whatever it was, they were fast friends right from the start.

Mostly.

Aby-a-Day – December 9: The cat hat and the cat sweater (Fashion Friday)

Back in June, I bought an awesome hat with cat-ears from an Etsy seller. Of course, I couldn’t wear it right away, so I stashed it away until it got cold. I’m not really a hat person, but this hat is awesome. It doesn’t it, it’s warm, and I actually get a ton of compliments when I wear it.

Browsing Etsy for cat sweaters, I found this cute little doggy hoodie, and I got an idea. So I contacted the seller and asked her if she could make that same sweater in other colours. Specifically, oatmeal with rust furry trim.

The answer was yes!

It’s meant to be a Christmas present for Jacoby, but I had to try it on him and send some photos to Joan to show how perfectly it matches my hat. He seems very proud of it.

Here we are together.

These photos are low-res because I had to take them with my iPhone’s front camera. But you get the idea.

I also have to mention that the entire time I was taking these photo, Jake was purring like crazy! He loves wearing sweaters, posing, and being held, the little nut.

Aby-a-Day – December 8: The shark is circling…

As I said on Tuesday, Angel is much more polite about waiting her turn than Jacoby is.

We actually shut Jake up in the bedroom to give the girls a head start on the turkey. But he’s not stupid, and he knows exactly what’s going on out there. He just hasn’t mastered turning round doorknobs, or we would be so busted. By the time we let him out for his so-called “share” (as you may well guess, he does anything but ”share”), he’s whipped himself up into a feeding frenzy.

I wasn’t able to capture it, but he actually jumps up for the turkey and snaps at it. It’s like watching them feed the alligators at the zoo.

He also won’t wait his turn. He comes right up and demands his turkey! My husband actually had to distract him with a piece so that could sneak some to Angel. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten any more after we loosed the hound!

Aby-a-Day – November 22: Vroom! Vroom!

Jacoby’s interest in the “shopping cart” is about more than just the grocery bags.

He really loves riding the cart back downstairs with me when I return it to the storage closet.

I used to do this with his half-brother, Gun-Hee, too.

Jake and I have been returning the cart together since he was a little kitten.

He actually gets disappointed when the cart comes upstairs and, for some reason, he doesn’t get to ride back down with it.

He also gets a little annoyed if I don’t push the cart fast enough. He’s a little speed demon!

The elevator is boring! Vertical movement isn’t nearly as exciting as horizontal motion.

*Ding*
“Okay, mom…floor it!”

Cat vs Human strikes again: This is soooooo me, my husband and Jacoby!

I love CatvVs Human. Almost everytime I read it, I say, “This is so true! How does she get into my life like that!?”

Well…this one is especially my life. Jacoby and I headbutt each other several times a day; all I need to do is put my head down in Jake’s general direction, and he reaches over and bonks skulls with me.

This is exactly what happens chez us, except my husband has more hair. I think he’s actually a little envious of the Coco-and-Jake club (membership: 2)…

Oh! And if you like these, you really need to check out the new Cat vs. Human book. I had my copy pre-ordered, and it’s nice to have an analog copy of these scenes from my life comics handy in case someone is sleeping on your laptop.

Aby-a-Day – September 30: Take Your Kitteh to Work Day (Friday Flashback)

The whole thing about Google earlier this week reminded me of the time I brought Jacoby to my office with me.

He was 3½ months old here, and he seemed to really enjoy himself.

Good sunbeams in that office (we’ve moved since then).

And lots of windows to look out of.

The only thing he didn’t like about my office was my Flat Cat!

Aby-a-Day – September 24: Homeward Bound

After the cat show two weeks ago, Jacoby had had enough of being enclosed. He was also tired of being carried. He wanted to walk and he wanted to see things, dammit!

I know that it’s not the super-safest thing to do, any more than it’s okay to ride with a toddler on your lap, but it was either let him sit with me in the front seat, or hear about it from the backseat the entire 100+ miles home.

I kept him on a short leash so that he wouldn’t bother my husband while he was driving, and as you can see, he was quite happy to watch the scenery go by.

We don’t take very many car trips; living in the city, we tend to take public transportation more often.

He was a very good passenger, too. He also rode in the backseat for a while, but he decided the view was better sitting shotgun.

Aby-a-Day – August 25: Paging Dr. Jakeycat…

I had minor surgery on a trapped nerve in my hip last week, and of course Jacoby was right there helping me recover.

These aren’t the best photos, since I took them with the low-res front camera on my iPhone, but you can see he decided I needed to be kept warm.

Of course, my chest wasn’t involved in the surgery at all, but that didn’t seem to matter to Jake.

It didn’t matter to me, either.

Aby-a-Day – May 28: You’d be so nice to wake up to

…the best morning of the whole week!

Jacoby loves it when we don’t run off in the morning!