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 12: Agility (n.) The quality of being agile; the power of moving the limbs quickly and easily; nimbleness; activity; quickness of motion…

So. That’s what the dictionary thinks “Agility” is.

I believe Jacoby is trying to redefine “Agility.”

Not even his beloved green laserpointer could get him to budge in the Agility run last weekend.

We did several practice runs, during which I walked him through the course so he’d know what he was meant to do.

But he was more interested in how he looked against the obstacles than he was in actually running around, over, and through them.

It was pretty funny.

The hoop, when he wasn’t using it as a prop, was his best hurdle (even if I had to give him a helpful nudge.

He went around the hurdles and he never even looked at the weave-poles.

And he camped out in the middle of the tunnels.

The “A-frame,” though, was his absolute favourite. I think he saw it as his own personal stage.

At one point during a practice, Jake noticed a small audience at formed to watch him, so he dropped everything and walked up to the front of the cage to acknowledge his fans.

Eventually I gave up, and we just had fun playing on the course.

If only they’d allow food as an enticement! I can get Jake to “dance” around the kitchen for just one Greenie. For a treat, I think he’d be an Agility cat superstar.

Aby-a-Day – May 9: Wordless Wednesday (Feline Agility – Ur Doin’ It Wrong)

Aby-a-Day – May 8: The Last Action Hero (Cartoon Tuesday)

They say the best cartoons are those based on real life.

If that’s true, this one must be solid gold.

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

Aby-a-Day – May 6th: Jacoby the “posable action figure.”

The second day of the cat show at the cat show started out almost exactly like yesterday. Jacoby is an…idiosyncratic show cat. Most Abyssinians you see on the judge’s table at a cat show are like hyperactive kids in need of Ritalin. They’re eager and beyond alert. They follow whatever toy the judge waves in front of them with a head tic like an epileptic at a rave.

Well…all Abys except for Jacoby, apparently. Probably because Jake has been riding the subway and playing in parks that back up to trainyards since he was four months old. He’s fearless. He’s bulletproof. And he’s, well…he’s really un-Aby-like when he’s being judged.

Basically, he’s more like a Persian than an Aby. He stands on the table majestically. He responds to the judge’s touch, but he doesn’t climb the sisal post and he doesn’t play with the toys the judge tries to tempt him with.

When Jake made his appearance in Carla Bizzell’s ring today, he was his usual, placid self on her table.

And she found this quite amusing.

“Look at this guy!” she said. “He’s like a posable action figure!”

She told us the story of an Aby she once had who was calm, like Jake. One show she took him to, they’d neglected to leave her a cage. So she put down her cage skirt, she set out the bedding, and she sat her Aby down in the space while she went to look for her cage. And he just sat there.

Meg and I laughed at this. “She thinks he’s a posable action figure now?” I said. “She should see him in Agility!”

Because Jake was better at posing in Agility action poses than he was at actually running the course.

I suppose it’s my fault.

After all, I am the one who raised him to think that life is a series of photo opportunities. He probably didn’t want to run the course because then all the photos of him would be blurred.

Still, when Carla Bizzell’s finals were announced, both Taz and Jake were called back into her ring. And she awarded Jake 7th Best Cat in Premiership.

As you might expect, he was thrilled.

Aby-a-Day – May 5: Grand slam

As it turns out, the other Grand Premier entered in the show? Is my friend Meg’s Taz! You may remember that at the first CFA show Jacoby went to in Milford last year, we met his two little red/sorrel cousins, Anubis Lew Zealand and Anubis Taz Mania. Well, little cousin Taz is all grown up and he’s already a Grand Premier!

So he was Jake’s “direct competition” today, and he did really well. There were two other ruddies in Premiership, and Jake took Best of Colour in every ring but one. When it came to Best of Breed, Jake was consistently awarded second, after Taz. And Taz actually made all six finals today, too!

It was actually quite funny. In the first Premiership final, Taz placed seventh. In the next final, he placed sixth. Then, after the third final, he and Meg came back with a fifth place rosette from one of the Specialty judges. Well, we joked, at least he’s moving in the right direction.

I watched Taz’s next final, and I said, “well, he’s going to get fourth place in this one, obviously.” And he actually did get fourth place from that judge! So when he was called into the next ring’s final, I said I was going to laugh so hard if Taz took third.

And he was Third Best Cat in Premiership in that ring!

Then we got to the last ring. Every Aby in our little block (which included Stan from Jazzy Abys, Chris and Debbie from Instincts, and Lauren from Abycastle) had won a rosette in at least one final…everyone but Jake. “Hey,” I said, “we need a little rosette lovin’ over here on the end!”

We were reminded of the last CFA show when Jake finally Granded…in the last ring of the second day of the show when the finals of the last Premiership ring were announced…and Jake was among the cats called! And Taz was also in the finals of that Specialty ring judged by Russell Webb. This was going to be interesting!

Of course, I would have been happy to get even 10th Best Cat, because at least Jake had finalled. But Russell kept giving out ribbons…to the Havana, to the Fold, to the Rex…until he was down to just a blue-point Siamese…and Jake and Taz. And then he announced that the Siamese was his 3rd Best Cat in Premiership.

And we were down to the two Abyssinians.

In the end, Jake was 2nd Best Cat in Premiership and Taz was Best Cat in Premiership.

And Jake was completely happy with that. He was tired and ready to call it a day, anyway. But Meg said that, just like in Groton, at the last minute Jacoby stole home!

Aby-a-Day – March 4: The results are in…

Today was interesting. Really interesting. This was the first time Jacoby had direct, head-to-head, peer competition in a cat show. In every other show he’s done, he was either the only Aby, period, or he was the only Ruddy Aby male. He’s had it easy, really. But not today. Today, he was up against a real killer: Supreme Grand Champion Alter Pentaclecats Dexter Morgan. Just over a year old and starting out fresh, the first time I saw Dexter this morning, he was in a judging cage dancing in circles. Literally. He was in the plain white cage chasing his tail like a maniac.

Meanwhile, Jake was in “second-day-show” mode, also known as, “Oh, this again?” He wasn’t really bad-tempered…but honestly, the more times he got dragged out of a cage to get into another cage, the more happy he was to just stay in the cage he was in, thank you. Once he was out of a cage, he was fine, and he’d stand there and pose all day while the judges inspected him…but getting him out of that cage got harder and harder as the day went on. He was holding onto the bars of the judging cages with all four of his Aby grabby hands and feet when the judges went to get him.

Then, when the judges do that thing where they’re deciding between who’s going to be first in class and who’s going to be second, and they step back and wave a feather or a wand toy to see which cat just stands out the most to them, Jake doesn’t ever really react. Maybe if they’d wave a sandwich at him, they’d get a response, but at shows, Jake’s just not big into toys. He doesn’t even play with them when I rattle them at him.

So, end of the day, Dexter was best of class and best of division in six of the eight rings, and Dexter made two Allbreed finals, finishing 8th Best Alter and 7th Best Alter. But in two rings, Jake was best of class and division, and that’s pretty great considering he’s a TICA novice. And it’s interesting that Dexter finished in the same places, 7th and 8th, that Jake finished in yesterday. In fact, Alberto Leal placed Jake 8th in his ring yesterday, and Dexter 8th in his ring today. Interesting, eh?

But poor Jakey! He didn’t just do the show. He also met a lot of little kids (and adults) who wanted to meet a real live Abyssinian or pet a real live show cat. I also let him walk around a little on his leash a couple of times today, too, because he gets so tired of being carried everywhere. And I totally can’t blame him for that, either. We went to look at the Pet Expo, too…and I promise plenty of photos to come…but not tonight.

Because tonight, we’re all just ready to crash.

Aby-a-Day – March 3: And off to the show we’ll go

Wow. TICA is…different. It’s amazing. We started late, did eight rings, and still managed to finish bang on 5pm.

Another thing they do is, when you check in, you get your catalog and you get a rosette for each cat with a little card the show name on it. And then, as you make finals, you get another little card with the judge’s name and the award won. So you get one rosette per show, with everything you accomplished right there on that ribbon. It makes the rings a little less festive, because they don’t have all the day’s ribbons on display, but it does make packing up easier!

Then, too, TICA recognises some breeds that CFA doesn’t.

Like Bengals!

And Munchkins!

This is only the second Munchkin I’ve ever seen in real life (the first was at Pet City in Tokyo).

And they also recognise some colours that CFA doesn’t, like this Silver Cinnamon Somali. So it’s a bit like going to England; people speak the same language, but they drive on the other side of the road and they use some different words for things.

So, how did Jacoby do at his first day of his first TICA show?

In his first ring, a shorthair specialty ring judged by Brenda Russo, he was 5th Best Shorthair Alter. Brenda asked me his lines, and when I mentioned Instincts, she told me she knows Chris! The Aby world is small, my friends.

The next ring he finalled in, there were too many boycats, so three of us had to sit with our cats in the audience. Thank goodness there was a kind stranger to take photos for me!

Jake was Alberto Leal’s 8th Best Allbreed Alter. And he sat very nicely throughout the final, too.

And then, in Solveig Pflueger’s ring, he was named 7th Best Allbreed Alter.

Not bad for his first show. I’m not entirely sure what it all means, pointwise, but here were 18 shorthair alters and 36 alters today. However, tomorrow is another day. Literally. Today, Jake was the only ruddy Abyssinian alter, but tomorrow he will have competition: Supreme Grand Champion Alter Pentaclecats Dexter Morgan. So, stay tuned tomorrow, Abyfriends, and find out what happens when a Red Sox star base-stealer meets a serial killer!

Aby-a-Day – November 28 – Scenes from a cat show (Hipstamatic Monday)

I just love the feeling of anticipation at a cat show.

Each new ring, each new judge…you never know what will happen.

Even if your cat’s been seen by a judge at a past show and done well, it doesn’t mean that you’ll see the same result today.

People ask me what it is about cat shows I find so entrancing…well, that, I guess is a big part of it.

It’s also really interesting to see your cat compared with other members of his or her breed.

And it’s also fun to see other breeds, too.

Aby-a-Day – November 21: Hanging out at the cat show (Hipstamatic Monday)

One thing about cat shows is, there’s a lot of down time.

Luckily, since we keep it set up at home, Jacoby and Kylie both see their Sturdi-Shelter show cage as their home away from home.

Jake especially likes to watch the goings-on from the top bunk.

The only downside to their fondness of their “house” is they don’t always want to leave it when it’s time for them to go up to their rings!

Aby-a-Day – November 4: Walk like an Egyptian (Fashion Friday)

Indulge me; I thought I’d post a few more photos of Jacoby and me in our Halloween outfits.

People don’t dress up as much in Boston as they did in San Francisco and Atlanta.

I don’t know if that’s to do with the weather or some other cultural difference…but I saw my chance to dress up at the cat show, and I took it.

There was only one other human in costume, but some of the cats were dressed up at various times throughout the day. Sadly, I did not get any photos of them.

For those who are wondering…Jake’s crown was made by Julie of Cat Atelier, and I made his collar/necklace. My necklace and belt were purchased from Egypt, from a seller who has shops on both Etsy and eBay. My headdress and armbands were also from Etsy. And my 100% linen shift dress, with black embroidery around the neck, arms and bottom hem? Ann Taylor, found on eBay for $16. It was better than any “costume” dress; because it was really everyday clothing, it was comfortable to wear all day at the show.

The only thing that was hard to wear was that wig! Next year, I guess I’ll have to grow out my hair and use Manic Panic to temporarily turn it black!

Aby-a-Day – November 3: “Kittens are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”

There were three Abyssinan kittens entered in the show this past weekend, and they were all different colours.

There was Instincts Angel, a ruddy (usual) boy…

…Shera Len Killian, a lively red (sorrel) boy…

…and Red Ferne Moses2 of Tigerflower, a handsome fawn boy.

Jacoby and I had the honour of spending time with little Rosey Mosey, as he was benched next to us.

He’s a lover…and very playful! He’s also, as of September 25, the 3rd best Aby kitten in the country! Not bad for being only 7 months old, eh?

Molly, Mosey’s person, also has a little blue kitten she’s calling “Coco”…I can’t help but smile when I think about that.

It’s official!

Jacoby is now officially a Grand Premier:

In the end, he earned 18 points this weekend…double what he needed. He earned 1 point for each of the 5 purple “Best Premier of Breed” ribbons, and then 13 points in the last ring where we was Best Allbreed Premier. Yay!

Aby-a-Day – November 1: Jacoby and Laurel

Jacoby and Instincts Laurel were the two Aby premiers in the the show this past weekend. They were in very close competition with each other in each of the ten rings; Jake had, perhaps, a slight edge on colour, but Laurel had better type and size.

They were also both Ruddies, which – at least in my opinion – makes it really close contest. How on earth can a judge decide which cat is best in breed when they look almost identical?

Laurel (#155) was more alert and lively in the judging cage, while Jake (#154) tended to loaf comfortably in the back of his cage.

Laurel and Jake were about even on the judge’s tables, though. Laurel was, perhaps, a little more skittish.

Jake, on the other hand, was composed, but a little annoyed with the other cats around him. He hissed quite a bit.

In the end, though, they were fairly evenly matched. In the breed judging, Jake took 6 purple “Best of Breed” ribbons, and Laurel took 4…but Laurel made two judges’ finals, while Jake made just one.

It was actually really great to have another Aby in Premiership to compare with and compete against. That’s the one thing we’ve never been able to do at the other shows we’ve entered. Jake’s been the only Aby in Premiership, and sometimes the only Aby in the entire show!

It’s much more fun to have a distant cousin to measure up to. And, ultimately, we did what we set out to do: We had fun, dressed up for Halloween, met other Aby people…and earned 9 points.

(A description of the different ribbons’ colours and meanings is available on the CFA’s website.)

Aby-a-Day – October 30: The Rally Squirrel must have been at the show this weekend

It was a very agonising, nail-biting weekend. Going into this show, Jacoby had 66 points. He needed 9 points to earn his Grand Premier title. In his first two shows as a Premier, he earned 24 points and 42 points, for a total of 66. Given that many of the judges at the show this weekend had helped him earned these points, My friend Meg and I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult for Jake to Grand at this show.

We were wrong. Apart from the fact that he was not the only Aby in Premierhip for the first time and so had competition for the all-important purple “Best Premier of Breed,” he was also “too heavy” according to a couple of the judges.

Each purple ribbon is worth a point, and at the end of Saturday, Jake had won 4 Best Premier ribbons in the 5 rings. Coming into Sunday, he needed only 5 points. 5 points.

In the first ring, the purple ribbon went to Laurel. in the second, it went to Jake. Then, in the next two rings, Laurel was Best Premier in Breed, and she earned a Second Best Shorthair Premier to boot. By the last ring, Jake had won 5 purples, and only needed 4 points to Grand. If he didn’t make it to the final, he would have to wait for his next show to become a Grand Premier.

Much like the World Series, it all came down to the very last ring, presided over by a judge Jake had been seen by, Lois Jensen; Judge Jensen had just put the two Championship Abys in her Top 10 final, which we said was a sign. I was sitting next to one of Laurel’s breeders, (Debbie from Instincts cattery), in that final ring. It was one of the most intense judgings I’ve ever been involved with.

It’s pretty much a given that if a cat does not win a purple ribbon, they will not make the final. And if Jake didn’t earn more than It all came down to Lois Jensen’s preferences in Abys. Laurel and Jake are similar, but while Laurel is a petite, dainty girl, Jake is a rangy boycat. Which type would the judge favour?

After she’d examined both Abys and deliberated over their appearance as compared to the Abyssinian breed standard. And it was on Jake’s cage that she hung that purple ribbon. If he didn’t make the final, he’d have 72 points, three shy of the 75 points needed. If he did make the final, with any ranking, he would have enough points to Grand.

I was in the ladies room, looking for paper towels, when he was called up for Lois Jensen’s final.

And…she gave him Best Shorthair Premier and Best Allbreed Premier! It was like a walk-off grand slam on the last strike of the last out of the 10th inning. Jake knocked it out of the park on his last at bat.

Grand Premier Pellburn Jacoby Stealin’ Home. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Aby-a-Day – October 29: Abys, Abys everywhere!

Unlike every other show Jacoby and I have gone to this year, there are Abyssinians in abundance at the cat show today.

There are three kittens entered:

A ruddy (usual),

A red (sorrel),

And a fawn. I haven’t seen a fawn Aby at a show since I took Gun-Hee to shows as a kitten.

There are two Championship Abys, Meg’s red Grand Champion Kuki (who I somehow managed not to get any photos of today) and Instincts Cozumel, a ruddy, and, of course, Jake and Instincts Laurel in Premiership.

But the biggest surprise was seeing a ruddy Aby in the Household Pet class! Her name is Kiri and this is her first cat show; her registration hasn’t gone through so she is showing as a HHP this time instead of a Premier.

The weather was lousy – it started snowing at around 3pm! It’s not supposed to snow before Halloween!

And, sadly, Jake did not make a final today, and did not earn his 9 points. He did get 4, though, so he only needs 5 more points to become a Grand Premier.

Better luck tomorrow!

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.

Meet Chandra

While we were at the cat show, I took a break to go look at the display of rescue kitties up for adoption that was set up in the foyer.

All the active, lively, cute kittens were up front, working the crowd and charming everyone, but I went around the back to visit the older cats, the ones that tend not to draw as much attention, and I saw Chandra.

Poor girl seemed completely overwhelmed and a bit terrified…and she was a very unusual ticked tortoisehell – essentially, a non-purebred Abyssinian-type torbie! There are tortie Abys, but they’re mainly bred in Europe (along with the silver Abys) and aren’t recognised here in the State.

This is Chandra’s story:
DOB 8/18/2010
Hi, I’m Chandra, and you could say I have a sad story to tell. I was found by the good people of the rescue with my three kittens outside in the rain with no dry accommodations. They took us in and it was a good thing they did. I ended up with terrible mastitis and couldn’t feed my babies. I’m very healthy now and my babies are being fostered. I’d like to tell you that I’m a very petite girl who is just a love. I’m more of the quiet type and am really enjoying getting to know what it means to be petted and loved. I’ve been spayed and am now up to date on all my shots and have tested negative for Feline Aids and Leukemia. If interested, please contact compassion4catsNLC@comcast.net or call (860) 886-5085.

Poor girl! As it happens, her kittens are in the pink cage at the upper right of the first photo. Chandra may or may not be part Aby…but she does look like an Abyssinian, with those big golden eyes and that little white chin.

Aby-a-Day – September 19: Let’s go riding in the car-car (Hipstamatic Monday)

I forget how much fun Incredibooth can be.

This is Jacoby and I in the car driving back from the cat show in Connecticut. He didn’t want to be in a cage or a carrier any more and spent the entire ride on my lap.

Aby-a-Day – September 17: There aren’t any pedestals handy, but will a shelf do?

Jacoby has a cold. It doesn’t seem to be a bad one; he’s sniffling and sneezing, but his breathing seems fine and his eyes and ears don’t seem to be involved. He just started a course of Clavamox today, and I have no doubt he’ll be back to normal in no time.

It’s tempting to say that he picked up a bug at the cat show, but I really don’t think he did. One, the judges are very careful to spray a disinfectant on their hands and judging table between each cat, and the cages in the ring are thoroughly wiped down between cats as well. And Jake’s immune system is also stronger than many show cats, because he goes out around Boston and rides the T with me. I have also been having some congestion, so what I think has affected us in the air conditioning in our hotel room. I wonder if there wasn’t some kind of microbe or mold spore in the filter that got to us?

If it was the AC unit (and there’s no real way of knowing if it was, of course) it’s nothing the Clavamox can’t handle. And I don’t think that it means that hotels should be avoided in future. And I think Jake will be quite happy to hear that; he just discovered the super-fun clothes-hanging shelf on Sunday morning while we were getting ready and he loved the view up there! We’re actually planning on going to another show in the same location Halloween weekend, so he’ll get another chance to check out that shelf…without needing to run the air conditioner!