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!
Jacoby and Angel now have memberships at TokiPoki! They chose the main photos from the ones I sent them…I guess someone is a Packers fan. Of course, Kylie and Tessie have profiles, too.
Baseball season is over, Sunday is runined dominated by football, and the carcasses of dead leaves litter the ground. Autumn is here, it seems. And once it falls, winter is never far behind.
I am sad that summer is over; because of my surgery and the nerve in my hip, I haven’t been able to walk as much as I usually do, and Jacoby and I weren’t able to have as many adventures as we should have.
Not, of course, that we can’t still go out now that it’s October, but we do live in New England and with every day that passes, we have to bundle up a little bit more. It’s not as easy to go out in the cold as it is to go out in warm weather.
And you can’t just lounge on the grass, basking in the sunshine on a lazy afternoon when the sun is already starting to set at 3pm.
Ah, well. As we like to say in Boston (and we seem to have to say it a lot), there’s always next year.
Daniel Bard was quoted as saying: “You could point a finger at every guy in this locker room — maybe not Jacoby [Ellsbury], he pretty much did everything he could — but every guy in this locker room could have won one more game for us. I could have won a few more, I know that for a fact. It’s a team game, and we had a lot of stuff go wrong for whatever reason.”
It’s okay, Jake, you can come out…you were named after the one guy who DIDN’T impersonate a vacuum cleaner.
Lots of fun in my email lately!
Jacoby’s breeder, Sherry, sent me a link to this video with the subject line “There’s an Aby in this video.” And, oh, is there ever!
It’s a testimonial for Cat-Man-Doo Bonito Flakes (which, by the way, are awesome), and it starts out a bit slow, but wait until Pheobe appears around 0:51; you’ll see why she wanted me to see this!
Then, this morning, I got an email from Catster telling me that I could have gotten my Masters degree in LOLcats. Oh, had I only known. I guess I truly missed my calling.
But it wasn’t so much the article that caught my attention as it was the way the email presented it:
Why, look! A blue Aby wearing a mortarboard!
Then I got an update from Moderncat about Toki Poki trading cards. Of course, the name Toki caught my eye immediately. I plan on making some trading cards for all the kitties (I think Kylie would be particularly adorable on the Pretty in Pink cards) as soon as I can decide which photos to use. There aren’t any Abyssinian members, yet…
I have also been horribly remiss in not posting about these Abyssinian Knob Nots available through Etsy or on KnobNots’ website.
You may notice that the standing-up-and-knocking-all-the-letters-down Aby looks just a tiny bit familiar. Well…that’s because he is; Jake was the model! Who better to be the poster cat for mischief?
And, finally, remember when I posted in May about Animal Planet’s Too Cute Kittens show featuring the Aby kitten Tiny Dancer? Well good news: the DVD will be released on October 4 and is available for pre-order now! I know my husband will be happy that we can finally delete it off of our DVR box.
A lot of Aby news for a Wordless Wednesday, eh?
Angel, for whatever reason, is still not happy about Jacoby’s general existence.
And poor Jake just doesn’t understand why he’s suddenly not able to play with Angel the way he used to. So he’s been forced to engage other playmates…
…like Kylie…
…and Tessie. Needless to say, I hope this blows over soon, and I think Jake does, too.
One of my new favourite blogs, Catsparella, posted today about Google’s anti-cat policy. She quotes a bit from Google’s Corporate Code of Conduct, to whit:
Google’s affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture. We like cats, but we’re a dog company, so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out. For more on this, see our Dog Policy.
“We like cats, but we’re a dog company.”
Wow, Google, really? REALLY? I’m not going to go all crazy cat woman and point out how that passage would have read in past eras of American history, with different nouns in place of “Cat” and “Dog” in that sentence, and how discriminatory that is, but…seriously? Is that something you really want to have said?
Cats are a more popular pet in this country than dogs, Google. You are a public company. You may want to rethink your “Dog Policy.” Not to mention, it’s a well-known fact that the internet loves cats (just Google it!)…are you sure you want to step on its tail?
(And I’m not even going to say how much Jacoby would enjoy visiting Google’s offices and how much he would not be stressed out by Google, its offices or its dogs, either.)
Most of the cat shows we go to are beyond the reach of public transportation, so we have to drive. However, since my husband works out in the suburbs, I usually take the Commuter Rail with the cats and meet him out there; that way, he doesn’t have to backtrack in and out of the city on a Friday evening, and we get to have a little adventure.
Kylie’s not a huge fan of the train, but she’s happy as long as she’s in the carrier.
Jacoby, on the other hand, loves to ride the train…
…as long as he’s not in the carrier!
He absolutely loves looking out the windows. Other passengers were amazed at how quiet and relaxed he was once the train started moving and there was scenery to watch.
I think he actually prefers the Commuter Rail to the subway. It’s faster and the view out the window is better.
Also…I think one of the photos on Hipstamaticat today is an Abyssinian…If so, bonus!
I was looking for something (I am always looking for something) online and I came across this fascinating story of a professional photographer’s photo shoot with a group of Abyssinians. Not only are there some great photos, but her non-cat-person point of view is really interesting to read.
The photographs taken were for a New Zealand veterinary magazine called “Two Cats, One Dog,” and the issue with article about Abys isn’t available yet as it’s going to be in the Autumn 2001 edition. All issues of the magazine are available online for free, as long as you register with the website. Of course, I’ll be checking back to see when the article – and the photos! – are available. I can’t wait!
Today Jacoby’s namesake, Jacoby Ellsbury, became a member of the 30-30 Club, having hit 30 (or more) home runs and stolen 30 (or more) bases in a single season.
Of course, we already knew he was good at stealing bases, since Jacoby the Aby is named after that particuar talent of Jacoby the ballplayer.
With Jake doing so well at the cat shows, and Jacoby Ellsbury doing so well on the field, it definitely seems to be a good year to be named Jacoby.
Edit: And…Guess who hit a two-out, three-run home run in the 14th inning to beat the Yankees tonight?
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.
I have been collecting outfits for Jack and Angie, my Japanese cat fashion dolls. One piece I got is a leopard print shearling coat for Angie:
This coat also came with a matching hat, but it is much too large for Angie. However, it does fit a certain someone in the house quite nicely:
And you know, it would go with his LL Bean shearling coat, and it would look quite stylish, too…
I know it’s only the first day of autumn today, but it’s never too early to start thinking about winter, especially when you live in New England!
Finally, I just have to share this because it’s way too cute…
How adorable is this 1950’s dress and sweater set?
This week is “Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week”, into which category Angel inexplicably falls. For some reason, people just don’t want to adopt one-eyed kitties, even when they’re purebred Abyssinians. As her foster mom told me, “People are funny about (missing) eyes. Either it doesn’t bother them, or they just can’t handle it.”
Angel is a rescue, and because of her history she does have some quirks (like occasionally peeing on piles of fabric left on the floor) and idiosyncrasies that perhaps some cat owners wouldn’t want to deal with, but let me assure you, the fact that she has only one eye has nothing to do with her being a good kittypet.
And even though Jacoby tends to hog the spotlight around here, Angel would like to remind all of our readers that she is alive and well. She just doesn’t do these cat show thingies, and she’s perfectly happy staying home. Besides, let’s face it, Jake can be a bit of a drama king.
Let it never be said that Angel is not talented: here is her impression of Wayne Gretzky on the ice when an enforcer is heading his way and the referee happens to be looking in his direction. Pretty good, eh?
So don’t worry about Angel…she is just spending some quality time with Tessie while Jake and Kylie go to the shows.
Well…okay, maybe Angel’s not completely thrilled about that last one.
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.
Ever since Jacoby came home from the vet on Sunday, Angel’s been hissing at him.
He can be simply walking in her vicinity, minding his own business and totally ignoring her, and she’ll just sit there and hiss.
She even follows him around so she can hiss at him some more.
We think Angel’s hissing at Jake because he smells differently, either from visiting the vet or from his medications…but he’s been to the vet lots of times in the past, and he’s been on medications before – he’s even been on these exact same medications before!
But all of a sudden…Pahhhh! Pahhhhhhh! I don’t get it.
I was referring someone to one of my favourite websites, Retired Friends (I found both Tessie and Patrick through this site, Trick in 1997 and Tess in 2005), and I just couldn’t resist checking out the Abyssinians. I read about an available special needs kitty, a fawn Aby called Moses with bad knees, and I went to his breeder’s website, where I discovered a link to her blue Aby Do Lou’s Diabetes Blog. I always tell people it seems like Abys have more blogs than other cats, and look! Here’s another one. Do Lou, aka Red Ferne‘s Judah Ben-Hur, was diagnosed with diabetes in 2009, and seems to be doing well. He also dresses up!
But most of all, I was quite taken by this photo of Do Lou in a bomber jacket…doesn’t it remind you of Jacoby in his fighter plane?
I didn’t have any blue Abys in my blog roll yet…
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.
This morning, I was woken up by Jacoby…digging in our comforter. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I grabbed him and put him in the litter box…and nothing happened. He assumed the stance for several minutes, and nothing came out. Then he tried the other box, and a couple of other non-box places (which he never does), so I knew something was up. It was too much like the last time he went from box to box but didn’t pee.
We may have had other plans this morning, but I don’t remember what they were anymore; we bundled him up and took him to Angell Memorial, which is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
I often say we’re lucky to live in Boston and have such a world-class pet medical facility right nearby. Not that anyone wants to have to go to the vet on a Sunday morning, but it’s nice to know that the option is available.
The good news was, he wasn’t blocked. He probably had a crystal flare-up in his urine, possibly because we tried to stop giving him his daily UT treats. He’s already on Clavamox, for his sniffles, which he started yesterday; to that, Dr. Baker added Buprenex, a pain reliever, and Prazosin, which reduces spasms in his urethra.
He also got a flat of Hill’s c/d seafood canned food, and the instruction for us to feed him more canned food and less dry food. I’m sure he’s really going to love that last prescription! He gets to eat it in his cat show cage, which I think he really enjoys, too.
Which just goes to show you, you never know what the day will bring when you have cats. Poor Jakey! He’s currently snoozing on the bed next to me…between not feeling well and all his medications, he’s been very cuddly this weekend.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 