Aby-a-Day – September 30: Brushin’ off my tails

The cat show this weekend is actually two separate, individual shows, sponsored by different clubs, and with different entry fees and registrations. Kylie was only entered in yesterday’s show, and Jacoby was only issued in today’s.

Today’s show was sponsored by the Touch of Class cat club, so I thought Jacoby should dress accordingly.

Of course, today he was actually competing, so he couldn’t just hang out all day in his outfit, but he did make a grand entrance.

I’m just sorry I didn’t have room to pack his top hat.

Such a schmoozer! Jake did great today, too! He was Best of Breed in two rings, and he finalled in three of the six rings, taking 8th, 9th, and 10th Best Cat in Premiership.

Cousin Taz was the only other Aby in Premiership today (there was a female entered yesterday, but both Jake and Taz were only entered today), and he took 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 9th Best Cat in Premiership. Not a bad day’s work, if you ask me.

Aby-a-Day – September 29: “An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.”

It’s late, and I haven’t had a chance to go through all the photos, but Jacoby’s and my first experience as a CFA Ambassador team went pretty well. It was a cold and rainy day, and there weren’t very many spectators or very many children, but we still managed to charm a few people and have some interesting conversations.

We also went out in the travel stroller and visited the shelter kitties.

Since today’s show was sponsored by the Damn Yankees Cat Club, Jake spent much of the day in his Red Sox uniform.

Including his hat, which charmed quite a few people at the show…mostly because he was so good about wearing it!

Aby-a-Day – September 28: It’s show time again! (Friday Flashback)

Jacoby and Kylie are off to Connecticut this weekend to attend the Damn Yankees and Touch of Class CFA shows in Groton, CT. This is a new type of show for us: each club’s show is a one-day, 6-ring show, and they’re held back-to-back, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Kylie’s only entered in the Saturday show, sponsored by Damn Yankees, and Jake is only entered in the Sunday show, sponsored by Touch of Class. On Saturday, Jake and I will spend the day acting as CFA Ambassadors for the first time. To make things more interesting, 5 of the 6 judges at the show on Sunday haven’t ever seen Jake in their rings before.

I always get excited before a show. I love them: the cats, the thrill of getting called into a final, meeting up with friends…and I always think back to where this love affair started, the cat shows I visited and later entered in my teens.

We didn’t have the snazzy portable show cages that we have now. All we had (unless you wanted to spend a bomb for a custom-made wooden and plexiglas show cage) were the wire CFA cages. When my sister and I started entering our cats in the Household Pet class, we used bed sheets to cover our cages.

Later on, my mom made us special show curtains with hooks to attach to the cage frame. The curtains for my sister’s cat, Paul, were a brown calico print that complemented his brown mackerel tabby fur, and the curtains for my cat, Sgt. Pepper, were pale blue satin, to match his Siamese-mix eyes.

I loved those curtains; I wish I could find them now. And our rosettes, too; I don’t know if my mom still has them, but I’ll have to ask her. Back in Sacramento, in the 80’s, the HHP class was huge. I remember there being upwards of 40 cats entered, so winning a rosette was especially sweet. There were also fewer rings; at a two-day show today, there can be ten or twelve rings, but then there were only four rings per day. For us kids to go to a big show like that, at Cal Expo, and come home with a rosette was a great accomplishment!

When I went to my first show in New England with Gun-Hee, about 25 years later, it was a very different experience in some ways.

For one thing, we had our own cage for the first time.

The shows here, at least the ones I’ve entered, are much smaller than the shows we went to at Cal Expo. I think I like that better, though; the show feels more intimate when it’s held in a school gym or a town hockey rink than when it’s held in a major concert venue and the site of California’s state fair.

And showing a purebred cat is a lot different than showing a HHP! For one thing, the ribbons are more complicated, and the way they’re awarded is more involved

But the essence of the show is the same whether you’re on the west coast or the east coast, whether you’re showing HHP, Kitten, Championship or Premiership: It’s all about the cats, and waiting to hear your number called to a ring…hopefully more than once!

Aby-a-Day – September 27: See Food

We’ve had an aquarium with African Dwarf Frogs nearly as long as Jacoby’s been alive. It’s always had frogs in it, it’s usually had a snail and there have been different types of fish over the past three years.

He loved it when he was a kitten.

Loved it.

We kept the tank in the bedroom on a shelf of our tall wardrobe. To this day, one of his favourite napping places is in a basket on the shelf beneath the tank’s shelf.

We recently downsized the tank and moved it from the wardrobe to the television stand.

As it happens, Jake’s love affair with the little animals moving around in the water has not waned. Currently, it’s just two frogs, a snail and a ghost shrimp in there, none of which are quite as flashy as the barbs, guppies and gourami fish…but evidently, they’re still interesting.

And I can’t really blame him…this is Harold and Kumar, the frogs, with Tiger, the snail.

I know, a snail sounds kind of boring, but Tiger’s pretty cool…

He can juggle!

But possibly the most interesting resident of our tank is the tiny little ghost shrimp. For a tiny transparent creature, he is very active!

Jake isn’t quite sure what to make of the little guy…but he can’t take his eyes off him! This video is a little long, but it’s actually edited…the shrimp had Jake’s attention for quite a while!

Although I do wonder what the frogs think when they see big cat eyes looking in, watching them…

Abys in Need – “Cat” in Colorado needs a home ASAP

I always find these stories so sad…

This cat belongs to an 84 year old man who has to move out of state for health reasons. The cat is not welcome where his owner is moving. “CAT” doesn’t like strangers but I have been visiting the family for 2 months now and after 3 weeks of giving him treats every day and talking to him he is receptive to me and will allow 3 strokes on his back as he eats his crunchies. I would not advise trying to make contact before then. He is house-broken and quiet except when he asks for treats. He now waiting at the door for me when I come. The cat has to be placed before the end of October or he will have to be euthanized. He is a beautiful cat.

Even poor Cat (poor slob without a name…) looks sad, doesn’t he? He’s in Ignacio, CO (La Plata County); Contact Nobleese Martinez at 970-883-2658 or through the Rescue Me website.

Aby-a-Day – September 26: Wordless Wednesday (Oh, you did NOT just take my photo…)

Aby-a-Day – September 25: Paw & (dis)Order: Discovery (Cartoon Tuesday)

One little joke at a cat show blossoms into a four-panel cartoon story arc.

This is based (loosely) on Goren and Eames. When I told her the plot, Meg said that “Lili will probably insist that it be all about her.” So, we’ll see.

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

Aby-a-Day – September 24: File under “J” (Hipstamatic Monday)

I have a drawer that I keep smaller future birthday and Christmas gifts in.

Every so often, I go through this drawer to see where I am in my planning.

One afternoon I left the drawer open and unattended…

…and…

…came back to discover a certain ruddy Abyssinian boy had decided that the Present Drawer was an excellent place for a nap!

Which is slightly strange, because the Present Drawer isn’t all that comfortable.

It’s not very soft. Well, except for the bubble plastic.

Jacoby didn’t seem to mind, though. He stayed in there for at least an hour.

Apparently novelty and seclusion trumps softness and comfort when it comes to Abyssinian sleeping preference.

Aby-a-Day – September 23: The Shadow knows

Of late, Angel’s developed a love-hate relationship with the blinds in the bedroom.

She hates it when they’re closed, and she loves to work her way onto the sunny side of them.

She’s both strong and stubborn, and the blinds are getting the worst of it; we usually keep them raised just high enough for a cat to rest comfortably on the windowsill and get some sun.

But one morning, before I’d had a chance to open the blinds, Angel was already in the window, basking.

I loved the way her shadow looked on the blinds, so before protectively raising them I took a few photos.

All the cats enjoy napping on the sunny windowsill, but only Angel will manhandle the blinds to get them out of her way.

And she will camp out there for hours. She doesn’t ever seem to get too warm.

When Angel loves something, she really loves it. She loves the heck out of it.

Other People’s Abys: Kitten Overload!

One nice thing about being on my Abyssinian mailing lists is that I get to see a lot of kitten photos. All kittens are cute, but I think Aby kittens are especially adorable. These are a few recent photos that are my favourites.

This is an amazing litter that was born to Surfin Abyssinians‘ Maggie Horner’s girl Squeaky (Ch Elbereth My Theodosia) on Friday, July 13. She wrote: “Hi folks…What’s the record for the most blue Aby kittens born in one litter? I reckon my Squeaky just smashed it! SEVEN blue babies born very late last night and so far all are well. I’m sooooo proud of my beloved Squeaky. Does anyone know the names of the members of S Club Seven? See what I did there? LOL. Off to stock up with lots of chicken for my star girl. See also a blurry first pic of Squeaky and her litter. No wonder she looks knackered.”

As it turned out, not only were there seven blue kittens in that litter, but they turned out to all be BOYS! Here’s “The Blue Horde,” aged just under one month.

Can you imagine? A litter of seven is pretty unusual to begin with, but all blue and all boys? Very special. Maggie said, “Well Squeaky’s brood have moved from the kitten room into the big pen in the conservatory for a while today while Tufty’s lot are having a taste of fresh air in the small pen in the garden. I keep checking and double checking, thinking I must be wrong but yes, the little so and so’s are all boys! All very healthy though and now starting to eat solids and use the litter tray so musn’t grumble – LOL. Incidently, five of Tufty’s kittens are boys as well. So that’s one girl out of thirteen kittens!!!! Again all doing well, good appetites and nearly completely litter trained. But one girl when I’ve got people asking for more! – Can I have a little grumble?”

This is Tufty (Silversmoke’s Guinevere of Surfin)’s litter…six kittens, five boys! What a summer for Maggie! Maggie thought of naming The Blue Horde after the Seven Dwarves, but then decided that “Sneezy” and “Grumpy” might not be the most attractive kitten names. So she’s calling them after the Seven Seas: Fars, Larwi, Harkand, Kalah, Salahit, Kardanj and Sanji.

Think it’s easy to get a photo of seven Aby boykittens all together? I love Maggie’s description of this photo session: “Trying to get seven kittens to all pose nicely for a photo is proving impossible but I thought you might all enjoy these two attempts. In one I can just imagine the only kitten looking at the camera saying, ‘will you lot just sit still so this mad cow leaves us alone'”

That one boy is being a bit of a goody-two-shoes, isn’t he?

Finally, Maggie decided “It’s proving to be a nightmare getting good photos of them all together so I’ve resorted to occasional individual shots – see attached.”

I’m not sure which of the seven these three cuties are, but aren’t they just precious?

Live in the UK and want a blue boykitten? Here’s Maggie’s official advertisement: Seven blue male kittens born Friday 13 July! Sire: Gr Ch Nishalka Khepri, Dam: Ch Elbereth My Theodosia. Six available. Tel 01642 888177. They’re ready to go the week commencing 15th October.

Maggie also posted this photo, which she called “Rose between two thorns”: “Here’s a nice picture of Tufty’s usual silver girl posing between the two usual boys.” I love this photo.

Debbie Dixon from Crystalpaws Cattery announced the following happy event this week: “Hi All, we had a lovely litter of unusual kittens born on Tuesday from our usual tortie, Tinks (Crystalpaws Tinkerbell) and our chocolate silver boy, Mars (Kazizkatz Crystalpaws Mars). It was quite a complicated labour and resulted in a c-section after the first two kittens due to the third kitten being stuck.

Tinks and her three kittens are all now doing well. We have a chocolate silver male, a black silver male and a lilac silver female who may be tortie but I can’t see any sign of tortie yet:-)

This little guy is the black silver.

This is the chocolate silver boy.

And this is their sister, the lilac silver. Debbie writes: “I have just taken some individual pictures of our special silver litter. The black silver male and the lilac silver female (I’m pretty sure that she is not tortie) are reserved but the chocolate silver male is available. I have added a couple of extra pictures of him, so people can see how pretty his silver is :-)”

Here’s the little chocolate silver boy again.

If you’re interested in an unusual Aby kitten and you live near Essex, UK, you can contact Debbie through her website.

Next we have Sunny, a silver Aby from Sartum Cattery in the Netherlands, with her new litter of kittens. They were born on September 12; this photo was taken when they were a day old.

They’re about a week old in these next photos…which were taken this past Wednesday and today.

Mischa, their breeder, writes: Here is Sunny with her kittens, she is an outstanding mom, her kittens are doing so well and growing like I’ve not seen before 🙂

Now, these little cuties are my friend Molly’s latest Tigerflower babies, fathered by her fawn boy Moses, who we met at one of the Groton shows last year. This is Khloe, Rob, Kim and Kourtney.

And this is Kendall.

Meg sent me this photo of Cousin Taz’s nephew Louis, aged 3 or 3 weeks. I love the expression on his little face!

In the pre-kitten department, we have this photo of Molly and Lola from Abychat Abyssinians. Rebecca wrote: “Lola (Sensay Whatever Lolawants) is not leaving her friend Molly’s (Abychat In-The-Mood) side. Molly is due later this week. All expectant cats should have a friend like Lola.”

And, last but not least and at the opposite end of the kitten spectrum, we have Rebecca’s Bluey: “I put my older blue stud on a diet 6 weeks ago. Just taken some pictures of him looking slim again. GC Abychat Boltoutoftheblue will be 12 in a few months so he is looking good for his age.” 12 years old! I’ll say he’s looking good!

Aby-a-Day – September 22: A very rare photo

This is something that I am not able to post very often.

Check it out: How many cats do you see in this photo?

It’s not very often I’m able to capture everyone within the space of a camera frame.

And it never lasts very long at all!

Aby-a-Day – September 21: The Karate Aby (Fashion Friday)

When we went to the Build-a-Bear shop in Faneuil Hall, I found something amazing for Jacoby.

A little karate gi, just his size!

It came with every colour of belt from yellow to black, but I thought the green belt suited Jake best.

He’s always had mad ninja skills, so I thought the gi was very appropriate.

Behold the master of kung-fu counter surfing!

Jake’s little uniform may or may not have inspired this Draw Something! picture…

Aby-a-Day – September 20: Stronger than Dirt

About a month ago, I posted about Jacoby’s fascination with our laundry basket.

Well, he hasn’t gotten over it yet.

It’s really pretty hilarious. I’ll walk into the bedroom and there he is, in the basket, watching me.

If the light is just right, the glowing eyes in amongst the T-shirts and jeans can be pretty disconcerting.

I really don’t get the attraction.

I mean, there’s dirty socks in there!

I wonder what he thinks about while he’s in there?

Apart from how to get out of the basket…

Aby-a-Day – September 19: Wordless Wednesday (Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!)

Abys in Need: Four older Abys looking for homes

In the past few days, I’ve gotten a few emails about Abyssinians looking for homes.

The first is Aries, a 10-year-old ruddy/usual boy in Annapolis, MD.

According to his human: He is a great cat, about 10 years old and very friendly towards humans. He’s not social with other cats at all, but loves human company. I have had him since he was 5 months old. My kids are all grown and I am planning on moving on to our sailboat this winter.

Aries is not taking well to living on the boat, so I took him back home. At some point in the upcoming couple months I need to figure out what to do. We really love the cat, but I am not keen on the idea of delaying my
sailing adventures for an unknown number years. Neither of the kids are in a position to take the cat in.

Aries is very healthy. He does have the common Aby dental issues and has about half his teeth. We brush them, but a year ago, the vet recommended removing quite a few. He has all his shots, and I can take him for a checkup before someone adopts him. The breeder was in southern Virginia, when I used to live there. I did not have a sales contract, and I don’t have her contact info anymore. I am most concerned about a good home. Attached is a photo of him I just took minutes ago, and a couple cute ones.

He likes ice cream, cream cheese, and looking in mirrors.

If you’re interested in Aries, contact Eric Epstein by email or call him at 410-575-4001

Next we have a red/sorrel girl, whose name was not included in the email. Her story is a bit sad: I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In June I purchased a retired female Abysinnian from a breeder in Greensboro.

I had previously owned Burmese cats. I fell for how beautiful the cat was but did not realize Abys are not lap cats. Also, the breeder assured me I could move her back and forth between my home in Asheville and my home in Chapel Hill; but that is not true at all. I have no choice but to go back and forth every couple of weeks for several days at each home; so I must find another home for the cat. Also, I am leaving for China next month and must find a home for her as soon as possible.

I have taken good care of her. Last week I took her to the vet to have her teeth cleaned due to severe gingivitis and stomatitis. She had to have 10 of her teeth removed, and that has stopped her drooling. She had not had proper dental care in the cattery. The vet was shocked at her lack of dental care but is confident that the problem has been addressed and will discuss her health records with any potential new owner.

Since I brought her back from the vet, she seems angry and afraid of me. I have always been gentle with her except the morning I took her to the vet. It was hard to catch her to get her in her cage. And she got upset. There had been no previous upsets. She wants to hide under the bed or sit on the screened porch. Sometimes she will want me to pet her; then she will run away as if she thinks I am a threat.

I have been so careful with her, and I have never had this situation with previous cats. I really feel bad about this situation, because I really like her. The cat is five years old. She is beautiful, and I am sorry I cannot keep her.

If you’re interested in this pretty girl, contact John Presley by email or call 828-337-1638.

Finally, Chris with Merrydancer Abyssinians posted this note on my Aby list: I have someone in London who had a Black Silver and a Ruddy/Usual from us in 2007, needing to rehome them – both neuter boys. Does anyone know of anyone looking for two adult boys? Their names are Beau and Bae.

I don’t have a photo of these guys, but you can see other Abys from Merrydancer on the website; if you want to know more about them, send Chris an email.

Aby-a-Day – September 18: Paw & (dis)Order: Abyssinial Intent (Cartoon Tuesday)

This started out as a joke during the Mansfield show; someone (a judge?) said something about the Aby colour classes being “different but equally important” which of course led to me cracking wise about crack about “These are their stories,” and finally ended up with Jacoby being cast as Lenny Briscoe and Taz as possibly Mike Logan, but more likely Rey Curtis.

It kind of mushroomed from there. This is part one of four…

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

Live Aby Kitten Cam in Finland!

Sanna-Leena Santapakka posted this to the Abyssinian Cat Club on Facebook, and it’s solid gold: a live Aby kitten webcam! You can see the live feed app. from 11 am GMT to 12 pm GMT every day. The star (and executive producer) of this video is the amazing first time mom Martta (Kawaii Geisha). It is so addictive!

Check out the live feed here!

According to the poster: Please note that the lights will be off during the night (GMT+2). I’m also turning the cam away when I’m taking care of the kittens. There has also been some occasional technical issues which have caused the stream to be offline.

Martta (Kawaii Geisha) is Abyssinian cat. Her five kittens were born at 12.9.2012.

You can bet I’ll be tuning in frequently to assuage my kitten urges!

Aby-a-Day – September 17: Beware the night cuddler! (Hipstamatic Monday)

Angel can be very cuddly when she wants to be.

There are times when I’ll reach out to pet her and she almost flinches. I don’t think she was ever physically abused, and I’m careful about approaching her on her blind side (although that never seems to really bother her), so I think it’s just a part of her skittish nature.

But when she wants to, she is a purring, kneading, head-butting force of nature!

Usually, it’s while I’m eating or cutting up meat, but sometimes she comes to bed with us and demands pettings.

She even allows her belly to be rubbed, purring like a motorboat the entire time!

It’s especially sweet because Tessie is the cat who comes to bed with us every night. It’s kind of her thing. And Tessie is still, almost 4 years after Angel’s arrival, incredibly jealous of any attention paid to Angel. It borders on obsessive; she doesn’t mind if we pay attention to Jacoby or Kylie, but if we even talk to Angel, Tessie will come and smack her.

So the nights when Angel’s brave enough to challenge Tessie’s domain and purr us to sleep are very special indeed.

Good night, Angel!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Jacoby in the October Issue of YourCat Magazine

Back in July, the following email was forwarded on one of my Aby mailing lists:

Good morning
I am writing a feature for Your Cat magazine to promote your breed and wondered if you could complete the following asap please:

What I love about the breed is….
The most interesting thing about the breed is….
I keep my cats entertained ..
I keep my cat/s in tip top condition by…
My top tip to a potential owner is…
The most challenging aspect about keeping this breed is…
If you have this breed you must have….
Any further comments/tips for anyone thinking of buying a cat ….
Other breeds that are compatible are…

Many thanks,
Angie

Of course, I responded with answers about Abyssinians:

Hello Angie
I got your Aby questionnaire through an Aby email list I’m a member of. I also do a blog about Abys and couldn’t NOT answer your questions!
Hope this is useful:

What I love about Abyssinians is…they’re so interactive! I can’t do anything without my Aby, Jacoby, “helping” me. He also always sleeps on the bed with me, touching me in some way. They’re also so loyal and protective; Jake will hear someone outside the door and growl as he runs up to see what’s going on.

The most interesting thing about Abyssinians is…they’re the oldest breed of cat not started by a genetic mutation (long hair, short/no tail, thermo-retrictive semi-albinism, and the oldest breed bred on purpose by humans and documented. This, I believe, is why they’re more attuned to people and more “dog-like” – they’ve simply been bred for this sort of personality longer than other types of cats.

I keep my cat/s entertained…by walking into the room. Abys love laserpointers, and they love playing fetch. But the thing they most love to do is assist you with whatever YOU are doing!

I keep my cat/s in tip top condition by…proper diet and outings on the leash in nice weather. Plenty of water available in spots away from the feeding area, and tooth brushing and grooming to keep their fur glossy.

My top tip to a potential Aby owner is…remember that they’re very active and want to be involved in absolutely everything you do! These are not decorative cats, these are cats of action! Read up on Abys as much as you can – Your Cat has some lovely articles, and there are several Aby-specific websites and blogs with lots of real stories about real Abys. Yes, they really do do all those things!

The most challenging aspect about keeping Abys is…Well, they ALWAYS want to help you. Always. Especially if you’re making their food. Or other cats’ food. Or any other animals’ food. Or pretty much any food at all. They will steal whatever they can. Jake stole broccoli out of a Chinese takeaway we left unattended thinking that there was only broccoli, it should be safe.

If you have Abyssinians, you must have…patience, a sense of humour (they have both, so you’ll need it, too) and the ability to live with a cat that wants to be with you all the time.

Any further comments/tips for anyone thinking of buying a cat …with cats, much of the time, I’ve found they live up to your expectations. If you expect to have a cat who’s antisocial, nervous, hides when people come over, will only eat one brand of food and won’t let you clip claws or brush teeth, well, then that’s what you’ll have. But if you expect your cat to know some basic words (we have to spell “c-a-n” in our house), to understand what not to do and what’s okay, and be a member of your family rather than just an accessory or a decoration, that’s what you’ll have.

I’ve seen it with my dad’s cats and my cats. I raised his Scottish Fold kitten for several weeks before he could take him, and he was well on track for becoming an extroverted, leash-trained, fearless cat. But after he’d been with my dad for a while, he sort of “shut down,” and became the sort of cat who hides and doesn’t like strangers, doesn’t like to go outside EVER, hisses if you try to pet him…in short, the poor kitten grew into the cat that my dad always complains about! But because that’s all he ever expected of the kitten, that’s what the kitten became.

People always, always ask why my cats are so great, why they’re so friendly, relaxed and outgoing even at the vet, playful into old age, smart, etc. and I tell them it’s because that’s the sort of cat I wanted.

Other breeds that are compatible with Abys are…Burmese and Siamese work well, I’ve found. But they seem to get along with all breeds of cats…and dogs!

I was surprised to receive the following reply to my response:

Thanks so much for your email. Having looked at your blog, Jacoby is amazing! Can you please tell me a little more about you and him, his personality, places you have been, how he and other people react etc, and send me some hi res photos of you two out & about. I’d love to feature you both in the ‘at home with’ section of the article.

I wrote back to Angie immediately, of course, and after a few days’ correspondence, Angela and her editor created a two-page feature in the October issue of Your Cat, which was also going to feature a spotlight on the Abyssinian breed!

And look! There’s a photo of Jake in Boston Common on the cover!

The feature itself is amazing – they used so many great photos of Jake, and they even mention my blog. It’s amazing; Your Cat calls itself “Britain’s Largest Cat Magazine,” and it’s distributed all over Europe. It’s also available in Canada and the States at bookstores that carry foreign magazines. Soon, Jacoby is going to meet a lot of new people!

Aby-a-Day – September 16: Happy 6th Birthday, Gun-Hee

Today, September 16, would have been Gun-Hee’s 6th birthday.

He only had one birthday.

I brought him home some balloons for his birthday to see what he’d do.

He really had fun with them. He had fun with pretty much everything.

I found a bunch of old photos of him that I used when I started this blog, when it was called “Gun-Hee a Day.” I started it in 2008 to see if I could post at least one photo, one story, one something every day for a whole year. I chose Gun-Hee as my subject because he was like Jacoby is now, always doing something that needed to be shared with the world.

I failed, of course, that first year. I tried again with Angel and Angel-a-Day, and I failed again. Then Jacoby showed up and the following year, 2010, I tried one more time, with this blog, The Daily Abyssinian, aka Aby-a-Day. And here we are.

These are all photos from Gun-Hee’s blog that I had on my Apple iDisk and saved when it was discontinued and turned off in favour of iCloud. They’re very small, because I didn’t have a lot of room to save photos on there. But I’d forgotten about some of these photos, so I’m happy to have found them. I know I have the full versions saved, somewhere…but they aren’t that much larger, I’m sure, because even then I had to keep my photos small because terabyte drives weren’t even invented until 2007, so I didn’t have one yet.

So here are some tiny little photos of Gun-Hee being Gun-Hee.

He was an amazing little cat. He confirmed all I ever dreamed life with an Abyssinian would be like, and he’s the absolute reason that this blog exists.

After he died, I had an artist on Etsy make a felted effigy of him using his own hair blended in with the mohair, silk, and sheep’s and alpaca’s wool. You can still see him if you search “Abyssinian Cat” on Etsy; she uses his sculpture as a model for a custom cat listing. I like that he’s on there. She calls him “Amber” but I know it’s really him – those are the same photos she sent me when she was making it for me. He sits in a glass case on a tall shelf in the bedroom, looking over me as I sleep.

I often wonder what Jake would have thought of Gun-Hee. I imagine they would have been the best of friends. I can’t imagine what trouble the pair of them would have gotten into, and the chaos they would have caused. Those two brains working together would have created some epic Aby mayhem.

Other times, I think Jake is Gun-Hee reincarnated, at least partly, but able to do things Gun-Hee couldn’t do. Like dogs. Jake’s never been afraid of dogs since the first time he met one, but Gun-Hee was scared of them. But Gun-Hee was a better jumper, and he was definitely better at running the Feline Agility course than Jake is! 🙂

They are both their father’s sons, that’s for sure.

Happy birthday, Gun-Hee…from me and from the brother you never met. We miss you.