This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Model.”
Jacoby is a marvelous model.
He has been the inspiration for my personal plushie project, but Avanii from DeviantArt also made me a plush Aby modeled after our Jake.
These are her photos of him in the woods of Holland.
I really like how she did his paw pads. They’re needle-felted wool.
I think Jake likes them, too.
Contrary to popular belief, modelling is not easy!
Especially when your model falls on top of you!
eBay can be a marvelous resource.
You can find some marvelous old photos of Abyssinians, like this collection of kittens from the late 1960s or early 1970s. I believe this came from a newspaper archive.
I love this next set. These are from a newspaper archive, and they’re from a story on a CFA cat show in 1968.
I showed them to Meg, and she recognised this judge as Jane Martinke. For some reason, you don’t seem to see a lot of photos of Abys being judged.
And then I managed to score this wonderful collection of 20 photos from one seller.
They seem to start in 1974, when, according to the backs of the photos, this ruddy girl was 4 months old. The most recent photos are dated 1980.
She was a cute kitten.
Her name was Wohl-Rabe’s Mayday Khamsin. When I saw her cattery name, bells went off. Wohl-Rabe is one of those names that you see in Aby pedigrees! The Wohlrabes started breeding Abys in the late 1950’s and continued through the 1970’s. If you search for “Wohl-Rabe” and “Abyssinian,” you’ll find all sorts of names and photos of historical Abys.
Jacoby has a few Wohl-Rabe cats in his pedigree. I couldn’t find Miss Mayday on ERoS or AbyWorld (she was probably a spayed pet), so I don’t know if she and Jake are specifically related…but there’s a connection.
Some of the photos of Mayday are simply stunning.
It’s interesting the way the photos span her lifetime.
In just 20 random photographs, you watch Mayday grow from a kitten into a mature cat.
It’s interesting to see how the standard has changed since the 70’s.
You see it more in all the photos of Mayday in a way you don’t in just a couple of random old photos in a book or on the internet.
I think it’s because, looking at the collection, you kind of get to know her.
In some later shots, she’s on the same chair she was on when she was a kitten, which is a nice bit of continuity
Kind of makes you wonder, though, what kind of fame Mayday might have found if the internet had existed back then!
She was certainly a very photogenic little girl!
This one came through the Aby Foster Network on Facebook, and I’m afraid there’s not a lot of details on him.
Susan Graham posted: “I’m getting another rescue from Charlotte, NC – this one is a boy who is unknown age and has an ear infection with a head tilt. I think I can get him fixed up pretty quickly, and if he gets along with other cats (most males do), then I can find a good home for him quickly too. Rescue there is pulling him and keeping him for me since I’ll be in Seattle tonight for a week, and I’ll be picking him up next weekend from the rescue/foster.”
Please contact Susan Graham through the Facebook post if interested in giving this boy a forever home.
Jacoby has a urinary crystal issue, and needs to eat special prescription UT food, which we get from Pet Food Direct.
When an order is delivered, it’s a big day in our house.
Jake always knows that it’s his food in that box. I’m not sure how he knows, but there’s something about the box that always alerts him.
And apparently he feels that it’s necessary to protect his food from any scavengers who might want to steal it.
You never know who could be lurking nearby waiting for their chance to snatch it away.
Oh oh! Here comes Kylie!
Sure, she seems completely uninterested in the contents of Jake’s box, but that could be part of her clever scheme.
Is she coming back?
Guarding one’s food is hard work.
Did someone say “Dinnertime”???
Have those of you in multi-cat households noticed this phenomenon?
A toy can sit there for weeks with no-one playing with it, but the second someone does, it becomes the most popular toy in the WORLD!
Also, in case you’re curious as to the drawing in the second to last panel, I used this photo as a reference.
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
This is so sad and so unfair. I cried out when I read this on Catsparella today, but Wasabi-Chan, the cutest kitten in the world joined StarClan much too soon today at 6:30pm Tokyo time.
Apparently she was recovering from her crow attack, and also had epilepsy, which her human was treating. But she was taken to the vet this morning and treated in the ICU, but lost her fight. They don’t know what the actual cause of death is yet, but it was much, much too soon. She was only 3 months old. She didn’t even get to be a ‘paw…
I know she probably wasn’t really an Aby…but she certainly looks like one. My heart is with the Thousand – again – because another friend stopped running today.
I love taking photos of Jacoby’s feet.
What is it about cat’s paws, anyway?
Why are we so mesmerised by those soft toe pads?
I got a new iPhone app called iMicroscope that is meant to take super close-ups of things like a real microscope would.
So of course I tried it out on Jake.
The iMicroscope pictures weren’t that great…
…Even considering that it’s possible a moving cat isn’t the best test subject.
But it was interesting, and not bad for 99c.
Well…I thought it was interesting.
Sad news that I just have to share here: Homer the Blind Wondercat has gone to hunt with StarClan. He was 16 years old, and if you’ve read his book, then you know what a wonderous cat he really was.
If you haven’t read the book about Homer, you should. I saw a lot of Angel in Gwen Cooper’s description of Homer and how he lived his life.
My heart is with the Thousand, for my friend has stopped running today.
Jacoby loves to help me when I’m looking for something in the bedroom closet.
And not just because he likes to look down on me and the world from the high shelves, either.
Although he does enjoy that a lot.
Jake also likes to help me select the perfect bag…I went into the closet to get a bag to carry some stuff to work in. I set it down to go get the stuff to put into it…and found this! It wasn’t so much that he got into the bag that surprised me, it was how fast he did it! I didn’t even know he was in the room!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Humble.” Which is pretty much the opposite of last week’s theme.
Lately we’ve had these stupid little moth-bugs flying about our apartment. I’m pretty sure they hitched a ride in a bag of rice or cat food.
The humans in the house hate them.
But the felines find them quite entertaining and engaging.
And what could be more humble than hunting insects in the bottom cubby of a cat tree?
Angel is the epitome of humble, if you ask me.
Angel may not be the cat about town that Jacoby is, but she is still an Aby and, as is her birthright, she still appreciates an outing now and then. Her problem is…harnesses.
Angel’s very first harness was a Walking Jacket.
She wore it on the flight from California back to Boston. I wasn’t terribly impressed with it, though. She actually managed to get out of it while in her carrier bag! I also wasn’t crazy about the way it fit her.
Her first real trip outside to the park was on a chilly day in April, so she wore this little purple print jacket. I think this one came from Petsmart.
She’d never worn clothes before, if you can believe that!
I have long believed that cats don’t mind wearing coats because cats are not stupid. They don’t like being cold, and they figure out pretty quickly that coats keep them warm and they get to go outside and not be cold.
Angel certainly figured that out quickly!
The harness I’ve been using on Angel has been the Gooby Freedom Harness II.
Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with it.
Angel seems to like it, too.
However…
…On our last outing, THIS happened.
I caught it quickly and hooked her back up, but once a cat manages to get out of a harness, I’ve found it’s pretty much useless after that. So it’s time to find Angel a better harness. I’ve gotten her one of these from Petco, which I like because the shoulders are adjustable. We have tried it in the house, but not in the great outdoors…that’s our next project!
Well, a girlcat like Angel could hardly be called a peeping tom, now, could she?
Angel loves to look out the window of our apartment. She actually is more into than the other cats.
She especially loves the window when there are people swimming in the pool.
I’m not sure what attracts her more, the people moving around out there or the sparkling sunlight reflecting off the water. But she’ll stay glued to that window til the sun sets and the people go back inside.
The thing about being a visual person is, someone will say something and I’ll be so intrigued by it I just have to draw it. The other day Meg said: “Say…there’s an idea; Jake … as a storm chaser. You could base it on “Sharknado.” (He) could be crazy looking…AND looking for some other sort of “Fishnado.”
Yeah…so…I didn’t actually get into a lot detail with the cat part of the vision, but…
Enough said.
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
Jacoby, as I have said many times before, is definitely a city cat.
The city of Boston is his territory.
He’s very at home in his urban jungle.
I don’t think he even realises that this is not a normal feline habitat.
Summer days are just too nice to carry on feuds.
So, on a lazy Sunday, this happened.
In our house, this is Jacoby and Angel sleeping together!
Granted, they’re not exactly cuddling…
But adjacent beds on the same side of the apartment? I’ll take it!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Swanky.”
I got Jacoby this swanky sequined collar at one of the cat shows we went to.
He’s quite proud of it, as you can see.
No, really! He loves it!
Not that Jake needs help posing…
…we also have this swanky cat toy to catch his attention and show off his swanky collar.
Okay, maybe Jake really doesn’t need help posing.
Angel also has a swanky collar like Jake’s, but in her signature purple.
Angel’s not quite as accomplished a poser as Jake is.
Let’s see if the swanky cat toy will help get a nice pose from Angel…
And…there we go! I’d say it works on some Abys!
I’m involved in a new local CFA cat club that was born during and named after the huge blizzard and cat show we had back in February.
We’re the New England Meow Outfit (N.E.M.O.), and we’re having our first show on Columbus Day weekend in the very same hotel in Sturbridge. I designed the logo, and we’ve got it for sale on everything you can imagine in our Zazzle store.
And, to that end…
…of course there’s a cat-sized version of our iconic T-shirt!
And of course Jacoby loves his new T-shirt.
What’s not to love? It’s stylish, it’s comfortable, and it fits nicely. What else do you need in a T-shirt?
We have two red girls in need of new homes this week…
The listing says this girl is a red Somali, but she doesn’t look longhaired to me…She is, however, in a shelter, not in foster care.
“ANNE – ID#A808630
My name is ANNE.
I am a spayed female, red Somali.
The shelter staff think I am about 10 years old.
I have been at the shelter since Jul 26, 2013.”
According to the person who sent the email to the NAR: “It is unlikely she will be adopted; they say she is 10yrs old. She is in Jacksonville, FL. If I had the means to take her in I would, but I have a friend who is a vet tech who says it looks like she has dental issues. I already have one senior cat along with another cat and 3 dogs. I could not afford to take on her vet care.
But if you can…10 years old isn’t that old any more! If you are interested in Anne, contact the City of Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services Division at 630-CITY (2489).
Then we have Eva. Eva is a red girl at the Victoria Pet Adoption Society in Saanichton, BC.
Not a lot of info on Eva on the Petfinder listing, but she seems to prefer a home without other cats.
She does, however, seem to be a younger cat and pretty confident. If you’re in the Victoria area and need an Aby, contact the shelter.
Now, this last one is a little special. It’s not Abys in need…but they are family. Tessie’s littermate brother, Koala, and two other boys were just returned to their breeder (my friend Kim) by the woman who had adopted them, and they need new forever homes. This is them all back home in Oregon; they came home three days ago and are still a little disoriented and upset.
Koala is, of course, 10 years old; Buckbeak is 2-1/2 and Worf is almost 1. Koala, like Tessie, is descended from Abys, and Buckbeak and Worf are Burmillas. I wish I could take Koala! How interesting would it be to reunite a brother and sister after 8 years?
In any event, if you’re interested in a Burmilla or a Smoke Asian just like Tessie, comment or email me and I’ll connect you with Kim.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 