This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Game.”
Cats are lucky. It’s really easy for them to find game meats to eat. Like these two cans of cat food made of Beaver and Rabbit.
I’m actually envious. I love game – venison, rabbit, duck…I’ve never tried beaver, though.
Lucky Jacoby!
“Come on, Mom! OPEN them, already!”
“I’M HUNGRRRRRRRY!”
Nom nom nom…
…nom nom nom…
Gun-Hee only had one Thanksgiving with us.
Sadly, we had to travel on his only Thanksgiving, so he didn’t even get to experience the glory and the wonder that is a Thanksgiving turkey.
He got to eat at the cats’ table (aka the floor) and share with his adopted brother Patrick and his sisters Tessie and Kylie.
He still got his turkey, though. I cooked one for Christmas dinner that year.
What’s the best part of Thanksgiving? The anticipation? The food? The football? The fact that is is now, officially, “The Holidays”?
How about, “None of the above”?
I think the best part of Thanksgiving is relaxing on the sofa after dinner.
With a kitty, of course.
As you can see, Jacoby wholeheartedly agrees.
“Wait…do I hear…LEFTOVERS!?”
At the Westchester show this past weekend, the club had a photographer, Olek Kuperberg, taking candid shots throughout the day. Here are the ones he took of Jacoby and I.
A cat nap between rings.
Posing with our poster.
Close up on his face.
Looking good from the front…
…from the back, though, not so much.
You can see all of the shots he took on his website.
…the 2014 Daily Abyssinian 2014 Cartoon Calendar is finished and ready for sale on Zazzle!
And, if you order by tomorrow (28 November) before Midnight PST (3am EST) and use the code TDAYPOSTSALE, you can save 20%! Just thought I’d give you all a heads up 🙂
Four months old, people! FOUR MONTHS!!!
Jellybean is a four-month old Abyssinian. She has been put up for adoption because she has luxating patella, level 3 or 4, on both sides. She has no trouble getting around, and doesn’t seem to be in pain. But with time, if this condition isn’t treated, she is at risk for developing arthritis. As her condition is fairly serious, we strongly recommend surgery. Failing that, she will need glucosamine supplements or a special food for healthy joints. It will be especially important that she not be allowed to become overweight. Jellybean is adorable, sociable and affectionate. She is declawed on all four paws. Her adoption fee is $150, which includes spaying, deworming, first vaccine, and microchip.
For more information, check out JB’s information on Petfinder.
Some people love Halloween, others cannot wait til Christmas. But for cats, the big holiday of the year is the day they get to eat bits of a bird that’s bigger than they are.
As you may recall from the story of Birdie, the Aby who got stuck inside a turkey, however, Abys tend to take poultry worship to new heights…
Oh, and by the way…this is my 100th Aby cartoon!
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
Got this through one of my Aby rescue lists:
“My name is Beth Jones and I am helping a shelter in Pampa, TX that has three volunteers that work very hard to get babies to safety. There is an Aby there who is already neutered.
Here is what the staff has to say about him: Chile is a gorgeous red color with slightly crossed amber eyes……makes him sooooooo cute! Personality plus…..wants to be held while purring up a storm and rubbing his cheek to yours. However, needs to be the only cat.
Chile is around one year of age. Please let us know if there is an opening for him with you! Thank you for looking, Beth 580-583-7837.” Sounds like someone is about to get really lucky! Chile sounds like a super sweetheart!
Jacoby never fails to make me laugh.
Here’s some more photos from when he tried to climb that fence on our walk.
He stood up and looked through the mesh at the park and the traffic beyond it for quite a while.
Then he decided it was time to climb.
Alley-oop!
You see? I wasn’t kidding when I said he’d have gone over if I wasn’t on the other end of his leash!
What a weekend!
There’s so much to share, but right now both Jacoby and I are exhausted. We left yesterday morning at 6:40 and our train got back into Boston at 9:20 tonight, so we have had two very long days.
Being the Cat of the Year’s human is a big job! It was a little surreal to be part of a celebrity team. I mean, he was on the Jumbotron! I was constantly talking to people, or doing something with Jake. Besides the Cat of the Year, Jake was also entered in the show (we only missed two rings, which is a bit of a miracle) and he participated as a model in the Fashion Show which was held both Saturday and Sunday. Jake is actually the first Cat of the Year to do all three things in the same show!
He is in very good standing…the full list of all the previous cats isn’t online anywhere (yet), but it was at the show…and what an impressive list it is.
Jake got an incredible rosette – the Scarlett Ribbon – with a photo of Scarlett, who was the very first Cat of the Year and the reason the award was created. It’s an honour to be on the same list with that brave little cat – and all the other amazing cats who have been Westchester’s Cats of the Year.
He also got a certificate that I’ll need to frame…
…and this poster.
And Weruva Cat Food is sending us some of their awesome cat food! They gave us some cans and some treats – which Jake loved (of course).
Our good friend Matthew and his mom even came to the show to see Jake get his award! On top of that, today he finally got his 6th TICA final…and he is not a Grand Champion Alter. He actually has enough points to be a Double Grand Champion Alter…but he just needs to make one. More. Final. Oh, well. There is another show in February in Framingham…
HUGE THANK YOUS to Sheila and Mike Dentico, Leslie Masson, Claire, Jan, Katherine, Artie, Joe and Marvy…and the Westchester Feline Club for EVERYTHING!
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Over.”
A couple of weeks ago, Jacoby and I went for a little walk out to Rolling Bridge Park and on the way home we walked along Foundry Street.
There’s a chain link fence there at the back of a little park.
For some reason, Jake decided he felt like climbing!
I bet dog people never have this problem when they go out for walkies!
He totally would have gone up and over, too, if I hadn’t stopped him!
Okay, prepare to lose your temper…I know I kind of did when I saw this…
I know what you’re thinking: “How can such adorable Aby kittens be rage-worthy?” Well…let me show you the rest of the story:
These kittens are for sale on eBay Classifieds! And the ad says they’re “almost ready to go” but they’re only four weeks old according to the ad! Aby kittens generally shouldn’t leave their mothers til they’re around three months old.
On the one hand…cute Abys for sale in Staten Island, but on the other hand…eBay? Really? That just seems like such an inappropriate venue for selling kittens in general, let alone Abyssinian kittens!
Rawr.
This is the weekend the gigantic CFA World Show is being held in Novi, MI, but Jacoby and I are headed to New York to attend the Westchester TICA Cat Show in White Plains instead.
But this isn’t just any cat show…Jake’s been named the Westchester Cat Club’s Cat of the Year for 2013! This award is a pretty big deal. It started in 1996, and Westchester’s first Cat of the Year was Scarlett, the cat who saved her kittens from a burning building (the award was created for her), and other honourees have included Nora the Piano Cat and Ginny the Dog who Saved Cats; last year’s winner was Nina, who helps autistic children.
In 1997, the Cat of the Year was a half Aby, half Munchkin named Cleo! Cleo was born with a cleft palate, but she had such a will to live and she was so good natured that she would take her feeding tube on her own when it was time to eat!
This year, it’ll be our very own Jacoby Stealin’ Home!
Since they’re calling Jake “Boston Strong,” I took his St. Patty’s shamrock harness and sewed a “B Strong” patch on it. I figured he could wear it at the show.
I think it works well, especially since we live in Southie.
Not only will this be perfect for him to wear to the show, but it will also be appropriate at next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Here’s a video from the 2011 show featuring an interview with Sheila Dentico; she’s a friend from one of my Aby email lists and it was she who nominated Jake for this prestigious honour.
And look who else was at the 2011 show!
Of course, there will be tons of photos when we come home, never fear. Jake’s also entered in the show, and as you might recall, he still needs to make three more finals in order to become a Grand Champion Alter in TICA. This’ll be his third TICA show, too…so maybe the third time’s the charm? I do know that at this show he’s the only Aby Alter…the last two shows, he was up against two different Supreme Grand Champion Alters (Dexter and Abracadabra). Perhaps he’ll just get those last three finals after all…
There is just one thing I’m nervous about, though…we’ll be taking Amtrak. While we had no issues the last time we took America’s Railroad, I’ll have to be ready to show all of Jake’s documentation if we run into an unfriendly conductor.
Thanks to Abyfriend Wendy, I’ve found what appears to be a new Abyssinian blog: Call me Ishmael: A story of an Abyssinian cat and his accessories.
And this is the photo that started it all. It looks like this blog has just started, but it will be interesting to see what sorts of hats Ish wears over the holidays!
When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below can’t bother me
Let me tell you now
When I come home feelin’ tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet (up on the roof)
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat-race noise down in the street (up on the roof)
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let’s go up on the roof (up on the roof)
(Gerry Goffin and Carole King, 1962)
I had the incredible good luck last night to meet Simon Tofield, the man behind Simon’s Cat at an event at the Brookline Booksmith.
As someone who has also been drawing pretty much her whole life, it was really interesting to listen to him talk about how he got his start drawing animals – any animals – as a child. Simon was interviewed by Jef Czekaj, who also emceed the Copy Cat Festival last February. During his introduction of Simon, Jef even mentioned “Boston’s famous Strollercat” which was fun…wish I’d actually been able to bring Jacoby along with me…but I’d come straight from work and wasn’t able to.
I also wish I’d remembered to bring my good camera! I remembered it about halfway to the office. At least I have an iPhone. I had him sign my copy of “Kitten Chaos” because the Booksmith was selling pre-signed copies of his new book (clever, no? Now I have two signed books).
I was able to capture a video of Simon drawing his cat and the kitten (I forgot to hold my camera horizontal, so don’t hate…but really, the visual is more suited to vertical orientation). They’re based after his cats Hugh and Teddy; he has four all together, besides Hugh and Teddy, there are Jess the 13 year old torte and Maisy his “wildcat.” He’s actually got photos of them in his latest YouTube release:
He also makes all the kitty sounds you hear in the videos – purring, meowing, chirping, growling and hissing, it’s all Simon!
Here’s the finished Simon’s Cat and kitten. I think the bookstore is going to have them framed (I know I would).
Interestingly enough, this event was originally scheduled for Patriot’s Day, April 15…but then the Marathon Bombing happened, and it needed to be cancelled. I’m so glad that Simon was able to come back to Boston…and that I was able to attend!
Edit: And OMG…Simon was an impromptu celebrity judge for the Cat Scout Cardwood Derby! I wonder if he’ll remember that Jake is the same cat he saw photos of in Boston?
Do you ever wonder where cats will sit when the last newspaper becomes extinct?
We’re going to need to make bigger iPads.
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
When Jacoby was a kitten, he loved to play with round lambbones.
That hasn’t changed a bit in 3½ years.
What’s not to love? They smell and taste good, they’re a nice shape to pick up and carry around, and they make a good loud noise when dropped and kicked around on the hardwood floor…
He likes to pick them up and play with them in our bed, too.
Until it falls off the bed (and I’m sure the people downstairs love when that happens!)…
…and he has to go chase it down!
Then it’s back to the bed so the fun can start all over again!
(And yes, I have found lambbones under my pillow. Why do you ask?)
He loves it when I play with him, too. It adds a whole different dimension to the game.
Well…he usually loves it when I play with him….
I’m not kidding when I say he loves these little bones.
Best. Toy. EVER.
Tessie doesn’t really see the appeal, though.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 