Aby-a-Day – 31 Januari: More from Örebro (Thursday Things)

Saturday was not a great day for Lorelai and Izaak; apart from Zak earning his Champion title, neither he nor Rory were even up for a Nomination.

But Sunday, both of their judges loved them. Here is Polish judge Robert Nowak admiring Rory.

There were five females up at the Nominations. It was a very close competition.

At the end, the judge chose a lovely Siamese to go to the panel.

This is a shot from Saturday. Rory is Number 664. Number 663 is GIC DK*Saltvig’s Oona. We have been a little concerned that Rory small for her age (she’s smaller than Zak!), but Oona is over two years older than Rory and they are the same size! Oona was chosen over Rory on Saturday, but Rory was the judge’s pick on Sunday.

Zak’s judge on Sunday was Gerardo Fraga y Guzmán, from Spain. He loved Zak, but he was especially enamoured with his coat texture.

He even called the judge next to him over to feel Zak’s coat. That’s a particular compliment to the owner as well as the breeder, because the cat’s condition is a reflection of diet and grooming as much as it is genetics and breeding. It’s nice to know you’re doing a good job!

The Nomination in Zak’s category was also stiff. There were two British Shorthairs (one disqualified himself by almost biting his owner), a stunning white Kurilean Bobtail, and Zak.

The judge had a cat teaser made with a bobcat’s tail that a Danish merchant sells at shows. We have one at home, too, and I have to hide it from the cats when we aren’t using it. Zak really wanted that tail! He actually jumped out of my arms in an attempt to catch it.

But in the end, the judge felt that, while both cats were excellent, the Kurilean matched the standard for his breed just a bit better than Zak matched the Singa standard. But it was close…and the Kurilean ended up winning Best in Show for male cats in Category 3! So…losing to a cat who ended up being BIS? Yeah, that’s not bad at all.

On the way back to our benching cage, we met a little girl who was meowing at all the cats.

I thought she might like to pet one, so I knelt down so she could pet Zak. I know that if an exhibitor had done that to me when I was kid at a show, I would have been over the moon, so I hope we made that little girl’s day.

Aby-a-Day – 30 Januari: Wordless Wednesday (A day at the show)

Aby-a-Day – 29 Januari: Lucky 7’s (Cartoon Tuesday)

A few weeks ago, Iris sent me an email about this year’s NEMO show. She wanted me to do a drawing of Marlin for the flyers and online show postings. Unlike previous years, we’re not having a barbecue, so a variation of Chef Marlin isn’t an option. Actually, it was kind of a relief; I’m not sure I could come up with yet another iteration on that theme. She wrote: It is our 7th show, so we are going with Lucky 7’s and dice and gambling and Las Vegas kinda stuff. This means we need some new art for the flyer (which we hope to have together by the end of this month).
So what do you think? Can you help us out? It wouldn’t be a NEMO show without Marlin!

So, as soon as I read that, I had an idea. Marlin playing craps.

I came up with an illustration that had three variations. Marlin with the dice and the entire craps table…Marlin with the dice and just the bumper…

…and just Marlin and the dice. So depending on the need, there’s a graphic with Marlin for any occasion. And, if they want something other than Marlin, they’re always welcome to use my drawing of Lorelai as a Vegas showgirl!

Aby-a-Day – 28 Januari: Family affair

One of the most amazing things that happened at the show this weekend was that we met (N)Tejas Glenn. Glenn has fathered thirteen offspring, including our own Lorelai. Yes, we met Rory’s father!

And Rory got to meet her father, too.

It was super heartwarming. She reached out to him, he wanted to sniff her…and there was no hissing or animosity. It was so touching.

Glenn is an exceedingly handsome Aby.

He actually reminds me a lot of Jacoby.

Besides meeting his daughter, Glenn had a pretty good day at the show (he was only entered in the show on Sunday).

He also earned his Supreme Champion title at this show! Supreme (Champion or Premier) is the highest honour a cat can attain in FIFe, so this is a big deal.

I was lucky enough to be able to watch Glenn being judged for his last certificate.

That’s my kitty’s dad!

But that’s not the only family that Rory had entered in the show.

CH S*Aucuparia’s Sevilla JW is Rory’s half-sister. She is seven months older than Rory, but they have the same father.

Rory got to meet her, too.

As with Glenn, when Rory met Sevilla, it was very sweet. Interest, but no hissing. I wonder if they knew they were family?

Aby-a-Day – 27 Januari: Get your mousies in a row

We are home from the cat show, and I have some wonderful stories to tell about our Sunday at the show. Neither Lorelai nor Izaak were Nominated, but they both came close. However, I am too tired to process all those photos…So that story will be told tomorrow.

Whilst we were in Örebro this weekend, the cats who didn’t go to the show were taken care of by our friends and upstairs neighbours. Apparently, one of their daughters decided to organise Zak’s IKEA mousies, because we found his Christmas box of mice like this.

When Zak saw his newly organised mousies, he seemed to be less than impressed.

I’m not sure what he thought about having all his mousies lined up in rows in the box. I mean, on the one hand, now they’re easy to find and play with.

But on the other hand, they are just. So. Organised. Almost too organised.

I wonder how long it’ll be until those mousies get disorganised?

Aby-a-Day – 26 Januari: Birthday of Champions (Cat Show Saturday)

Today is Izaak’s birthday! He turns one year old today.

Not only that, but we are at a cat show in Örebro. So this is a very special birthday – the first one of any of our cats that we have celebrated away from home.

Before he could have his little birthday cake, Zak had to go up and be judged.

Today we had a judge we’d not seen before. He was from Romania.

He really seemed to like Zak quite a lot.

But in the end, he wasn’t Nominated. Neither he nor Lorelai were today.

In a way, though, Zak got something even better: he earned his third CAC certificate today, which means he is now a Champion!

So Zak celebrated two milestones today.

He looked a little unimpressed by his candle and cake.

Since Zak usually rejects anything that isn’t raw food, I wasn’t sure if he would even eat his cake.

And, at first, it did seem that Rory was more interested in it than he was! Back off, Rory…you’ll get yours in two weeks.

At first, Rory was the only one eating Zak’s cake.

Zak watched her eat it for a while.

Eventually, he took a bit more interest.

Finally, he decided to give it a taste.

At last, he tucked in alongside Rory. I was so happy that he actually seemed to be enjoying his cake.

There’s a really good pet store near the show hall, and I found a squeaky mouse toy there that had been marked down because it had lost its tail. I didn’t think Zak would mind the missing tail…

…and I was right!

I couldn’t really capture him playing with it with my still camera.

So I made a little video of him playing with it (Click on the image to watch the movie in another tab).

Aby-a Day – 25 Januari: Look at that Cadillac! (Fashion Friday)

We have been wanting to get a new stroller for a while now; the small brown stroller has been having problems with its folding mechanism, and Jacoby’s StrollerCat™ stroller is extremely difficult to fold, which we need to do when we travel by train or taxi. So, after looking around at cat shows to see what other people use, we had a bit of a Christmas splurge and upgraded to a Petstro Safari pet stroller.

We picked it up last weekend and I assembled it on Monday. It’s been parked in the kitchen awaiting our maiden voyage to our first cat show of 2019 in Örebro all week. And even before taking it outside and trying it out for real, we knew it was perfect. It’s almost effortless to push, and the removable grooming table will come in wicked handy.

Lorelai, Izaak and Alfred thought so, too. They have been playing on and in it all week.

Tonight we tested it out for real. And it was AWESOME. Not only is it easy to push, but you can steer it ONE-HANDED! That was the biggest problem with both the brown travel stroller and Jake’s stroller – they were SO hard to steer one-handed. The brown one was so bad, we called it the broken shopping cart more than once.

It’s also amazing in snow. We were a bit surprised that Örebro had so much snow (Skövde has barely any, and both towns are having similar temperatures), but the new stroller handled it like a champ.

The new stroller also folds up really well…and if we need it to fold down flatter, the wheels are super easy to take off.

Because, of course when we are on the train, the cats don’t stay in the stroller.

They either sit together on a seat…

…Or, if it’s Zak, on Björn.

Aby-a-Day – 24 Januari: Jacoby explores Göteborg’s future

Time to explain yesterday’s post. Last year we were at a cat show in Göteborg that was held in a venue behind Central Station. Walking over to it, we discovered a 3D map of the projected growth of the city in the next 15-20 years, including the renovation of the transportation hub and surrounding area. Called Västlänken (the West Link), the project is basically Göteborg’s version of Boston’s Big Dig.

The map shows the existing city, the changes made by Västlänken, and then an imaginative projection of what Future Göteborg might look like.

I call it a map, but it’s is actually more like an ironwork sculpture. It’s really cool to look at…and interestingly cat proportioned.

It kind of reminded me of the chase scenes in Zootopia/Zootropolis when Judy and Nick chase the weasel.

Jacoby seemed to really enjoy exploring it.

Included on the map is the Hisingsbron Bridge, currently under construction and planned for completion in 2022. It will replace the existing Göta älv Bridge, which is falling into disrepair…again, very similar to Boston!

Jake’s been over the Zakim Bridge in Boston…I wonder if he recognised the similarity?

Erm…Jake? You do realise you’re standing in the harbour, right?

I really like the little model of the Barken Viking. It’s actually a hotel now!

I love how the model even has little trees along the waterfront.

And here we have Jake bridging the bridge!

Shout-out to Summer!

I sent a few gifts to our Somali friend Summer in California for a (belated) Christmas gift. I know Summer and her roommates Binga and Boodie LOVE the European cat treats. And I also remembered that Summer’s human admired the miniature cat skeleton toy I posted about on a Miniature Monday, and when I bought mine, I ordered a few extra for friends and family, so I sent one along to her, knowing it would be appreciated.

You can read all about what they all thought of their gifts on today’s post on Summer’s blog.

Aby-a-Day – 23 Januari: Wordless Wednesday (King of the World! Or at least Göteborg…)

Aby-a-Day – 22 Januari: Answer your cats’ questions day!

Today is Answer Your Cats’ Questions Day! I did this last year with Pyret, Angel, Jacoby, Alfred and Logan, but this year we lost Pyret and Logan and gained Lorelai and Izaak, so…I thought I’d do it again this year.

Angel’s question, whilst about a different Singapura, is the same as last year…

No, seriously.

Jake’s question is fairly basic…

Cuddly Freddy has a friendly, helpful question.

Zak asks me this question every single day.

Everytime I go into the kitchen.

Finally, Rory just wants to know one thing…

Aby-a-Day – 21 Januari: Tritrichomonas Foetus (Medical Monday)

You may recall that Jacoby has been having some sort of vague mysterious ailment. We spent much of the summer shuttling to the djursjukhuset in Jönköping to try to figure out what the problem was. But we have finally gotten to the bottom of it. It took a while because I needed three separate fecal samples from Jake…and I was having a devil of a time catching him in the act! But finally the first week of September I got that third sample, and a week later Dr. Cecilia emailed me with the result: “Today I’ve finally recieved Jacoby’s fecal sample results. We have significant findings that may well explain his weight loss and (quite possibly) also his change in behavior. He has the parasite Tritrichomonas foetus that in chronic cases may induce chronic intestinal inflammations. He also has toxin-producing Clostridia in overgrowth.”

TriTrich is a protozoan parasite that can infest multi-cat households. But it’s good news, right? At least we know what the problem is. I mean, we have already dealt with Giardia, which is a huge problem to deal with, and we managed to survive that…so TriTrich is at least better than that, right?

Well, yes and no. Whilst Giardia is harder to kill in the house because the protozoa are shed encased in cysts which are hard to destroy, the medication is readily available in any Apotek. The TriTrich protozoa have no such protective “shells,” but the problem with treating TriTrich is that the medication for it, Ronidazole, is toxic. Like, wear rubber gloves when giving the pills (for four days), and also wear a face mask when cleaning the litterbox during medication and three days after the last pill has been given. Dr. Cecelia had to get specific licenses from Läkemedelsverket (the Swedish bureau that deals with prescription medication) for each cat based on their weight. This was delayed a bit because, as usual with Swedish government agencies, the instructions on the paperwork weren’t entirely clear, and there was an error on the original paperwork so it needed to be redone…and Läkemedelsverket only sends the denial notifications by snail mail.

But we finally got ahold of this highly-regulated, super-toxic medication, which I had to give to five cats once a day for fourteen days…yeah, good times. The exact written instructions were as follows: “All cats are treated with 1 capsule per day for 14 days. They are prescribed and will be sent directly home to you. The drug is toxic and is excreted through feces and urine. Therefore, you need to use disposable gloves and masks when you’re cleaning the litter boxes. The most common side effects (still uncommon), are neurological. Contact us immediately if any of the cats show any neurological abnormalities or other symptoms.” Now, that’s not at all daunting, is it? At least I’m not the only person who’s been through this! And hey, this time I didn’t get bitten, either!

I also had to bathe all the cats. I wasn’t sure when during the medication timeline I should bathe them all, so I emailed some researchers at North Carolina State University for advice, and was pleasantly surprised at their quick and helpful response! They told me: “To my knowledge, no one has looked at the optimal time for performing a disinfection during treatment for T. foetus (ie. at what point during the treatment, on average, is T. foetus no longer being shed by the cat). The good news is, the T. foetus organism is not particularly robust once outside the host. We have observed the organisms in feces are no longer viable 24hrs after being voided into a litter pan, in the absence of litter; the presence of litter likely speeds the process up via desiccation of the feces.” So, towards the end of the dosage period, we cleaned one room, washed all the cats, locked the cats up in the clean room and then cleaned the rest of the house. We used liberal amounts of Virkon (which is actually better than bleach for sanitizing – and without the smell and turning things white).

Another importan part of eradicating TriTrich is to thoroughly clean all the litterboxes, since it is mainly transmitted in feces.

It wasn’t easy, cleaning six litterboxes, but between the two bathrooms, I managed to wash them all.

We got all the freshly cleaned boxes back in their places…

…and filled them up with clean, fresh litter. We use two types, PeeWee pine pellets, which are wonderful, and Cat’s Best Öko, which is a plant-based wood fibre clumping litter. Both of these make collecting fecal samples very easy – much easier than clay litter.

This is important, because once we were done with the medication and the bathing and the cleaning, we needed to test all five cats’ poops. Which involved catching each cat “in the act,” so to speak. Izaak and Lorelai were easy – just catch them when we’re at a cat show. Jacoby, as well, was simple: he eats in a room with a box in it, so just catch him after he’s been fed. But Alfred and Angel…it took me weeks to catch them, especially Angel! I finally managed it, though…

So now, we are TriTrich free…no diarrhea at all, and Jake seems happier and less growly, although he still hisses and growls at the younger cats…but I think now it’s just become a habit to be a grumpy old man towards them more than an actual medical symptom.

(And yeah, I wasn’t going to post a photo of anyone actually using a box, so have a shot of Jake having his perfect teeth checked instead.)

Aby-a-Day – 20 Januari: Catching up with Tessie and Kylie

When I moved from Boston to Skövde, only Jacoby and Angel came with me. Kylie was always my ex’s cat, and Tessie, who was, in part, a 40th birthday present from my mom, helped raise Kylie and taught her how to cat. As much as I love Tessie, leaving her with Kylie was the best decision.

Clearly, you can see that was the right decision. They are bestest best friends.

Tessie is now 15 (and almost a half) years old.

To look at her, you would never guess she was that old!

I mean, here she is five years ago…she must have a little kitty portrait in her attic!

She still loves boxes.

And warm laundry.

I can’t believe she’s 15.

Kylie turned 13 last April.

She, like Tessie, does not look as old as she is, and is quite healthy.

She is still the only cat of ours who was born in Boston (well, Quincy). Tessie was born in Oregon, Angel in California, and Jacoby in New Brunswick. Only Kylie is a native New Englander.

(Not gonna lie…I do miss that view…)

Kylie is still as pretty as ever, too.

Right from the start, Kylie and Tessie were besties.

Thirteen years later, nothing has changed.

Aby-a-Day – 19 Januari: Rack’em up (Silly Saturday)

So we’re in the hallway, and we hear a sound.

And the coatrack in the hallway is moving…

…and oh, look! It’s Izaak. Crawling through the hanging coats. Because…of course it is.

Aby-a-Day: Photobooth memories (Friday Flashback)

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since we took Logan to the cat show in Örebro. We are going with Lorelai and Izaak to that same show next weekend. I wonder if the Agria photobooth will be there again this year?

We had SO much fun taking photos with Logan!

Not only is Agria a veterinary health insurance company, they are our insurance company, and when Logan got sick with FIP, they handled everything. It made a horrific time a little less horrific.

We were extremely lucky to have been benched right next to where the photobooth was set up. If you know cat shows, you know that it’s hard to go across a show hall to do things. The things that are close to you are the easiest things to do. Since we could see when the booth was free, it was easy for us to take Logan up for photos.

I hope they have it this year…I want to take photos with Rory and Zak!

Aby-a-Day – 17 Januari: Repeat offender (Thursday Things)

As you saw in yesterday’s post, Alfred has figured out some kind of workaround to our cabinet solution. And before you suggest it…we don’t want to move the food. This is the most convenient place to keep it, and, honestly, moving the food won’t stop Freddy from opening the damn cabinet, and he’ll keep on stealing plastic packets whether or not they contain cat food.

Kalle took the two photos yesterday, and Björn caught this action this morning.

By the time Björn took the photos, Freddy was nowhere to be seen. As you can see, he was all too happy to frame his brothers for the crime.

Not that they tried too terribly hard to look innocent…

Interestingly enough, whilst I was working on this very post, I heard a crash in the kitchen. I went to look and…yeah, no surprise here.

Oh, hi there…

…What?

Far from being contrite, Freddy grabbed a packet of Jake’s food and carried it underneath the dining room table to puncture and shred. I managed to rescue it before he could so Jake can have dinner tonight.

You can tell he’s already plotting his next move…

Aby-a-Day – 16 Januari: Wordless Wednesday (Oops, he did it again…)

Aby-a-Day – 15 January: Tattoo foxers (Cartoon Tuesday)

This is only tangentially related to Abys, or even cats, but I thought you might find it interesting.

I had this snake tattoo…and I really didn’t like it. I got it for the wrong reasons, it hasn’t aged as well as most of the other ones I have, and it really doesn’t go with the other tattoos I have.

So I finally decided to do something about it. I decided to get the snake covered up with a traditional Japanese fox design.

Today was the first session. We got the outlines done, and then we coloured in the fox. I am not going to lie…this was the most painful tattoo I have ever gotten.

Instead of a red fox, though, I wanted a North American grey fox. I have always loved the grey and orange colouration of these foxes.

Also, the colouration of the grey fox is quite similar to Alfred’s…I call him my grey fox.

When I got home, I was drained and exhausted. I was lying on the sofa and Jacoby instantly came and lay on top of me…and on top of the tattoo. But it was nice, actually. Soothing. We’ll finish this tattoo up next month.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Januari: Lorelai vs the Thing (Movie Monday)

When Lorelai was a tiny kitten, she was fascinated with the television. These photos are from 22 May, when Rory had been with us for about two weeks.

She really got into trying to interact with the people on the screen! She’s since outgrown her interest in the TV, but it was awfully cute (and not a little bit annoying) while it lasted. Also, if you look closely at the second photo, you might notice some previous Miniature Monday post subjects.

Aby-a-Day – 13 Januari: Lorelai in the snow (Cinema Sunday)

All the snow we had before Christmas melted away on Boxing Day, but we got a little more on Tuesday. So, Wednesday, I thought Lorelai might like to go out and have another run in the snow since she enjoyed it so much the last time.

It was a little colder that day, and the snow was very thin on the ground.

So, she was a little less enthusiastic this time.

Rory wanted to stay close to the trees, where there was still some grass.

There were also birds to watch up in the branches.

Something seemed to bother her feet, too. I think it was the gravel they use to add traction to the snow. They don’t use the snow melting stuff that they use in Boston.

But she did seem quite content to sit at the base of the tree and contemplate the sunset.

I love little kitty pawprints in the snow…

Markis, our upstairs neighbour, was also outside enjoying the snow.

Rory just absolutely loves exploring outside, no matter what the season.

Here’s a little video of Rory the Explorer!