I took the cats outside this afternoon because it was such a lovely day. I even dragged Dashiell out with us.
He stuck close to Alfred for a lot of the time he was out. It was sunset, so they cast some interesting shadows on the wall.
Izaak trotted up to join them.
Lorelai had to be on a leash today, because when we went out last week, she refused to come back in the house and ran laps around our building. Hopefully she’s learned her lesson.
I just wish Dash would enjoy going outside more…
Singapuras love to sleep under blankets, and Izaak is no different. He also likes to sleep touching skin, and most nights he sleeps either on my legs or next to my feet.
Björn captured this scene last night when he came to bed. Thank goodness I recently got a pedicure!
Apparently, posting about the big cats at Borås Djurparken inspires me with Photoshop ideas. I woke up this morning with this idea, based on the time Alfred climbed up a tree. Because of course Freddy would fight a Lynx for food.
Continuing last week’s post I’m sharing more of the big cat photos I took at Borås Djurparken. This week I’m sharing one of the most Aby-looking cats: the Lionesses.
See? Just like Abys.
This is about a ton of cuddle puddle.
Always room for one more!
I love the one using her sister as a pillow in the back.
Finally, one girl decides she wants to go on walkabout.
They even walk like big Abys.
I just love watching them…I took a lot more photos of them than would really fit into one post. In fact, I’ll be posting the boys next week.
We’re skipping Cartoon Tuesday this week because I just got the most awesome movie today. How to Break Up With My Cat is a lovely Korean movie that stars an Abyssinian. It’s a romance between a travel magazine writer who owns an eight year old Abyssinian and a sushi chef in training…who can talk to cats and see their souls. I don’t want to give too much away because when I watched it I didn’t know anything about it besides it starred and Aby, and discovering what was going on was magical.
This is the inside of the DVD. I love it so much. The main cat star is a ruddy Aby, but the film also featured a bohemian white Scottish Fold and a blue Aby boy kitten. It is a very satisfying movie for Aby people.
Here’s the trailer…if you love Abys, you need to see this.
It was a balmy 10°C (50°F) today, so Lorelai, Alfred; Izaak and I went outside for a little bit. This was the first time we’d been out for a few weeks, and I think we all needed it. I also wanted to check out the new “pond” at the bottom of the hill. I wonder how long it will last?
Freddy and Zak checked out their dustbowl tree, but it was too muddy for rolling.
The ground was kind of muddy and slushy, but they had fun reacquainting themselves with the outside.
Freddy and Rory investigated a metal drain cover. Freddy tried to roll on it, but I didn’t manage to catch it with my camera.
Then they had to check out the back of the building.
There’s still ice on the lake, but I think it’ll melt soon. I also managed to include a magpie in the photo.
Rory noticed it when it flew away.
There’s definitely signs that spring is coming. The bulb plants are starting to sprout.
We do still have a pile of snow. Which, of course, Rory had to climb it.
The only thing they do about snow here is throw gravel on it (I really miss the snow melting stuff they used in Boston because gravelly snow is really hard to walk on). I think Rory got a piece of gravel caught in her paw pads.
Since Rory was checking out the snow pile, Zak had to check it out as well.
Finally, we all went back inside…but Rory still wanted to explore. She was the last one to go back into our apartment.
Our Somali friend, Summer is in a movie! Take Me To Tarzana was released yesterday. It is a dark and slightly surreal movie about a pair of millennials who want to stick it to their evil boss… and unearth something bigger and more bizarre along the way.” Because Covid, it’s not in theatres, but you can download or stream it from such sites as iTunes, Google Play, YouTube or Amazon.
Summer and her human actually did get to see the film on the big screen in November at a film festival. Remember drive-ins?
You can watch the trailer (which does not include Summer, sadly) on YouTube.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been on the air for 22 years, and I have been watching it since the very first episode. Since moving to Sweden, it’s been hard to keep up with the latest episodes, but I manage.
New episodes air Thursday nights at 9pm Eastern time, which is 3am here, so I watch my SVU every Friday morning (good lord, I sound like my mom). And I rarely watch it alone.
Björn snapped these photos of everyone watching the show with me. This is what our life in quarantine looks like. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year of this.
I was working on more of the photos from Borås Djurparken today and had an idea…
Back in 2019, we went to the Borås Djurpark. They have a marvellous collection of big cats, and I took a ton of photos. And…I am just now getting through them all. I’ll share them on Thursdays for the next few weeks. They have Lions, Tigers, and Cheetahs, but I am going to start out with the one cat native to Sweden: the Eurasian Lynx
We were extremely lucky to have gotten to the Lynx area just as they were being fed. The zoo is very much about enrichment of the animals’ lives, so feeding the Lynxes involves hoisting a hunk of meat ten feet up a tree so the Lynx can climb up and get it.
This Lynx leapt up the tree so quickly, even my fast camera couldn’t capture him in midair! These two photos are sequential, that’s how fast they are.
It was interesting to watch the Lynx work out how to get the food.
Honestly, it was very reminiscent of the cats approaching their daily chicken necks. Even though they know what it is, they spend some time sniffing it before actually taking a bite.
Then a little lick and nibble…
…and then, the grab.
GOT IT!
I wish you could see the meat in his mouth…typical cat, head turned the wrong way.
So, you know that Singapura artwork Singapura illustration I was working on?
Well, today I finished it! And it is of Izaak’s niece, Noodle, the paddleboarding Singapura.
This is the final version. I’m pretty proud of it. What do you think?
So this happened yesterday.
I opened the bedroom door after feeding Izaak and Dashiell their evening meal to find them sleeping together on our bed like this.
Zak was so cute, snuggled in underneath Dash’s cone.
Singapuras love to be underneath blankets, and I guess Dash’s cone is close enough.
It’s Valentine’s Day! I thought I would share some old Valentine’s art I made for calendars years ago.
This, of course, is Angel. I think the original photo was taken the first Valentine’s Day after she came to live with us.
This one was taken the weekend before Harri died. He and Patrick were such good friends…they were such great boys, too.
Hsppy Valentine’s Day everyone!
The other day, I looked over and saw Izaak licking my laptop.
It was perfectly clean. Nothing at all lick-worthy there.
I have no idea.
And it wasn’t just one or two licks. He licked my laptop for a good five minutes.
Why, Zak? Just…why?
The meme of the week has been the Texas attorney who accidentally turned on a kitten filter during a Zoom court proceeding. And of course, once it got out, the jokes and memes followed.
Inevitably, that woman showed up to yell at the poor kitten lawyer.
So, yeah. You knew this was going to happen.
A few months ago, Dashiell started over grooming himself. We think Lorelai being in heat may be stressing him out on some level, although their interactions are fairly normal and they play chasing games along with Izaak and Alfred every day.
He started in on his belly. I tried giving him Amitriptyline (which I had on hand for Angel in case she has urinary issues), but the process of catching him and getting the pill down his throat once a day seemed to only cause him more stress, which seemed to defeat the purpose. Same with spraying his belly with Bitter Apple, plus I ended up getting the stuff on me, too (FWIW, it really does taste vile).
I also tried the ThunderShirt, but he just over groomed parts of his body the shirt didn’t cover, like his arms.
After careful observation, I determined his over grooming wasn’t likely caused by internal belly pain (when Tessie over groomed her belly, it turned out she was constipated and she was trying to make it feel better), especially after he started in on his arms. Out of ideas, I asked on my new Facebook Aby/Somali group, and several people suggested I try Zylkene, which is given as a powder in food. Dash’s licking lessened after a week or so, but it didn’t stop completely.
Zylkene takes a few months to really take effect, according to other Aby owners who have used it, so I added the cone of shame, which he tolerates quite well. He isn’t able to reach the places he was over grooming, but he can wash the bits he needs to. I put his cone on upside-down, like a cape; Dr. Natalie at South Boston Animal Hospital suggested that for Tessie, so the cone would bother her less and to avoid whisker fatigue. He’s been wearing the cone for a few days now, and I think we’re finally getting some results!
I’ve mentioned my love for Pixie and Brutus cartoons. Well, last week, I got something I have wanted for a very long time: a Pixie plush!
Of course, Izaak had to check her out.
“I guess we do look a little bit alike…”
But the best thing about my Pixie plush?
She glows in the dark!
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 