Aby-a-Day – 30 Augusti: Angel’s follow-up eye exam (Medical Monday)l.

Last week, Angel had her follow-up eye exam, so we took the bus out to Skultorp to see the eye specialist.

She had quite a lot to say about that.

She waited patiently in her carrier in the cat waiting room. There was also a woman with a white longhair named Mitzi. She and Angel had a very cute conversation.

We weren’t waiting long; the tech took us back to the exam room quickly.

Then they turned out the lights and checked her eye. It was good news: the drops worked, and her eye is much clearer. She’ll need to keep getting the drops for the rest her life, but she’s in good shape.

On the way home, we stopped at DjurMagazinet to get some cat food, and Angel got some treats from one of the clerks. All in all, a pretty good day.

Aby-a-Day – 25 Augusti: Wordless Wednesday (Some cats have NEVER had tuna water before…)

Aby-a-Day – 19 Augusti: Happy Birthday, Pyret (Thursday Things)

Today would have been Pyret’s 22nd birthday.

She only saw 18 birthdays, but no matter how long they’re gone, you always remember their birthdays.

Pyret was an only cat for many years…until she had a couple of Abyssinians thrust upon her.

She adapted well, though.

And then…she met Logan.

Right from the start, they had a sort of bond, those two.

Of course, when there’s a Singapura involved, bonding is not exactly an option.

When Pyret started dying, Logan watched over her closely.

Even after Pyret died, Logan spent time with her body. It was especially poignant in hindsight, as Logan died a month later…almost as if he knew.

So, happy 22nd birthday, Pyret.

Aby-a-Day – 9 Augusti: Angel and her little pirate mini-me (Miniature Monday)

Last Monday, we rented a car and went to Tibro, Tidan, Toreboda and Hjo, four towns nearby Skövde that have an awesome used book store, a fantastic antique store, a retro 50’s diner and a huge toy store.

It was at the toy store in Tibro that I found a small plushie pirate in the form of a small ginger cat.

Of course, it instantly reminded me of a certain Aby I know who has been known to be a pirate at times.

Turns out, this little dude is Oscar the Ginger Cat from an early 2000’s kids’ show called Merlin the Magical Puppy, which I have never heard of until now.

Okay, so it’s fairly random that, in a small town in Southwestern Sweden, I find a stuffed toy cat from a BBC kids’ show that ran from 2001-2003 that looks rather like my one-eyed Abyssinian…but that’s pretty much my life. Plus, there’s that little toothless mouth!

Aby-a-Day – 8 Augusti: A memory from 2017 (Cinema Sunday)

Today I found a silly old video I made back in 2017 when we only had three cats.

We were all in the kitchen, preparing salmon for dinner.

Angel, Jacoby and Pyret.

I don’t even know why I was taking photos. I mean, it was just an ordinary, everyday thing.

But sometimes, those little bits of random normality are nice to look back.

And I really don’t know what possessed me to make a video…but again, here we are.

Aby-a-Day – 7 Augusti: Funny Angel (Silly Saturday)

Since moving to Sweden and becoming the eldest female in the house, Angel has become very comfortable and secure in the house.

She has several favourite spots, and one of them is the IKEA cat bed at the end of the sofa.

She loves to sit there whilst I am doing things on my computer.

However, when she yawns…

…she shows off the fact that she only has one tooth in her head!

Aby-a-Day – 31 Juli: Emma Hellqvist is in the house! (Swedish Sunday)

Björn’s daughter Emma is visiting us this weekend! She’s here for her birthday, which was last Friday, but as Björn’s holiday started today, here’s here from today until Wednesday morning.

Tonight, we had options for dinner, and Emma chose ribs.

So, we had ribs.

And when we had finished, we let the cats gnaw the meat of said ribs.

Emma doesn’t have a cat at home in Stockholm, so she was quite amused to watch the feeding frenzy that ensued.

After the cats had their ribs, Emma had her cake.

She also mentioned that she didn’t like wearing a mask, so I gave her my two cat-face masks. I mean, if you don’t like wearing a mask, it’s easier to wear a fun one, amirite?

Aby-a-Day – 22 Juli: I think Angel secretly likes him (Thursday Things)

This is starting to be a regular thing.

Angel’s napping in a bed…

…and Izaak decides he just has to be there, too.

But look at Angel’s body language.

She seems totes okay with his intrusion!

It’s kind of funny, because she’s never really been much of a social cuddler. She did sleep with Jacoby when he was young, but that stopped as he matured. Of course Singapuras never take no for an answer, so maybe she’s just given up. Himbs doin a heckin assimilate. No resistance. So much futile.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Juli: Wordless Wednesday (I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I feel like I’m intruding)

Aby-a-Day – 19 Juli: Another trip to the veternarian (Medical Hipstamatic Monday)

Today, Angel had a follow-up visit to the vet to check on her eye

This is Angel at the bus stop. It’s a two-bus, half hour trip to the vet…sigh. If I was still in Boston, my vet would be on the first floor. But I digress.

Angel’s a pretty good traveler, except she tends to yell a lot.

When we got to the exam room. Angel was not sure she wanted to leave her carrier.

Angel had some spicy commentary about having to be at the vet at all.

Still, overall, Angel was pretty calm. Until Dr. Brigetta came in. Then stuff got real.

First, Angel got some eyedrops.

Angel had had ENOUGH long before Dr. Brigitta was finished examining her. Angel got several eyetests, including one that measured how many tears she produced in a measured time period. That one was actually pretty cool.

She still has vascularisation in her eye and will need another course of eyedrops. Awesome. Wow.

When the examination was finished, Angel got treatos.

Angel got all the treatos.

Then, we were homeward bound.

This is on the bus ride home.

Angel walked part of the way home, but she kept wanting to go into the bushes.

I am glad she was on a leash…Extracting cats from bushes is a pain.

At the end of the day, Angel was more than ready to go home. And yes, she also knows where she lives.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Juli: Wordless Wednesday (Beggers can’t be choosers)

Aby-a-Day – 30 Juni: Wordless Wednesday (Abys enjoying the balcony)

Aby-a-Day – 18 Juni: Five years ago today…(Friday Flashback)

Five years ago today, Jacoby, Angel and I landed in Stockholm.

We took IcelandAir, which requires pets to travel in crates in a special pet cargo hold. It’s actually really great, because they allow two pets of the same species in one carrier. When we changed planes in Reykjavik, I actually saw them being loaded on the new plane.

We had a LOT of luggage. That was fun on the train to Skövde.

But once we had it all stashed, it was a very comfortable ride. Jake was enjoying the view immensely.

And then…

…we were home.

Aby-a-Day – 17 Juni: And that’s called Sisterhood (Thursday Things)

So…this happened the other day.

Angel was sleeping on the IKEA cat bed, which is Lorelai’s usual afternoon, post-breakfast napping spot of choice.

So Rory, seeing Angel in her “spot,” just decided to join her. And Angel went with it.

It’s kind of a big deal, because Angel isn’t exactly known for her cuddling with other cats. Voluntarily, anyway.

But then, this happened: Rory started licking Angel’s head! And Angel LET her!

It was just so sweet to see Angel accepting cuddles from another girlcat!

Aby-a-Day – 11 Juni: Happy 14th Birthday, Angel!

Even though we’re pretty sure what day is Angel’s real birthday, we celebrate it on 11 June.

Even though she’s done this since her second birthday in 2009, the candles still make her a little nervous.

A fear she gets over with pretty quickly when food is involved. I had to blow those candles out pretty quickly to avoid singed whiskers…or worse.

Once the candles were out, though…she didn’t hesitate to dig into her “cake.” I can’t believe she’s 14 years old.

Aby-a-Day – 10 Juni: Another trip to Min Veterinär (Thursday Things)

If you are a regular follower, you know the story behind Angel’s eye. You may also remember we took Angel to Angell Hospital to see an Dr. Biros, an opthalmology specialist.

Back then she was diagnosed with open chronic inactive keratitis with corneal scarring, a result of her early Feline Herpesvirus that took her left eye as a kitten.

So, this morning Angel and I took the long bus ride to Min Veterinär.

“Wait, what? I was just here yesterday!”

She waited in her carrier for the doctor and her assistant to come in.

First they put some drops in her eye to dilate her pupil.

Then the lights were dimmed.

And the doctor shone a light into Angel’s eye to examine the cornea.

Then we decided to check her blood to see if there was anything systemic going on.

First, of course, we had to shave her leg.

Tomorrow is her 14th birthday, and I don’t think she’s ever had her blood tested. Even without any eye problems, it’s a good idea to see if there’s anything else we need to worry about.

And then we were done.

She was a very good patient.

Then, we had to wait for the bus back home.

We had just missed one bus, so we had a 14 minute wait for the next one. I let Angel out to get some air.

She was good, and went back into her carrier when she was finished exploring (not that there’s much to explore at that bus stop).

When we got off the bus at home, I let her out again. She walked part of the way…

…and rode part of the way.

After two trips to the vet in two days, we were both happy to get home.

Apparently, her previous open chronic inactive keratitis has been activated. The doctor prescribed Dexmethasone drops, so hopefully that will deactivate her keratitis.

Aby-a-Day – 9 Juni: Wordless Wednesday (Min Vetrinär, party of five)

Aby-a-Day – 6 Juni: Americans in Sweden (Swedish Sunday)

When we go outside with the cats, I do try to get Angel to come outside, too. But the last time we went out, Angel was happily ensconced on one of the chairs on the balcony. So, I let her be.

That didn’t stop her from joining us in her own way.

What was really adorable, though, was that Dashiell noticed her sitting on the railing watching us.

He was like, “Hey! Angel!”

Not sure if Angel is Juliet, Rapunzel, or Roxanne in this scenario.

Dash was the only cat who really noticed her. Alfred only saw her because he wanted to know what Dash was so interested in.

“Wait! No! Angel, come back!”

Aby-a-Day – 31 Maj: “Expose yourself to as much randomness as possible” (Hipstamatic Monday)

Good news, everyone! Last Wednesday, I got my first Covid vaccination (#teampfizer)! However, it also kicked my butt for a few days; today is the first day my arm doesn’t feel like I was hit by a stick. So, here: have some random Hipstasnaps taken around the house. First we have Alfred and Izaak cuddled up next to Jacoby on my leg.

It’s interesting to see the pair-ups that occur amongst the cats. Dashiell and Alfred hang out together quite a bit.

So do Angel and Zak. Sometimes, it’s Angel’s choice…

…other times, not so much.

I wonder if I should be concerned about what Dash and Freddy are plotting…

Not quite sure what’s going on here. Moving on…

Lorelai looking at me hopefully. She always wants to go outside to run.

This was taken today. Zak was looking particularly smexy this afternoon.

Aby-a-Day – 30 Maj: Running around outside (Swedish Sunday)

The other day, we took the cats out. I was trying to capture the differences in their gaits.

I kind of managed to capture it on “film.”

Went we went out, I took the big camera with the long lens, and I captured all of them walking and running outside.

Here they are outside. I know, it’s 18 minutes long…but it’s interesting if you want to see their different movements outside