Facebook has been reminding me of my epic, life threatening, cat bite.
This is what I was doing hours before Pyret bit me.
I got cold, put on my Aby hoodie, and goofed off with Logan.
Well, to be fair, he fit really well in the pocket.
Logan was such a little sweetheart. I know, Izaak is almost as good…but I still miss Logan everyday.
I’ve been doing more “Photoshop challenges” in the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED lately. This one is actually a two-fer.
This person’s cat looked like he was melting; I was stunned nobody else had done it before I did.
I also made this cat into a Slinky.
Shelby’s human wanted Shelby in a Shelby Cobra for her boyfriend, so I did this. Bonus points: Her boyfriend’s favourite colour is blue.
Ruthie was strutting, so I made her strut with Leo.
When I saw this bonnet-wearing cat, the first thing I thought of was Little House on the Prairie.
But then I thought of that one episode of Friends…
Leo was born to fly, so I gave him wings.
And finally, this lucky kitty had a unicorn cat tree. What else could I have done with that?
As you saw on Wednesday, Tessie died on Sunday, two days before her 18th birthday. She has had a few health problems in recent years…in 2011-12 she had a prolapsed rectum, in the summer of 2015 (when Björn came to visit me, in fact), she had a health scare and she was hospitalised at Angell for a week and almost died. Then in 2018, her eyesight declined as well as her blood pressure. Oct 2018 was the first real sign of decline: going blind, with arthritis and a sway back. More arthritis in 2019 and a urinary tract infection earlier this year.
So, on Monday, I mad the above post in the Facebook group “This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED,” because Mondays are themed “In Meöwmorium.”
Helen Yang, a group admin, put Tessie in a few ‘shops she routinely makes for cats who have died. These include Tessie in the “It’s time to go” meme…
…Tessie at the end of the Rainbow Bridge…
…And Tessie in Cat Heaven, which I especially love because Tessie loved her boxes.
Boxes were a popular theme; Robin Adams put Tessie in Box Heaven…
…and next to a giant teddy bear in a box.
But my favourite is this one, by Angela Pulzone. I suspect it’s Procreate, not Photoshop…but I just love it. It has an…I don’t know, an energy about it that I really like.
Facebook reminded me yesterday of Logan and Alfred, my brothers from another mother.
I had kind of forgotten what scamps they were! They used to get into everything when they were kittens.
Like Logan “helping” me in the laundry room.
And he put himself in that drawer-basket himself.
I’m not sure who the instigator of this little foray to the top of the bookshelf.
It was probably Freddy, although Logan was no slouch when it came to getting up and down from high places. Much better than Izaak ever was.
Then one day, I went into the bathroom and found…Freddy in one of our storage baskets.
Still not sure how he managed to get up there without knocking off any of my Catzillas!
He definitely looks very proud of himself.
I have been having more fun in the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED. This cat, Oreo*s, human wanted Oreo in a scary situation, I can’t think of anything scarier than this.
Poor Oreo is SHOOK.
This cat’s name is Blaarg, but I channeled his inner Karen.
Arnie was shocked by what he saw on the laptop; I just gave him something to REALLY be stunned about.
These two were either yelling or singing. I chose singing. Too bad these cats’ human is a Yankee fan (sorry, not sorry).
Then we have Atilla as Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So, here we are.
Finally, these cats’ human wanted then in a more interesting bed…what’s more interesting than Monica’s race car bed?
Time for more of my Photoshopped cats. Above is Rocky, and I thought he looked a bit like a seal.
One look at Dwight, and Björn suggested I do this.
Bella was wearing goggles, and her human wanted her to look like Amelia Earhart. All righty then.
I don’t remember this guy’s name, but the first thing I thought of was the “I am king of the world!” scene from Titanic.
Some suggested that Batty should be running from Indiana Jones’ boulder. Happy to oblige.
Later on, I had another idea…please, think of the kittens!
Noodle like to sit like this, apparently. I thought he looked like a prince in need of a kiss.
Rosie is missing an eye, like Angel. So I gave her one of Angel’s googly eyes.
Fridays are “Free for all” species posting, and someone posted a nest of barn swallows. I immediately thought of this. Hey, I already had the “MINE?” speech bubbles!
This cat had a flour tortilla on her head. I could not resist.
Gilbert was leaning on a mirrored sliding closet door…so we have Octopussy!
And finally, another seal, this time with Sugar doin a heckin sploot. I like this one better than the first one.
I have been having fun in the Facebook group “This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED” lately. These are older ones I did; this kitten was on a scratching post, so I put him somewhere more exciting. Namely, the top of the Pru during the World Series.
This beautiful black smoke needed a stage.
This cat’s name is Sushi, so…yeah. Blah blah low-hanging-fishcakes blah.
Zion was posing in a box. I don’t know why, exactly, but it seemed like he needed to be inside Herbie on the beach. I have more that I have done for that group; come back next Friday for more!
Yesterday was Canada Day, and the above memory from last year popped up on my Facebook feed. Even though the celebrations this year are rather subdued this year, I can’t help but recall Jacoby’s past Canada Day fashion statements.
There was that one time when he wore a wool sweater…and a mitten.
Of course, in 2014 he was very excited about the Winter Olympics in Sochi…and with good reason: Canada beat Sweden to win hockey gold!
Then there was the year he was feeling a little conflicted about being a Canadian in Boston, which is kind of famous for its epic Fourth of July celebrations.
My friend Pat plays with a colour-by-numbers app called Happy Color and often posts her favourite creations. Last week, she posted this cat painting and asked the hive mind if we thought it was an Abyssinian. Of course, everyone agreed that it definitely was! I may have to try this app out!
Our friend Kinsey posted this photo to the “This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED” facebook group and asked to have Paulo wearing a mask.
Welp. That was easy. Then I had an idea.
LOL why not, right?
But then I got the idea to put my Singapura mask on Paulo.
Pretty cute, eh? Then…Kinsey asked for Paulo to be dressed up in a tux for prom.
Considering I already have the perfect cat-sized tuxedo bib and tie, top hat, and cuffs with cufflinks…not a hard ask.
The shadows are already perfect, too. This was fun.
Our friend Kinsey shared some professional photos that were taken of Izaak’s brothers, Paulo and Keiko. I instantly knew what had to be done.
A family portrait, of course! Since all three boys came from Poland, I chose a Polish flag as my background.
Then I decided to set the scene…literally.
Finally, every portrait needs a frame, right? Can you tell who is who?
The other day, a friend posted an infomeme about dandelions. I think it has some very important things to know.
We are lucky that our område’s lawn is a natural mix of grass, moss, yarrow, clover, and many different flowers including dandelions. They don’t mow it super-short or super-often, so it gets really nice and natural. There’s also no sprinkler system. If it doesn’t rain, the grass turns brown…c’est la vie. It’s so much nicer than those perfect, manicured lawns in the States.
Dandelions are also wicked fun to gallop through. Just ask Izaak.
Yesterday in one of my Facebook cat groups, someone posted about an app, Cat Scanner, that claims to identify what breed your cat is from a photograph. So of course I had to try it out.
It worked great with the Abyssinians.
It even identified Angel correctly.
And it got Markis pretty well, too.
I was disappointed with how it did with Tessie. I was expecting perhaps a Burmilla…but I guess at least it could tell she’s a tortie?
And then…there was Izaak. Complete and utter fail. I was expecting a Singapura to be a fairly easy ID…at worst, maybe a Burmese or Aby…but a Bengal!? Seriously? Well, you know I clicked that “Am I right?” link to tell them they weren’t. And the explanation was…the app only really works with FIFe-recognised breeds.
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Um….what!? Singas have been recognised in FIFe since 2014…SEVEN YEARS!
Which, naturally, I felt the need to tell them. Haven’t gotten a response yet, but I can’t wait to see what they say.
Facebook gave me some wonderful memories this morning. The first was the time a shirty MBTA conductor made me miss my stop to meet Meg for a cat show.
The second was of Tessie, happy with a box. Facebook can be evil…but it’s good for something, at least.
In the Abyssinian and Somali Facebook group I admin, every Saturday is Caturday, the day where people can post non-Aby/Somali cat photos. Every week, I make a fresh banner, featuring Izaak, that’s a different colour scheme so people can tell them apart.
Since this weekend is Easter, I added bunny ears on Zak’s head. I was pretty pleased to find a photo of a rabbit that was almost the exact same colour as Zak. I wonder if rabbits come in sepia?
2021 seems to be defining itself as the Year of the Meme. First, we had Bernie Sanders and his mittens, and then, last week, we had , an enormous container carrier ship the size of the Empire State Building stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking all other carriers and stopping roughly 10% of global trade. So, of course, “Boaty McStuck-Face” launched a fleet of silly memes. Of course, I had to make one…and a cat sitting on top of a bunch of boxes with the ubiquitous “If I fits I sits” caption. I posted this in the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED, and so far it’s had almost 2,000 (!) reactions.
And then, I did this. Because of course I did.
Back in 2014, I drew the cartoon above based on a photo and caption a Facebook friend of mine, Mike Ruemmler posted in the old Abyssinian Cat Club. Sadly, we all learned that Mike was found dead in his home last week. My friend Kristen posted to the New England Abyssinian Rescue page:
“Sad news for our NEAR family and the larger community of Aby owners. Last night we learned that our dear friend, Mike Ruemmler, passed away over the weekend.
Mike fostered and transported several Abys for us. He foster-failed one of our seniors because he couldn’t bear the thought of putting her through another transition. I once sent him on a grand overnight adventure to transport an Aby only to have the owner change her mind at the last minute. He worried about that Aby as much as I did. A year later that same Aby came into rescue after the owner had placed her in a bad home. If I asked for help, he said yes without hesitation.
If you were friends with Mike, you often received a cat meme in your mailbox to brighten your day. Mike retired last Fall and seemed to be making the most of everyday, even in these trying times. He was dedicated to his cats and friends. A wonderful person who will be deeply missed.
NEAR’s Max, Lucy, Pele, and Ellie were all saved through Mike’s help. Give them a chin scratch or two if they are in your home today.
Mike left behind 4 Abys. A friend of Mike’s quickly took the cats in and contacted us for help. The cats are safe and being appropriately spoiled. Now we need to begin finding the right homes for these special Abys.
Gregor and Soska are 11 year-old male litter mates. They will be placed together.
Pop-Tart is a red female. We are waiting on vet records to confirm her age.
She can be placed with Gregor and Soska or on her own. She would do best in a home with a limited number of cats and no other females.
Pele is the red female Mike adopted from us. She is 16 and doesn’t readily accept other cats.
All of Mike’s cats were spoiled, loved, and received veterinary attention whenever needed. They are in St. Louis, MO. We will only consider adopters who can physically pick these cats up.
If you are interested in any of these cats, please submit an application: www.neabyrescue.com/application
Mike, I picture you in a beautiful garden reunited with many of your feline family members. You will be fondly remembered and forever missed.”
I really enjoyed his posts about his cats. Once again, my heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend has stopped running today.
This is by no means a cartoon, but I wanted to share this ethereal watercolour of Bugsie that was done by her friend Arlven Leonardor. I think it captures Bugsie’s spirit perfectly.
This week has been tumultuous for a number of reasons…not the least of which is, through a series of unfortunate events, I was banned from a Facebook Abyssinian group (without cause, but no matter)…and created a group of my own, of which I am the leader and head admin. Never having done anything like this before, it’s a bit…revolutionary. That I did it on Inauguration Day was particularly fitting.
So that happened. If my posts have been a bit patchy, that’s why. It’s a whole new world for me. It’s so much faster than a blog.
If you would like to join, search Facebook for the name (which is the title of this post), request to become a member, and answer the three questions. I still haven’t gotten the answer I was expecting for question #3.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 