Aby-a-Day – 18 Augusti: Welcome to the family!

After all the travelling, we finally brought Dashiell home and put his carrier down in the living room. Björn did the honours of unzipping the top whilst Emma looked on.

Alfred, Izaak and Lorelai were on the scene as well, of course. And, much like when we introduced him to everyone when he was a kitten, Freddy was the first to hiss.

Emma thought that perhaps a personal introduction between Zak and Dash might be a good idea.

It wasn’t a bad idea; neither Zak or Dash hissed.

And, in fact, Zak is the one cat Dash is closest to here.

We also introduced Dash to the Trump cat toy.

Like many of us, Dash didn’t know what to do with him. Join the club, Dash!

Then Angel came to meet the newcomer, in typical Angel roundabout fashion.

She skulked around the edges of the room, and then circled around the back of the couch to get a look at Dash.

Then she lept off the sofa and ran right over Dash and out to the hallway.

That made Dash hiss!

He may be young and small, but he stands up for himself!

“Yeah, big cat! Don’t do that again!”

Aby-a-Day – 8 Augusti: Two words you never want to hear at a cat show: “Cat out!” (Thursday Things)

Especially when it’s your cat.

Sunday at the show, after Izaak had been judged and we were waiting for the Nominations, Lorelai was called up for her Nomination at the same time. So Björn had Rory and I had Zak. Then I dropped my phone and it came out of its case. I needed two hands to put it back in, so I handed Zak over to Björn. Then Zak started to cough up a hairball.

I raced over to the Secretary’s table and grabbed a piece of scratch paper, and got Zak to puke on it. Björn was right next to us, so I asked him to grab Zak whilst I dealt with the barf. In the time between me letting him go and Björn grabbing him…

…he decided this space under the folded-up bleachers (the show hall’s day job is a basketball arena). And he. Would not. Come. OUT. When he doesn’t want to be caught, he is a master. They announced that a cat was loose and to close all the doors, but I was like, “Yeah, no. The doors are the least of our worries!” He’s roaming around underneath the bleachers, and he’s up for Nomination like NOW

Finally, a woman with Siamese working the Secretary’s table called to me. She saw Zak in the corner, near her stroller. They asked me if I had any food that would lure him out. I said, “No…he won’t eat anything but raw and chicken necks. Does anyone have a raw chicken neck?” Yeah, nobody did. I had grabbed Chirpy Mouse and Zak’s favourite wand toy (a fishing lure blue crab I picked up in Baltimore), so we tried those. Chirpy Mouse had no effect, but Blue Crab got his attention. I almost grabbed him…but then he backed away. He wandered around a little more, and then came back to that corner, and, with the help of Blue Crab, I was able to grab him. The judge he was up for Nomination with, Glenn Sjöbom, asked me if I was okay and patted me on the back, telling me not to worry and not feel like I needed to rush. When he actually got nominated, I held him up, and, during the applause, I said to him, “You. Do. NOT. Deserve. This!”

I repeated that when he was declared Best In Show.

I don’t have any photos of the actual events…I was too busy trying to catch the little asshole.

But here’s the punchline to the whole escapade: Just after it happened my friend Kinsey posted on Facebook that Zak’s brother, Paolo had escaped that morning and led her on a merry chase around the neighbourhood before she managed to catch him again. He wears a tracker on his collar that she can track on her mobile.

One of her friends commented that it could only happen to Kinsey, and I chimed in, “Nope, not just Kinsey. Today at the cat show, Izaak, Paolo and Keiko’s younger brother, escaped and went exploring under the bleachers!”. To which Kinsey explained, “Must be in their genes. Paolo did that at a cat show once and I was on my hands and knees under the benches trying to get him.”

They ARE full brothers, perhaps not littermate brothers, but brothers nonetheless. Kinsey’s always posting about Paolo’s adventures…and by the smug, “sorry, not sorry” look on Zak’s face, I suspect I will be, too.

Aby-a-Day – 6 Augusti: “Railroad trains are such magnificent objects, we commonly mistake them for Destiny”

The thing about going to cat shows in Sweden is, you have to travel all over the country (and also to other countries). We sometimes rent a car, but usually the rail and bus system is good enough that we don’t have to. It’s tough sometimes because the luggage for cats and humans gets heavy, and if the elevators are broken it can be a struggle.

But our new super stroller makes it a million times easier. We can put things on top of it, or inside with the cats, and it can be steered with one hand (that was a problem with the previous strollers).

And we get to see a lot of interesting things. This is Södertälje Syd station, closest to the show and our hotel. The swoopy thing is just a shelter to wait for taxis or cars to pick people up.

I just thought it was wicked cool. It could have been plain and boring, but instead they made it look interesting. I like that.

Riding the train is nice. Sometimes it can be crowded, or there can be screaming children or annoying people having FaceTime conversations. Since we have to travel in the pet compartment, sometimes we share it with dogs.

Usually the dogs are well-trained and polite, but on the trip to Södertälje, there was a Labradoodle who was not so nice. His human was seated across the aisle from us, and he was on the floor at my feet. Lorelai was chilling on Björn’s bag under the table, and Izaak was on my lap, closer to the dog. Zak’s okay with dogs, but he’s more used to small dogs. At one point the Labradoodle lunged at the cats with no warning! It even surprised the dog’s owner, it was that sudden. After that, Zak decided to sit on the table and shoot stinkeyes at the designer mutt. (I wanted to get a photo of it, but after the altercation I was afraid the woman would see me take the picture. But it looked almost exactly like this.)

Even Rory, who likes dogs, decided that sitting on the seat next to Björn was a better idea after that.

Sometimes Zak gets bored on the train and walks around. He likes to climb up the backs of the seats, too.

This is from the trip home, which was blessedly canine-deficient. Rory was fascinated by the passing scenery.

Zak also had to check it out. I love watching them crawl all over Björn…it just shows how comfortable they are riding the rails.

Aby-a-Day – 5 Augusti: Just another day at the cat show (Hipstamatic Monday)

I love doing Hipstamatic photos at cat shows.

The show we did this weekend is no exception.

From Lorelai being judged…

…to Rory being BIV, Hipstamatic casts events in a different, interesting, light.

I love this photo of the two of them with their rosettes.

And this, of Rory competing for BIV against the other blue Abys in the show. Hipstamatic turns a boring photo into art.

After a long day at the cat show, there’s still a train ride home to look forward to.

It’s a train ride made more interesting with Hipstamatic.

Aby-a-Day – 4 Augusti: “So much winning…” (Cat Show Sunday)

On a whim, we brought the Pets Hate Toys “Donald” cat toy. Izaak actually liked having it in the cage. I think it’s the hair. It did get a lot of laughs.

Just like yesterday, Lorelai was judged first today.

It was funny at this show…we had the same judges as yesterday, but Rory saw Eric and Izaak saw Glenn today.

He was as charmed by her as he was by Zak.

I really like Eric. He’s a good judge, and fun to watch. Plus, since he’s not Swedish, he does everything in English!

Today, there were only three blue Abys. One of the kittens was only entered on Sunday.

But the competition was still tough. Of course, it’s not easy to choose between a mature adult, a young adult, and a kitten, but in the end…

…Rory was, once again, Best In Variety! My friend Anna told me that if Rory keeps this up, she could be the best blue Aby in Sweden! She was also up for Nomination, but like yesterday, she wasn’t chosen for the panel.

Then it was Izaak’s turn to be judged.

Glenn really liked Zak, too.

Ultimately, he decided to put Zak up for nomination today.

Then it was time for the panel. Zak was up against TWO Bengals.

Thea Friškovec was one of the voting judges on the Category 3 panel today (she wasn’t yesterday). Thea was the judge who NOMed Zak at the last show, where he ended up winning his first BIS. She actually sought us out yesterday to say hello to Zak (she breeds Singapuras herself).

She’s clearly very fond of little Zak.

And in the end…

…Izaak got two votes and was Category 3’s Best In Show entire male!

One thing about FIFe shows is…when you win best in show, you actually WIN stuff. You get rosettes, trophies, and medals, sure…but you also get swag. This is the line-up of prize bags for all the categories and all the classes.

This is all the stuff that was in Zak’s swag bag.

The “decoration light” is actually Zak’s BIS trophy. It’s pretty cool, and it’s on the window with the other cool trophies Jacoby, Rory and Zak have won.

After the panel was over, we packed up and went home.

Aby-a-Day – 3 Augusti: There’s winning and then there’s doing pretty good (Cat Show Saturday)

We’re at a cat show in Södertälje this weekend. At the last show, I bought a little shelf for the show cage which also has a curtain to hide the litter box.

This is the first time we’ve actually used it, and as you can see, it’s quite the hit with the ticked crowd.

The show was in a good location (near an amazing Greek restaurant, too), and it was well-organised and set up…that’s always a plus! Lorelai was the first to be judged in the morning.

The judge, Glenn Sjöbom, was fast, but thorough.

I am always surprised by how calm Rory is on the table with the judge. She’s always so squirmy and active, but put her on the judge’s table, and she’s a perfect angel.

There are four blue Aby girls in the show today. The other two are IC Abychat Whos-That-Girl and her two daughters, S*Cat Claw’s Purr-fect Pleasure and S*Cat Claw’s Purr-fect Paradise.

Here is Whos-That-Girl with our friend Susanna.

Because there were more than three blue Abys, we could have a Best In Variety, so we had to wait around whilst all the girls were finished judging.

Meanwhile, in the ring next to ours, the ruddy Abyssinians were being judged by Thea Friškovec.

I had to laugh when I saw this guy (GIC S*Aucuparia’s Mimar Sinan JW) because he reminded me so much of Jacoby sitting in the judging cage like that.

Then it was time for the blue Aby BIV. Poor Glenn had to choose between four girls.

First he eliminated one of the kitten sisters.

He checked Rory’s ticking and undercoat tone.

I had the presence of mind to switch to video for the final decision…I’m glad I did! Click on the image to see the video in another window.

Rory seemed pretty proud of her achievement.

And perhaps a little stunned, too. She was also up for Nomination, but lost out to a Cornish Rex.

Next, it was Izaak’s turn to be judged.

His judge, Eric Reijers, was quite charmed by our little Zak.

I’m not sure who was having more fun playing, Zak or Eric.

He tried out every toy with Zak to see which he liked best.

(Spoiler alert: He liked ALL of them!)

Our friends Jenny and Skilla (S*Kustens Follia d’Amore) were at the show, too! It was good to see them again.

Skilla was having a bad day. She was cranky and hissing. Again, I was reminded of Jake.

Zak was up against three British Shorthairs; a blue with amazing golden eyes, a brown mackerel tabby, and a young red tabby. Unfortunately, Björn was busy with Rory, and I was holding Zak, so I don’t have any photos. I was shocked when Zak got the Nomination! We almost always lose to the BSHs.

Finally it was time for the panel. Zak didn’t like the grooming I gave him, so he did it himself.

I really like that stewards hold the cats up during the panel. That means the owners and breeders can relax and watch.

The competition amongst the the male cats was stiff! A Bengal, a Lilac BSH, and little Zak. The way it works is, the three judges who judged the class (in this case, Vladimir Isakov, Sirpa Lindelöf, and Eric) look at the cats who were NOMed, and vote on which they think is the best example of their breed.

In the end, the Bengal got two votes. But Izaak got one as well! Considering the competition, that’s awesome!

But remember the ruddy boy who reminded me of Jake? He won Best in Show in his class! Here he is with our friend Jan, his human. They both look pretty happy. I wonder what will happen tomorrow?

Aby-a-Day: 2 Augusti: Boss Chonk (Photoshop Friday)

There’s a meme going around with three cats at different levels, with the highest level cat being designated “Boss Chonk.” Well, we’re going to a cat show this weekend, and I bathed Izaak and Lorelai. I also bathed Alfred, to help get him used to bathing (something I should have started doing when he was younger). Whilst bathing these three, this meme inexplicably came to mind.

So…I made a thing.