Aby-a-Day – 1 Juni: Beware of the cat (Cartoon Tuesday)

Today is my birthday! Yesterday, I got this sign from my friend Meg. I absolutely love it…I just need to figure out where to put it. Thank you, Meg!

Aby-a-Day – 26 Januari: Misty watercolour memories (Cartoon Tuesday)

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.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Januari: Junie-Purr, Bugsie…and StarClan (Thursday Things)

After a day of joy…a day of sadness.

Dashiell’s sister, Junie-Purr, had a singleton kitten five weeks ago. She was very sick with pneumonia during her pregnancy and needed emergency antibiotics. Then, suddenly, last Friday, Meg found Junie dead in her bed cuddling her kitten. She isn’t sure what caused it, as Junie seemed to be doing better, but she has sent Junie’s body to Tufts Veterinary for a necropsy to find out what happened.

Yesterday, Bugsie, Dash’s little niece, started refusing to eat.

Meg cuddled her and kept her warm and tried to get her to eat whilst watching the Inauguration.

Later in the evening, little Bugsie seemed to be perking up a little. She cuddled Meg and they watched the Inauguration Celebration together. Then they went to bed.

Unfortunately, this morning, little Bugsie was gone. She just wasn’t strong enough. Meg’s vet says it is likely she was damaged from the strong antibiotics the ER vets had to use to save her mother. Her little gut was not able to handle solid food, and her little bones were soft.

My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend has stopped running today. Sleep well in Tuonela, dear, sweet Junie, with your beloved kitten Bugsie.

Aby-a-Day – 26 December 2020: Self-amusing cat toy (Silly Saturday)

My friend (and Dashiell’s breeder) sent us some Christmas gifts. Among them was a simple wand toy with holographic tinsel.

I put it in a pencil cup. Lorelai really liked it.

Errr…maybe she liked it a little too much. But she’s proof that wand toys don’t need to have a human on the other end to be fun to play with.

As for the question on everyone’s mind…I still can’t tell if Rory is pregnant. Her nipples seem to say yes, but he isn’t showing anything yet. I am going to weigh her this weekend, so maybe that will give us a clue.

Aby-a-Day – 29 Oktober 2020: Dashiell’s family (Thursday Things)

This week, Meg sent me a bunch of photos of Dashiell and his littermates, along with photos of his mother, Anubis Evita Loca. Meg said, “She has never been shown; she is far too squirrely. However, she makes beautiful babies.” Okay…that squirrellyness might explain why Dash is so skittish!

The top photo is Evita as a kitten. This photo is a photo of her a week or two later.

I love the way baby Abys have that tuft of sticky-up hair between their ears at a certain age.

Here’s Evita at a few months old.

And here she is as a young adult. Dash does look a bit like her, don’t you think?

This is Dash and his littermates, Rami, brother, and Junie Purr (now GC, RW Anubis Junie Purr). They are one week old in this photo.

Meg didn’t send me any current photos of Junie, but here are a couple of her as a kitten.

Here we have Dash and his brother Rami. Rami is on the left and Dash is on the right.

Here’s Rami at one of his first vet visits.

And here he is as an adult.

Rami actually goes outside, too, on a leash.

Isn’t he handsome?

Here is Dash as a teeny tiny kitten.

He’s a bit older here.

And here, he’s a bit older still.

Finally, here is Dash today. I wish we could go to actual shows. Especially CFA shows (which are rare in this part of Europe). Evita needs just one more of her children to become a Grand to earn a Distinguished Merit title.

If I could show him, I am sure he would do wonderfully.

Aby-a-Day – 13 September 2020: Nemo’s Virtual Cat Show (Cat Show Sunday)

Today was the New England Meow Unit‘s Virtual Cat Show. I entered everyone, including Alfred, Angel (as a Household Pet), and Logan (in the Rainbow Bridge class). Because it was the Nemo show, of course there was a costume contest, and I entered a few different outfits…and finally won with our Marilyn Monroe and JakeFK costumes. Okay, it was Third Place, but still.

Meg and Drooley got 4th Place as the Unknown Comic and his cat!

Jacoby placed 7th in the Rainbow Bridge class.

And now for the actual judging classes. Izaak was 15th Best Cat in Championship in Teresa Sweeney’s “ring.” You know, this is actually my first CFA final with a Championship cat! All my other show cats were Premiers.

Speaking of Premiers…Dashiell did the best of everyone, placing 6th Best in Premiership in Allan Raymond’s ring.

You can see all the finals on Nemo’s YouTube channel. Each one is pretty long, so clear yourself some time (or fast forward through it, that works too). Oh, and it’s pretty cool that my artwork is all over this show, too.

Aby-a-Day – 17 Augusti 2020: Is she or isn’t she? (Medical Monday Mystery)

WARNING! This post features photographs of bare cat nipples!

Tomorrow will be a month since we brought Lorelai home from sleepaway sex camp. And…I still can’t tell if it worked.

One of the main signs of pregnancy in cats is the “pinking up” of the cat’s nipples. Unfortunately, according to one of my cat breeding books. But it also says that some cats don’t pink up until later in their pregancies. Grrrreeeeaaaaat…

This is her nipple on 26 July. Doesn’t seem any pinker, but stupid me, I never checked them before now. But one good sign is she hasn’t shown any signs of being in heat…and as you might remember, her heats are quiet, but not at all subtle.

This was on 5 August. I still can’t tell.

And this is on Thursday the 13th. Seems pinker? Maybe?

These last two are from today. They seem pinker, and they were easier to find.

Meg, Molly and Anne think she is pregnant, especially since she hasn’t gone back into heat at all.

She hasn’t gained any weight yet, and she definitely isn’t showing…so I guess we’ll just have to wait a little longer.

Aby-a-Day – 10 Augusti 2020: Happy Gotcha Day, Dashiell!

One year ago today, Dashiell arrived in Finland. As you may recall, it was an insane day, and we didn’t actually “get” him until the next day, so I guess we have a two-day Gotcha holiday.

But we were in the same country at the same time, so today counts.

But even once we had him…we still had to get him home.

First by ferry…

…then by train…

…And finally by taxi.

Little did Dash know when they met that Izaak was destined to be his best friend.

There really weren’t any real problems integrating Dash into the family.

…Well, okay…maybe there was a little bit of hissing.

We also introduced Dash to the outside world, including Markis.

Look at him now! He’s still a little skittish, but he’s getting braver every day.

Happy Gotcha Day, Dash!

Dashiell’s big brother featured in CFA announcement on Preservation Breeders!

Dashiell’s big brother, GC NW Anubis Loco-Motion of Santgria was recently featured in an announcement congratulating all the Preservation Breeders in the CFA.

Dash and Loco are full brothers from different litters. Doesn’t Loco look so much like Dash? I hope Dash will have half the show career Loco’s had. Some days, I just hope we’ll have shows again.

Aby-a-Day – 15 Mars 2020: A little time capsule (Cinema Sunday)

I am not sure where it came from, exactly, but a while ago I discovered a short little video my ex took with his iPhone. It’s just Angel being cute, kneading a blanket on the sofa in our old (tiny) apartment, with a cameo by Jacoby.

It seems to have been taken around the same time as the other photos in this post, sometime between January and March 2011.

Jake would have still been recovering from his escalator incident when these were taken; he and Angel were getting along fairly companionably, too.

Here they are on Valentine’s Day 2011. Two weeks later, Jake would be going to his first cat show…where I met my friend Meg, as it happens.

In any case, here’s the little blast from the past I found on a random jump drive. Click on the image to view it in another tab.

Aby-a-Day – 15 Augusti: A quick visit to the cat show

On Sunday, we spent some time at the cat show in Lempäälä (near Tampere) that Russell and Carol, along with my friend Pam, were judging. Because we had to catch the ferry back to Sweden at 16:45, and it was a long drive from the show hall to the ferry terminal, we couldn’t enter Dashiell in the show – it didn’t matter, pointwise, because he’s still a kitten, and exhibitors aren’t allowed to leave until the show’s posted closing hour. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t drop by for a visit.

It was a very small show, held in a shopping mall (which was actually rather cool). One-day shows in CFA aren’t common, but they happen; however, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show with only three rings!

My friend Anne set us up with a small pop-up tent and a litter box for Dash. While in Sweden, people mostly use the metal show cages and spectators view the cats on the same side of the cage as the exhibitors, in Finland, people use SturdiShelters and pop-up tents with a clear back, and the spectators view the cats from the back whilst the exhibitiors sit with their cats by the cages’ doors. It feels a bit strange, not really being able to interact with the people coming to see the cats except over the top of your cage.

Dash has been to shows before, so he knew what to do.

He was very interested in this one little boy who stopped to see him.

Dash wanted to make friends with the kid, but it’s hard when you’re behind plastic.

If it had been a metal cage, Dash would have reaching out to touch the boy.

I think both kitten and child were equally fascinated with each other. It was adorable.

We were only able to stay for about an hour and a half (the show, being so small, didn’t start until 11), but it was nice to hang out with Meg and Anne a little bit more. I also managed to get a photo of Anne’s stunning tattoo…isn’t it lovely?

Aby-a-Day – 11 Augusti: Finally meeting Dashiell (Cinema Sunday)

As I posted yesterday, Meg, Russell and Dashiell arrived far too late for us to be able to meet them at the airport and collect Dash on Friday. So he stayed in Meg and Russell’s in the hotel near the airport.

I awoke to some smexy photos of Dash lounging in bed. Everyone slept in, and rightly so.

We had a day in Helsinki planned for Meg, Russell and Carol Fogarty, another judge, so Dash spent the day at Anne’s house.

There, he bonded with Anne’s teenaged daughter. He’s very good with kids.

After a day of walking around Helsinki, we had dinner at a great Finnish restaurant we’ve eaten at before on previous trips to Helsinki. Here’s Meg and me after dinner.

On our way back to our hotel in Tampere, we stopped by Anne’s and collected Dash. This is the grand opening of the carrier when we finally got him into our hotel room (click on the image to watch the video in another tab in Flickr).

We had a wonderfully spacious room, with places to put the food bowl, the water bowl…

…and the litter box house.

In anticipation of Dash’s arrival, my friend Molly sent him a welcome home present. It was even addressed to him.

I saved it to open when we finally were together.

He wasn’t entirely sure about it…but it will be his for the rest of his life.

Next, Dash explored our room.

And that was how we finally got Dash…

Aby-a-Day: 10 Augusti: Comedy of Errors

Yesterday was…interesting. We were supposed to meet Meg, Russell and Dashiell at Helsinki International Airport at 17:15.

That…did not happen. Their flight from Newark was delayed, and they ended up missing their connection in Frankfurt to Helsinki.

This is the photo Meg sent me when she finally got to Frankfurt.

And here is Russell with Dash (under the banana), waiting for the connecting flight.

Above is the Facebook Messenger conversation we had about meeting up and collecting Dash. FINALLY I got the bright idea to include my friend Anne, an Aby breeder who happens to live in Helsinki near the airport. We had booked a hotel in Tampere, two hours away from Helsinki, which was supposed to be the show hotel, but it got overbooked because of a German heavy metal band who were having concerts nearby. Turns out, we might have been able to cancel our “non-refundable” reservation…but, yeah. 20/20 hindsight.

But we had to drive to our hotel, so there was no way we could be at the airport to meet them and collect Dash on Friday.

So my hero friend Anne met them at the airport instead.

They landed sometime after midnight, and my friend Anne was there to meet them.

This is all of them, taken by Anne, at sometime around 1am. At this point, Dash had been in his carrier for 30-something hours.

Meanwhile, our hotel had been notified that we would be arriving with a cat, so they prepared a little gift for us: a packet of wet food in the cutest little bag.

Look how cute the print is on the bag, all little kitty faces! I just wish we had had Dash that first night.

But here he is on Meg’s bed, happy to finally be out of that carrier!

Aby-a-Day – 7 Augusti: Wordless Wednesday (The day after tomorrow…)

Aby-a-Day – 11 Juli: Ashes to ashes (Thursday Things)

When I got Jacoby’s ashes back from the vet, I knew I wanted to get ash jewellery made by Etsy seller Sugar Oh Honey Honey, the same as I had made with Logan’s ashes. Meg also sent me some of Taz’s ashes, so Jake and Taz would be together forever. I ordered two bracelets, one for me and one for Meg.

The box came today.

I couldn’t wait to open it!

In the box was a card from Vicky.

And tea. I love that the tea is from Waitrose.

This is everything that was in the box. The flowered bags contain the leftover ashes. The ash charms are in small boxes, and there are cards commemorating trees planted in Jake’s and Taz’s names.

Vicky also included silver bonus bangle bracelets with Jake and Taz’s names on them. Two of them, one for me and one for Meg. I love that so much. Vicky also sent two replacements of the Logan photo charm she sent me earlier, which broke. I am overwhelmed.

This is what the bracelet looks like. The orange charm is Taz’s ashes, the green charm is Jake’s ashes, and the one in the middle, the half-orange, half-green charm, is Jake’s and Taz’s ashes mixed together…so they will be together forever. Considering they were such good friends, it’s only fitting.

Aby-a-Day – 30 Juni: A memory of Jacoby (Cinema Sunday)

Today’s photos and video were not really ever going to be posted. I didn’t think that they were really good enough. But time changes photos, did you know that? What seems like a crap photo today can turn into a treasured memory with time. This is back from February, when Meg sent me a package that included some pretty superb catnip toys.

Jacoby took an interest in the paper the toys were wrapped in. Izaak came to see what was so interesting…he didn’t see it.

And when I say Jake was “interested”…

…I mean, he was really interested in it.

It was so funny that I made a video to show Meg. But now, I want to share it with everyone. Jake was such a goof.

Aby-a-Day – 25 Juni: Dashiell and Taz (Cartoon Tuesday)

This isn’t really a cartoon, but today Meg sent me the most wonderful photo of Dashiell interacting with a portrait of Taz, painted by her friend Rose Gates. It’s so very sweet, the way Dash is touching Taz’s face. I think he really will be a special cat indeed…Meg’s comment: “Dash is awed by Rose Gates’ Taz portrait. ‘I want to grow up to be a star like this guy!'” I hope he will.

Also, whilst cleaning my clothing cupboard the other day, I also found this charming birthday card Meg sent me.

I think it was last year, before Taz died. It’s perfect…and it does look a bit like a fawn silver Aby…

Aby-a-Day – 2 Juni: An announcement (Cat Show Sunday)

This is Anubis Dashiell Hammett. My friend Meg took him to his first cat show today. It was a small, one-day CFF show in Worcester today. He won two Best Kitten Shorthair Specialty, and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best Allbreed Kitten. Not bad for his first show!

But more than that, Meg will be going with Russell to a CFA show in Finland in August. And Björn and I will meet up with her…and we’ll take Dash home with us! He is related to both Jacoby and Taz, and Meg wanted me to have him. We’ll register him in FIFe and show him along with Izaak and Lorelai.

I can’t wait to see how he fits in with our little clan!

Aby-a-Day – 7 Maj: Jacoby and Taz OTP (Cartoon Tuesday)

Yesterday, I got the loveliest condolence card from Meg. The cover was a cat in stars…

…and the inside was just as lovely.

Jacoby and Taz were a team. We showed together, shared hotel rooms, and travelled all over the Northeast. Meg and I said that if they portrayed by human actors, Taz would be Ryan Seacrest, and Jake would be Ice T.

I did a few cartoons of the two of them together, as you may remember, but my favourite drawing of them that I did was this one, with Jake as Psy and Taz as the Elevator Guy in the Gangnam Style video.

I really miss those days.