Aby-a-Day – 8 Juli: There’s a new kitty in town! (Thursday Things)

The other day I looked out the livingroom window and saw a little girl and her mom waling her cat on a leash!! I took photos with my long lens through the window, so they are a little blurry.

I don’t know anything about her, apart from she lives in the C block of our apartment building. I saw her in a first-floor window yesterday.

She reminded me so much of Kylie!

The white kitty was obviously very new to walking on a leash…

…but she was doing an excellent job!

I kind of wonder if I’m not a little responsible for this. I mean, back when I was in the SCA, I took Harri to events, and, suddenly, there were a lot of people bringing their cats out, too. I like to think I inspired this kitty adventure.

Aby-a-Day – 26 Maj: Wordless Wednesday (An encounter with Markis)

Aby-a-Day – 14 Maj: How it started (Friday Flashback)

Since last Sunday was Mother’s Day, I thought I’d post this. I was always Daddy’s girl. Also a tomboy. Also hated dresses and pink. And dolls. That was Tabby, my version of a doll. They tried to give me dolls. I took their clothes off and put them on Tabby. This was 1969. You can see the look in my eyes…He’s taking the photo and I’m begging him through the lens to get me out of this and take me fishing or something.

This is where my love of Siamese, and by extension, purebreeds began. My dad’s sister had two: Bippie and her son Caesar. This is me napping with Caesar on my uncle’s lap. Also 1969.

This was my cat, Baby Puss, on Easter.

This is when I met Baby Puss in 1967. She is named after the Flintstones’ cat. We also had a black male cat named Bagheera. I was always an avid television watcher.

My mom was ALL ABOUT the matching outfits. This was for my aunt’s 25th anniversary up in Edmonton in 1971.

And, in case you’re wondering…this was my reaction when my dad tried to get a puppy.

Aby-a-Day – 12 Mars: Origin of the species (Photoshop Friday)

The origin of the Singapura breed is not without controversy. While some people say that the breed occurred naturally, on the island nation of Singapore, others believe the breed is a deliberate hybrid. And it creates a bit of a rift in the Singapura community; not unlike, say, mask-wearing, both factions can be rather…attached to their viewpoints.

Where do I land on the subject? I have been following Singapuras since I first learned about the breed in the early 1980’s. I even wrote a letter to Tommy Meadows, the founder of the breed when I was in high school (and which I wish I could find, because I’m sure I have it somewhere), even though I have only recently joined the Singa community, I have a lot of book knowledge about the breed. So, I lean towards the Burmese/Aby hybrid theory.

This is not without a lot of though, so let me explain: First point: Tommy Meadow’s cattery name, USAF, is attached to both Abys and Singas; she worked with both breeds. She also had Burmese (haven’t been able to figure out if she bred them, too). She imported some cats when she moved from Texas to Singapore, and these were listed as Burmese and “brown Abyssinians” on the import manifest.

Second point: Singapore is an island, and, like mosts cats native to islands (Japan, the Isle of Man), the majority of Singapore street cats have some sort of tail deformation. Singas occasionally have tail deformation, but no more so than appear in other breeds (Siamese, for example). Of course, some long tailed Singapore street cats may have been used in breeding programmes, but that’s quite a bit different from an actual native breed (In Japan, you see feral cats that look almost exactly like purebred Japanese Bobtails).

Third point: Singapore was a British possession colonized in the early 1800’s. Given the British interest in exotic cats from foreign lands (Siamese, Burmese, and particularly the Abyssinian, purported to have been brought back from soldiers after the Abyssinian Wars) and the increasing Victorian interest in creating purebred animals and the Fancy, if the Singapura really was a native breed running around Singapore, don’t you think the British would have jumped on them and exported them back to England they way they did with other cat breeds?

At the end of the day, this is just my opinion. I know there is a romance in the “party line,” but honestly, so what if they ARE a Burmese/Aby hybrid? What’s so awful about that? Ocicats are Aby/Siamese/American Shorthairs, and that’s okay. Pointed Persians (Once the Himalayan breed) are Persians bred with Siamese. Burmillas are Chinchilla Persians bred with European Burmese. That’s all okay. You believe the origin story you feel most comfortable with.

All of this backstory has a point: Last week, I got the newest issue of Kattliv, featuring the (European) Burmese. I was struck by how much some of the photos reminded me of Singas, and I got an idea. I took a photo of Jacoby, and a photo of Butters, the cream EuroBurm we met at a show in Groton.

First, I reduced opacity on Jake and softened some edges.

Then I did the same with Butters, and erased his eyes.

Then I superimposed the two layers, and added a Sepia (of course) photo filter. But the eyes still just weren’t quite right.

So, I made a layer with Izaak’s eyes, reduced their opacity, and added a green photo filter.

And…Voilà! Okay, so it doesn’t look exactly like a Singapura…but it looks like it could be a computer-generated witness-descibed wanted poster image of a Singa.

Aby-a-Day – 21 Februari: Our friend Summer is in a movie! (Cinema Sunday)

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.

Aby-a-Day 29 Januari: Meow to the Chief (Photoshop Friday)

There’s a famous photo of Socks Clinton sitting at the Resolute Desk. After four long years of no pets in the White House, the Bidens have brought their two dogs to live with them. They are also bringing Winston the cat.

Apparently, Winston hasn’t moved in yet, so I thought Alfred could keep his seat warm for him.

Aby-a-Day – 22 December 2020: Catty Christmas cards (Not Really Cartoon Tuesday)

Okay. Now, I know these aren’t cartoons. But I have been working on colouring Dashiell Hamilton every day. I want to get the green of his suit just right, and it’s taking a lot longer than I thought…and I haven’t even started on colouring Dash himself! I am trying to do as much as I can in Procreate…but yesterday I got a new Paperlike screen protector, and let me tell you, it is a game changer! It really feels like I’m drawing on real paper, and it is so much better than drawing on glass. Even though it’s digital, it still feels organic. I’ve also ordered a set of Pen Tips, which should also improve the drawing experience. While Paperlike and Pen Tips ship worldwide, they are based in Germany and the Netherlands respectfully, so I don’t have to pay any import taxes!

Since Dash-Ham isn’t finished enough to post an update, I’m sharing some Christmas cards I’ve received. The above card arrived today from my Sverak club AbSolut Kattklubb. That is one lovely blue Somali.

This card came a couple of days ago from my friend Donna in Massachussetts. I think these Birmans are adorable. At least, I think they’re Birmans…hard to tell when you can’t see their feet!

This cute little Siamese postcard came today, also from Donna. I love that she keeps sending me postcards…it’s nice to have physical notes from friends sometimes, especially during a pandemic.

Aby-a-Day – 24 Oktober 2020: Making the World Sweeter (Cat Show Saturday)

Last December, we went to a “mini-show” at our nearby pet store, DjurMagazinet, similar to the one we went to in 2018.

One fun thing about these “pet store” shows is, there is no judging, and a lot more downtime. So we get to explore the store.

Including the cat trees.

But Izaak wasn’t the only one exploring the cat trees. If you recall, we met a lovely sorrel Somali named Tootsie at the last show we went to at DjurMagazinet.

Both Tootsie and Zak were (literally) all over the cat trees at the show.

It was fun to watch Tootsie and Zak interact.

They both live with other cats and (used to, anyway) go to cat shows often, so they were quite civil with each other.

They mostly explored the trees individually, but near each other.

Zak really liked how high he could get.

He also really liked the hanging puffball toys, while Tootsie explored the cubbyhole.

Zak then moved to one of the hammocks, and from there seemed to notice Tootsie.

He came down to say hello.

I think they could be friends!

Aby-a-Day – 6 Oktober 2020: Paws Across the Sea (Cartoon Tuesday)

I know, I know…I dropped off the face of the world for a week. Part of that was due to me getting a new medication that was kicking my butt until I got used to it. The other part is that last Monday I got this email from Iris:

Your former region (Region 1) and your adopted region (Region 9) are joining forces for a virtual qualifier show for the CFA International Top Cat Challenge, and Sharon asked me to help with promotional copy and/or a theme. What I came up with is really crying out for some kind of sketch that we can use on the flyer and platform. It’s “Paws Across the Sea.” I don’t have any visual ideas other than two paws reaching toward each other with an ocean in between, but I thought maybe you could come up with something better. Please let me know if you’d be willing to work on this. The time frame is short but not an emergency. . . If you could do something by the weekend I think that would work.

My mind instantly went to vintage Disney “It’s a Small World” art. I made a globe/earth that featured the US Northeast and Europe and then made the quick sketch above to map out the international breed representatives. I had many ideas, but finally decided on featuring a Siamese, a Russian Blue, a Maine Coon (Marlin, the NEMO mascot), a Scottish Fold, and a Singapura. I had wanted to include a Japanese Bobtail, but I realised that if you couldn’t see the tail, it might not be clear what breed it was.

I started by making a generic cat sketch. I enlarged it for Marlin, made it smaller for the Singapura, and stretched it out for the Siamese.

I made sketches for all five breeds, and combined them on one layer.

Then I did the ink outline in Procreate.

I did the undercolour layer beneath the ink layer in Procreate as well. Colouring tortoiseshell-and-white cats is difficult, but fun!

My best fur brushes are in Photoshop, so I moved to that to work on the texture layer.

Here are all three layers combined.

Then I add the whiskers, eyeshine and shadow, and voilá: a graphic for an international virtual cat show!

A slight postscript: I couldn’t fit an Abyssinian into the graphic…but who’s that holding the Siamese’s other paw?

Aby-a-Day – 24 Augusti 2020: Three years ago today…(Medical Monday Memory)

Three years ago today, my life changed: I was bitten through the finger while giving Pyret a pill.

Being new to the Swedish medical system, I stupidly went to the local clinic (Vårdcentralen), even though I was well aware of how serious a cat bite is, especially on the hand. I just thought that’s what you were “supposed” to do. The doctor I saw was Spanish, and spoke little English. I tried to tell her it was serious, but she waved me off with just a prescription for penicillin.

I didn’t know that I could go straight to the hospital. I thought, then, that you had to be referred by Vårdcentralen (although, to be honest, that worthless “doctor” should have known to send me there straightaway). Now I know I can go to the Akuten (emergency department) if I need to. Twenty-four hours later, I woke up screaming in pain so badly Björn almost called an ambulance.

They bundled me into a room, pumped me full of antibiotics and morphine, and got me into surgery as quickly as they could.

This is me just after the first surgery. Within a week, I would have two more operations to flush the bacteria out of my tendon sheath.

I also had a lot of morphine. The pain involved with repeated hand surgeries is insane.

The brightest part of my week in the hospital was the two evenings Björn smuggled Logan into my hospital room.

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One time when a nurse came in, we hid him under my blanket.

He was good and held still; the nurse never knew he was there.

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After a week in hospital, I was released, but still had several wound checks and dressing changes. When I first got home, my hand was in a plaster cast. I was also still on penicillin and painkillers. It seemed to be healing nicely, but on my last wound check, 20 September (the same day Alfred was neutered), the nurse noticed my finger seemed red and hot. She sent me back to the hospital, and they determined that, despite still being on antibiotics, the infection had managed to return. They wanted me to have surgery immediately, but I had to go to pick up Freddy, who was literally at the other end of the bus line.

It took a really long time to get him (I ended up taking a taxi for part of the return trip), gathered my things and got back to the hospital just before 17:00. Apparently, I took too long to get back and they weren’t able to do the surgery until the next morning.

This last, fourth surgery was the most painful. They put more stitches on my palm than on the previous surgeries, and the skin seemed to have been stretched more than the other three.

It also bled a lot more than the other three operations.

A month after the first anniversary of my bite, we were at a cat show in Västra Feölunda and ran into Göran, the recovery nurse after my first surgery. His sambo breeds Cornish Rex, and we (used to) see them at shows frequently. He asked to take a look at my hand, and I made a comment about being lucky I still had a finger.

“You could have lost more than that,” Gören said. “I could have lost my hand?” I asked.

“You could have lost even more than that,” he responded. And that was how, a year later, I learned that I could have died from this bite! Even with as much as I know about cat bites, I never thought it could have been fatal.

This is how it looks today. It’s still very stiff and it sometimes aches and feels crampy. I’ll never have a normal hand again.

So, again, the moral of the story is: If you are EVER bitten by a cat on your hand – and especially your finger – GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM as soon as you can!

Happy 17th birthday, Tessie!

Today is Tessie’s 17th birthday! Can you believe it? Apart from her eyesight, which seems to be failing, she’s very healthy and happy back in Boston. I miss her, but she’s with her BFF Kylie. Happy birthday, Tessie!

Aby-a-Day – 16 Juli 2020: Another encounter with Markis (Thursday Things)

The other day when we were outside, we ran into our friend Markis.

Izaak and Lorelai came trotting up to say hello.

Rory got bored and ran off, but Zak…Zak took an interest in Markis.

And, unusually for him, Markis was actually interested in Zak, too.

Usually Markis just nopes out when he runs into the LunaTicks.

Or…maybe it’s just Zak Markis likes. Rory came back…and Markis decided he’d had enough.

“See ya!”

“But…but…Markis? I thought we were friends?”

Aby-a-Day – 10 Juli 2020: A hot day in July (Friday Flashback)

Today this memory came up in my memories on Facebook. I wasn’t even on Facebook in 2005, but okay. But it reminded me of that apartment I had in Somerville. It wasn’t the best, but I loved it.

It was SO hot in that apartment in summer, though. The middle room was the coolest, because I had a window air conditioner…but it was still hot.

Tessie turned two a month and a half after we got Kylie. Kylie loved her and copied everything she did.

And here they are now, last week. They are still BFFs and have been for fifteen years. Tessie will be 17 next month. I do miss them, but they are so happy where they are.

Sparta and Bob Hunt with StarClan

Sad news. Two of the world’s most famous cats have died this week. Sparta the Mean Kitty and Bob the Street Cat have died.

Sparta became famous when his human, Cory (aka Mr. Safety) posted his Mean itty song on YouTube in September 2007. That video, as of today, has had 91,004,261 views!

But on Sunday, 11 June, Sparta apparently had a saddle thrombosis and his back end was paralysed. Sobbing, Cory posted a short video to let Sparta’s fans know what was happening before he rushed to the vet. Sadly, there was nothing that could be done, and he had to be euthanised.

After Sparta was gone, Cory posted his last video on his Mean Kitty channel. He described what had happened, and thanked his followers. Sparta went from Southern California to Alaska to Oklahoma with Cory and his family. Over the span of 13 years, we followed the life of a man and his cat.

Then, today, Hodder & Stoughton and James Bowen announced the death of Bob the cat on 15 June at the age of at least 14 years on their Facebook page.

I’m sure most of you know about Bob from his books and movie. A busker living rough in Covent Garden selling newspapers meets a cat who decided that he wanted to adopt that human.

James Bowen says “Bob saved my life. It’s as simple as that. He gave me so much more than companionship. With him at my side, I found a direction and purpose that I’d been missing. The success we achieved together through our books and films was miraculous. He’s met thousands of people, touched millions of lives. There’s never been a cat like him. And never will again. I feel like the light has gone out in my life. I will never forget him.” And oh, how I understand how he feels…Jacoby wasn’t as famous as Bob…but I feel his light going out in his life sentiment.

2020 can bite my shiny metal ass.

May StarClan light your path, and you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep, Sparta and Bob. You will be missed.

Aby-a-Day – 7 Juni 2020: Another encounter with Markis (Swedish Sunday)

The other day when we went outside, we happened to run into our friend and upstairs neighbour, Markis.

Lorelai ran up to meet him first.

Markis was not impressed.

He insisted on social distancing himself and backed away.

So of course Izaak felt the need to come barrelling up behind her…

…and straight past her, right up into Markis’ face.

Zak may have come up on Markis a little too quickly; there was a tiny little scuffle.

“SOCIAL DISTANCING! DUDE!”

Rory came to back Zak up, just in case.

It wasn’t necessary.

Markis decided to turn and run into the tall grass to get away from them. Rory could. Not. Resist. “Ooooh, big fluffy cat is running into the grass! Cool!!”

She lost sight of him momentarily…

…but then Markis made the mistake of raising his tail.

And Rory literally flew after him.

That’s the only word for it: flew.

Aby-a-Day – 1 Maj 2020: This Freddy is PHOTOSHOPPED (Photoshop Friday)

The other day, I posted one of the photos of Alfred in the little toy car to the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED to see what people would do with it. The above photo of Freddy getting “chimkin nuggets” at the Mc D’s drive-thru was made by Lucy Elizabeth West.

These were done by Helen Yang…I think the first one is so fetch!

Freddy doing donuts in a Walmart parking lot, courtesy of Charles Gipson.

I really like these racing ones Barbara Helms Clark made. The other cat is her outside cat, who also likes to sit in toy cars.

Then there’s the ‘shops I made. This one is Dandelion. I cannot explain why I thought Dandelion should be Baby Ross in Joey’s nightmare…but here we are.

The moment I saw this cat, I knew she needed to be Queen Victoria.

Charlie’s owner called him a Viking, so I put him next to Rökstenen runestone.

This Sphynx’s name is Farrah, so…

Talcum’s human wanted him to be a mermaid. I am quite proud of this one. I didn’t know he was a boy until after I made it…but I still like the eyelashes.

And finally…what else was I supposed to do with a cat wearing a unicorn hat!?

Aby-a-Day – 17 April 2020: This Jake is PHOTOSHOPPED (Photoshop Friday)

Since Jacoby’s deathday and birthday are so close together, I posted some photos of him on Monday In Meöwmorium on the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED. I included some cutouts I’d already made along with some favourites…and wow, the other members did not disappoint! I especially love the image Trisha Pettingill made with Jake in the Red Sox dugout.

Lucia Robson made this one of Jake in Baseball Heaven (which of course is in Fenway Park).

Helen Yang, who had so much fun with Izaak and Lorelai a few weeks ago did this amazing one of Jake on the field with Rally Cat II at an Angels-Cardinals game in Anaheim!

She also did these of Jake in various forms of heaven. So sweet!

And then there are my challenges…this cat was named Pirate, so…

Dangles’ human wanted her to have legs, but I gave her eggs instead.

This was an amazing photo on its own…most people went with an ascension or jet pack theme, but I went in a different direction.

Mr. Kringle’s human wanted him to run for president. That was easy!

This isn’t really a Photoshop challenge per se, but I had to do it.

Sophia’s smile made me think of second grade.

Someone commented on this photo of Bebby that Yoda the trapeze artist should be dancing with her. So here they are at the Bolshoi.

Switch’s photo reminded me of Theda Bara.

But this is my favourite of my projects this week. When I saw Reginald in his cowboy hat, I instantly thought of A Million Ways to Die in the West. I knew what I wanted to do: Reginald with Seth MacFarlane’s Albert and Doc Brown. It was a lot harder to get the parts to match than I expected…but I think I finally got it to look pretty good in the end.

Aby-a-Day – 10 April 2020: More PHOTOSHOPPED cats (Photoshop Friday)

Continuing last week’s Photoshop Friday, I did some more Photoshop challenges on the Facebook group This Cat is PHOTOSHOPPED. I also posted the meme about the green screen dress Queen Elizabeth wore when she gave her COVID-19 speech last Sunday.

And, of course, I had to give Her Majesty a Three Jake Moon shirt.

When I saw this photo of Mya the Sphynx, I had only one thought and one thought only. Isn’t she precious?

Jezebel’s original photo had her on her scratching post. I thought she needed a real tree.

THIS is one of my favourites from this week. When I saw this chonky girl, my brain instantly went to…well, Manchester Township, New Jersey. One member said that it should be a poster. It’s always interesting to work in greyscale.

Athletic Yoda reminded me of a trapeze artist.

This face! I had to do this.

This cat’s name is Chandler, so I had to do this…

I didn’t think that sofa looked “Central Perk” enough, so I used this one instead. Much better!

Then Björn made a comment…eh, it was inevitable.

Harley and Powder’s human wanted them ‘Shopped onto a rock album. Hey, no problem.

I had saved this photo of the bear and was waiting for a cat to fill it. I thought it was Mia…but I wasn’t so sure after I finished it. But her human loved it, so that’s good enough for me.

Peso is a semi-celebrity in the group – I mean, look at those eyes! Behold, the majestic Peso Owl in flight.

Willie’s human wanted him Photoshopped riding something “bad ass”…well, what’s more bad ass than Joust? This was a lot of fun…I learned how to pixilate photos with this one. It’s always nice when one of these challenges teaches me a new trick.

Then, someone in the comments posted a photo of Putin, shirtless, riding a horse, and said, “Someone please put him on the horse with Putin!” Challenge accepted.

Gilligan reminded me of an ancient Egyptian cat, so I put him in the temple at Abydos. Not super happy with how it turned out…but Gillgan’s human loved it. Again, that’s kind of the point.

This is Colonel Gentleman. His original photo looked like he was sitting behind a desk, so… Fun fact: the base I used was a photo of Socks sitting behind Bill Clinton’s Resolute Desk.

Another person posted her adorable foster kittens Meeps, Sully and Toque….it was the obvious choice. I wish Toque’s photo had been larger, though.

Another obvious choice. I had fun with the bubbles.

Daniel had to have his back leg shaved for an operation, and his owner wanted us to cover it up. I used a photo of a peacock I took at Borås Djurpark last summer, and used feather brushes to fill in spots.

This is today’s project. Bailey’s human wanted him to turn his blep against evil. This was the most evil I could think of.

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Well, either that, or this. Potato, potahto.

Aby-a-Day – 6 Februari 2020: Alfred and Markis again (Thursday Things)

About a year and a half ago, I wrote about Alfred and Markis and their complicated relationship.

But towards the end of autumn, Freddy and Markis have started to become friendly with each other.

Markis doesn’t hiss at Freddy, and Freddy isn’t puffing up and acting belligerent towards Markis.

In fact, although I haven’t been able to capture it on digital film…

…they have actually started playing when they run into each other outside.

I guess seeing each other in the hallway and whilst outside has convinced the two that neither one is a real threat.

This looks like Freddy is chasing Markis away, but it’s actually the pair of them playing a chasing game. This is the closest I’ve gotten to getting photos of them.

Even Lorelai gets in on the fun! Pretty huge difference from the summer before last, when Freddy thought Rory needed protection from Markis, right?

Markis even went up to meet Dashiell on one of his first outside excursions.

Dash was…less than enthusiastic about making Markis’ acquaintance. Oh, well…soon enough we’ll be able to go outside regularly and they’ll make friends. I hope.

Aby-a-Day – 31 Juli: Wordless Wednesday (Romeo and Juliet)