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At
this point, I have a confession to make. If anyone had ever tried to
tell me the truth about Abyssinians, I'd have written them off as
dotty. The truth that hard to swallow. |
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Everyone,
this is Unkamen Little Girl, or simply Elgee. She's a registered
Blue Abyssinian, and has become the absolute power in my home. |
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First
of all, there is no place that she cannot get to if she so desires.
Elgee has learned how doorknobs can be turned, how to open a door that
comes towards you, and how to hitch a ride on any human available. |
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All
cats are living art; things of extraordinary beauty that offer both
companionship and aestheticism. The Abyssinian is nothing short of
animated porcelain. It is as though they are aware of their
elegance, and wish to flaunt it, tastefully. |
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There
are a host of behaviors these cats exhibit that their owners term 'Aby-normal,'
and with good reason. First, their vocabulary is huge. Elgee
has around fifty distinctly different 'words' she uses regularly.
The one that cracks everyone up happens when you interrupt her in the
middle of a scheme - it sounds exactly as though she was saying, "Noooo!" |
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There
are limitations. They are too possessive of their owners to allow
another Aby to share; you can only have one. However, they are
protective, to a point. Let a someone unexpectedly knock at the
door, and they go into I'm-protecting-you mode; they begin growling very
low, and place themselves between the owner and the door. |
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Elgee
was the defective runt of the litter; she nearly had to be
destroyed. Solely because of the breeder's love was she nurtured to
good health, though the defect required that she be neutered.
Another neat fact about Aby's is, they don't age much: the personality you
get by eighteen months or so is the one you're going to live with.
Elgee is still 90% kitten, and only 10% cat. That's okay by me! |
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As
with all cats, Aby's are affectionate, but on their terms. Elgee has
a minimum requirement of three attend-to-me sessions per day, in between
the three or four playtimes, and of course, the requisite dozens of naps. |
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Elgee
isn't the first cat I've owned; just the latest. Before her I found
this kitten at the animal shelter in Haverhill, Massachusetts. As
soon as I got him home and got a look at those feet, there was only one
possible name for him - Paddle Paws, or simply Paddy. |
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As
you can see, about eighteen months later, he'd grown into those paws. |
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Books
here was a story. She was the consummate hunter. When I had to
give her up, my best friend, Jim Kessler, took her for me, and she adored
him. However, she was practical in the extreme. When Jim was
dying of cancer, she would climb on top of him and begin purring and
kneading. He, in turn, would holler, and his nurse would put Books
outside, which is just what she wanted in the first place! |
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A
great many animals use tooth-displays to warn others to leave them be for
now. Wide-body never liked to be bothered by people, so his display
was superb! "See what I have? And I can use them on
you!" |
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Here
is a male cat named "Hunter." Generally, the males don't do
much hunting, but he was spectacular at it. He too wasn't big on
socializing. |
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A
few weeks back I took Elgee back to visit relatives. Colleen had a
house-full, and among them these five sort of pre-teenagers. |
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At
this age they are still completely kitten, but have almost all the
dexterity they ever will. |
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Everyone,
I'd like you to meet 'Peanut.' She's a ruddy Aby that my fiancé
thought was adorable. Well, Peanut is a 'runt'; too small to be
bred. Two weeks after this visit to the breeder, I told June that
Peanut was hers. Hasn't stopped crying yet! (I think that's
good, isn't it?) Peanut doesn't know she's small. She stood up to
both Elgee and our other cat, Kitt, who at twenty pounds plus blots out the sun. |
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A
lot of the play is hunting practice for them, and they work hard at it,
even though it's been generations since any of them had anything but one
another to hunt. |
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If
you think their eyes see everything, you should get a load of their olfactory
skills. They are on a par with dogs. |
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Of
course, Elgee saw immediately that she was the adult here, and tried to
behave the part by taking over. |
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Didn't
intimidate this one even a little. |
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Or
this one. |
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If
anything, they gave Elgee a resounding yawn. |
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Though
this one did sort of wonder what was wrong with Elgee. |
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Peanut
has become the 'second force' in our home, or perhaps co-conspirator is
more correct. |
