Aby Traits

[NoahsMommy]

Now that I have my very own Aby, I'd like to see if he's true to his breed. With his first few years being so crappy, I hope that didn't hinder or change his true personality.

Micah:

*LOVES love

*LOVES other cats

*When he explores and the others hiss at him, he usually walks on by or will go the other way. Its rare that he's scared.

*Is very playful, he's different from our other four in that he plays with toys with his paws, but more with his mouth.

*Is vocal

*Loves kisses on his head

*Likes to be at the top of the cat tree (high places)

Any similarities??

[lailamara]

I adore all cats and find something unique and wonderful about every cat that I've met or been owned by. My husband says I've never met a cat I didn't love !!! But Abys I'm addicted to. (I've had 4) They have all had amazing similarities in character and temperment while also having their own personality. All the traits you mentioned have applied with one exception and SAS would agree (especially now) females don't like to share you or their territory. I'm sure there are exceptions but I personally don't know one. Zoe (RB) got on with her litter-mate brother, Maya usually gets along with her uncle Bodhi (they were born a week apart and raised together) but neither would tolerate any other cats. Rabbits , yes, but not cats .They do however stick to me like velcro, follow me everywhere and always make sure to occupy my lap. Males on the other hand love everybody... cats, rabbits, strangers.
And water... Bodhi lives in the sinks and bathtub. Maya too but not with as much passion for getting wet. And they are love bugs, burrowing under the covers to snuggle with you.
Enjoy getting to know Micah. Whatever kind of life he had before you are bringing out the happy aby traits. So only one request...yup....keep posting those pictures.

[neko1]

Tama definately loves love! But I wouldn't say that he likes it from other cats, just from me. He is my shadow and only sits on my lap. He loves giving me kisses and purring in my ear and his favorite spot to be scratched is his neck. He loves high places-he's constantly on the counters looking down at everyone else. He also loves to whine. He doesn't really meow, it's this bratty whine he gives out when he wants something. I've never had a cat that was so extremely attached to me before. We've really spent some wonderful bonding moments in his life here.:D

[Barbara]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
Now that I have my very own Aby, I'd like to see if he's true to his breed. With his first few years being so crappy, I hope that didn't hinder or change his true personality.

Micah: Filou

*LOVES love

yeaaah!

*LOVES other cats
not sooooo much

*When he explores and the others hiss at him, he usually walks on by or will go the other way. Its rare that he's scared.

yeaaah

*Is very playful, he's different from our other four in that he plays with toys with his paws, but more with his mouth.

yeah, plays with paws and mouth -and plays;) ;) ;)

*Is vocal yeah

*Loves kisses on his head yeah

*Likes to be at the top of the cat tree (high places)
likes to be on top of everything (humans, cat trees, cupboards, doors, whatever

Any similarities??


I have added Filou's behavior after Micahs. They're both Abys aren't they?

BTW: Filou also is a human cat -he is not that close to his brother -apart from sometimes:D :D

Tigris who is semi-Aby isn't that typical though he has some Aby traits too.

[NoahsMommy]

Originally posted by neko1
He also loves to whine. He doesn't really meow, it's this bratty whine he gives out when he wants something.
Hmmm...now, where have I heard that noixse before??? I forgot to mention that part! :)

He sure is different from our other cats. He's a lot like Basie in that he's always following be around. He's always under my feet!

Barbara, Filou sure sounds a lot like Micah!! :)

[Randy_K]

Aby traits: my Aby is terribly friendly even vistiing with neighbors and their guests (he's popular with them and they invite him over!). He visits with neighbor's cats too.

He's ultra-smoochie. Loves to have his head kissed and asks for it by crashing the top of his head or his cheek into my face.

He uses his paws like hands and will hold a crunchy ball in his mouth with his paws (like a squirrel with a nut) as he chews on the toy. He also grabs and holds things by pinching them between his toes and his paw pads.

He's unintimidated by other animals, loud noises or anything else that may frighten another cat.

He welcomes another cat into the household without any fuss. Usually sees it as another playmate.

In other words, he's a typical Aby.

[BastetsMum]

Bastet:

She talks to me with a series of noises.

Loves to be smooged on her terms.

Loves to run. She runs up and down the hallway all day with toys.

She is a paw user too. Those rug monsters are hard to kill!

She loves other humans and cats but on her terms only.

She is protective of me!

Hyperactive!

Follows me around continuously.

and all the traits mentioned above.

I think I am spoilt for kitty choice now!

:D :D :D

[krazyaboutkatz]

Although my Sunny is only half aby, I think that he has many of the aby traits that everyone has mentioned above.

He loves to be up in high places.

He loves to talk to me and makes many chirping noises.

He loves attention from me- head & back scratched, belly rubs, me playing with him, cuddling on his terms.

He loves to run and play and is very hyperactive.

He likes my other cats and will lick their heads and give them headbumpies.

He loves to follow me around like a dog.

When he plays with his toys he'll pick them up with his paws and also carry them in his mouth.

He loves to play in water and is fascinated by running water.

He's also sometimes very needy.

[Randy_K]

I kind of describe my Aby as very much like a dog without all the fuss of a dog. He's cleaner, quiter, less destructive (but not completely non-destructive!), easier to care for and yet has all the benefits of an overtly affectionate, loyal and active companion.

That goofy little Aby Mango and his website It's Mango Madness! has a new permanent home at:

http://www.mango-madness.com

Also there's a new Aby site in Sweden (in English and Swedish):

http://www.abycat.com

[BastetsMum]

OH! WOW! All the Things that Bastet does Mango does too! Or should it be the other way round!

I love you website! Very aby like :D

Bastet decided last night - I was watchign a documentary on wolves - that dogs are definately something I need to be protected from!

SEriously - this is the first time I have seen her do this but she hissed and growled and her heckles went up at the wolves howling on tv. She wouldn't leave me for a second while I was watching it and every time they howled she would stand up *claws out* ready to defend me.

When it was over she stuck to me like glue (moreso :D).

[Randy_K]

Mango has to one of the all-time sweetest cats. He accepts new cats into his home without fuss and is really very kind to them. A suddenly homeless six year old Aby was fostered for two weeks (his owner died) and he and Mango became good friends within a few days and spent the rest of the time playing. It's really nice to see that.

[Barbara]

Aaah, so Mango is your cat. I've seen his website before.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290768743

This is Filou's album. I am not so good in taking the pictures once he moves:D but many of Mango's pix remind me of Filou. He has also been seen on top of doors and he loves corn:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid51/p3596b447a8c6d77aab85a52a8abc5e9b/fca619bb.jpg

And believe it or not: he does not like papayas but he looooves mangos:D :D :D

[Randy_K]

Filou looks so much like Mango...

A friend of mine complained about Mango and Peaches being on the counter all of the time. She doesn't understand that Abys aren't trained easily!

[Randy_K]

Forgot to mention that I generally use one of several high-performance SLR cameras and a variety of lenses for the Mango pictures. The newest one was bought primarily for a trip to Africa several years ago (a picture album at http://www.mango-madness.com/personal/Africa )

Most point-and-shoot cameras don't do a good job on catching small animals who move fast!

[Barbara]

Most of the picture in the album were also taken with a SLR camera (A Nikon). The colour problems came from scanning the colour prints (because they were slides originally). There are also some digital pix among them -but taken with a cheap digital camera.

Nevertheless we never managed to get jumping Filou so that his paws and tail and telescope body are all on the slide (as you did in the fantastic acrobat picture).

Filou on the counter. Yes- sorry for that;) :rolleyes: :p

[Randy_K]

The trick in taking an action shot is to take the SLR out of autofocus mode. It takes too long for the camera to decide where the focal point is and, by the time it does, it's too late. Set an average focal point before the action happens and hope the subject stays in that range (a little out-of-focus is hard to see in that kind of a shot). You may have to bump up the shutter speed but I've usually found that the default is satisfactory with a flash or in bright sun. This photo was taken after teasing Squid ( www.squidgallery.com ) into jumping off the back of the couch after a toy. The camera was in a manual focus mode, the shutter speed was set manually and using an external flash gun to get enough light and a fast enough flash. His paws are clamped together right where the toy was. Notice his eyes are focused at that spot too.

http://rjknox.home.att.net/Squid_9007_23.jpg

[Barbara]

Ok, ok -that's very professional and you must be a team of 2 -plus the Abyssinian. But the results are gorgeous. You see more than your eye would see.

This afternoon I wanted to try some close-ups of Filou and his adopted brother Tigris but they just walked away. :( It's not our problem if you want to keep on bragging with us:D -that's what they said.

[Randy_K]

I understand. You can't help bragging when your cat is beautiful... And you're right in that your eye would never catch the grace and intensity the picture captured.

I admit I am sometimes stalking the cats with a camera. There's always a camera ready, though, for that classic shot. This one just happened without any outside assistance. The camera was in full automatic mode and using natural light. This is Mango and Peaches with Peaches being the agressive one.

http://rjknox.home.att.net/Aby_Wars_2.jpg

Abys wrestle almost silently. You just hear flopping noises and turn to see this!

Randy K, your cat Mango is really special! I love that action-shot so much!
I just visited your web-site: it is gorgeous!! Congrats!

You can read and see all about my cats and other pets on my web-site too. See ye!

Oh, and WELCOME to Pt!!

[neko1]

Love those action shots!!!

Here's my Tama
This is the best I could do:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid59/p47ebb3dc44ed05da35fea8f46699766d/fc59b798.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid59/paa950f9b0eccee01de60f2c830760470/fc59b7b3.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid59/p853a9c652f74cf241245dc61bc03c818/fc59b7ca.jpg

[lailamara]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/p913c13b2495846dee0c4df8512ec91eb/fc43a262.jpg

Maya in action. It's very hard to get action shots with a digital !!!
She is off the ground in this one.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/p991af2009e8ff075e6640c00ae5f78b1/fc43a263.jpg

Our first aby Zoe ( a spitting image of Maya) . We could not figure why the clock was always wrong. Caught her "red-pawed" one day.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid19/p4b52b0407f48735f13ea02461c5e7298/fdc2f24b.jpg

[Barbara]

My last try to catch Filou in action with the digital camera:D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid60/p6465404966028c18a4d9a2403f5dec9f/fc4378c0.jpg

Tigris sends his admiration for jumping Maya.

Tama, what a cute little boy you are:)

[Randy_K]

lailamara, that picture of Zoe playing with the clock is great!

The only time I've used my digital camera on Mango is when he is asleep.

[Barbara]

Randy, there are quite some Aby-lovers here.

Check out this thread and you can see them all:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?threadid=16885

In the meantime, NoahsMommy was adopted by an Aby too. Micah, a fawn boy just like Bastet:D

[neko1]

Well, Filou has a really nice tail....;) :p

[Russian Blue]

Absolutely great photos everyone!! I'm a secret Aby admirer and that's why I'm lurking here!

;)

[Randy_K]

One thing I learned by creating and posting the It's Mango Madness! (http://www.mango-madness.com) website is how much people worldwide love their Abys and how surprized they are to see that an Aby's behavior is fairly constant no matter where they were born or raised. The website started as a lark and, until I put up the guestbook and also started receiving e-mail, thought only friends saw it. How wrong I was!

The Squid Gallery (http://www.squidgallery.com) has been written up in a newspaper in Christchurch, New Zealand and several art-oriented websites. It was originally created to showcase digital art with Squid being the willing subject but soon it took on a life of it's own with Squid becoming know internationally. Squid was my first interaction with an Aby and he changed my idea of what a cat was all about. It was so terribly hard to say goodbye to him when he died a few years ago from colon cancer. He was a great friend and companion. It was difficult to tell the children of friends that they couldn't come over to see Squid anymore. Funny how these little guys make their own friends...

[BastetsMum]

Aby's just RULE!

Yah I am now spoilt for choice about what I am going to get as a companion cat for Bastet (when I find a new home!). She is definately going to have another Aby as company! I don't think any other cat would be able to keep up with her!

They are just such personable little furrpeople. :D

[Barbara]

Russian Blue -I'm an open Nakita admirer:D :) If she was not a beautiful Russian Blue we would name her an Aby for honour's sake:D

[NoahsMommy]

Originally posted by Russian Blue
Absolutely great photos everyone!! I'm a secret Aby admirer and that's why I'm lurking here!

;)
You have no idea how ironic that comment is!!! I was taking Micah to the vet yesterday and I was looking at him in the sun. He has that light fur Nakita has on his face and green eyes. I thought, "Gosh, wouldn't Micah and Nakita make the most beautiful couple??" Shhhh...don't tell my Basie that. ;)

Great pictures everyone!

Randy, welcome to Pet Talk!! Where in Southern California do you live?? Did you get Mango and Peaches from a breeder?

[Randy_K]

Mango, Peaches and Bubbles reside in West Hollywood. Mango came from a breeder who has a great home totally run by the cats. They have as many cats they've kept as pets as they have available for adoption. The gentle and loving care they receive shows in the wonderful personality and absolute confidence Mango has. Peaches was a lost cat whose home we tried to find but were unable to so she stayed. We don't know how far she traveled before being found but assumed it was in the general area where she was found. She was about seven months old at the time and really looked rough from all the fleas, fight wounds and poor nutrition. She was housed in isolation from other cats until her medical treatments were finished, she got used to being cared for again and she got enough to eat. Fortunately her time on the street left no permanent damage. We brought her home and Mango and Peaches became good friends almost immediately. Bubbles, however, took a while longer. Bubs was born from a pregnant homeless cat that was being fostered by a friend and the only girl in a four kitten litter. Everybody including the mom found good homes. Here's a picture of Bubbles about a half hour after meeting Peaches:

http://rjknox.home.att.net/Angry_Bubbles.jpg

[neko1]

She looks like my Neko!:)