my cats are getting so much larger

**wayne0214** · 02-16-2002, 05:58 PM

Today I was watching my furkids play after feeding them, and was noticing how much larger they have grown in the past 3 months. Jumper (Abyssinian mix) is now 32 inches long (from nose to tail and weighs over 7 lbs. He is 7 1/2 months old. Being a long thin cat (due to Aby's structure) acts as though he will never "grow up". He even wanted to be picked up and held in my arms for a while today, tummy up, and acutally went to sleep in that position, while I was reading articles on the internet. Of all the furkids I have, I seem to enjoy my Aby, Jumper's companionship the best. If any out there is contemplating obtaining another furkid, may I suggest, a male cat that is loyal and obeys fairly frequently, that you consider getting an Abyssinian. As far as his "growing up" I enjoy him as he is, big ears and all, and sometimes I wish he would remain a kitten all of his life. ("lovedemabys"!).

I put Snow Cat on the scales today also, and he weights 7 1/2 lbs and is about 28" long -no more a kitten! Remembering his first vet visit, in October, he weighed 3 1/2 lbs!

**wolflady** · 02-17-2002, 12:24 AM

Hi Wayne! Sounds like your babies are going through their growth stages! Much like teenagers do, eh?? LOL LOL I have to confess...I had always imagined abbys being so much larger than they really are! It certainly was an eye opener for me when AmberLee and I attended a cat show in pleasanton, CA recently. Since I had only ever seen pics of abbys, I just assumed they were larger cats, but when I saw them in person I was amazed at how small and looooong they were! Such beautiful cats!!! But, I guess a lot of cats seem small to me since all I see are my 2 15 pounders on a daily basis!! LOL LOL

**NoahsMommy** · 02-17-2002, 01:47 PM

Yes, they sure are getting big!! I was looking at Noel last night and saw how big she is getting! She is soooo long! She doesn't have any vet visits left, so I'm not sure how muh she weighs now.

Noah is still growing too! He's now bigger than the neighbors dauchaund!

**NoahsMommy** · 02-17-2002, 01:48 PM

Wayne,

I saw the Abyssinian's at the cat show I went to in January. They are gorgeous!!! I bet Jumper is a doll!!

**wayne0214** · 02-17-2002, 08:17 PM

noah's mommy; "A doll" he certainly is. Jumper's coat is all black , until you get him in bright light, the he appears to be a very dark chocolate-colored, all-brown cat - which is near the proper color for an Abyssinian. I'm beginning to think he has more Abyssinian "blood" than was originally thought. One other interesting item about Jumper is that he seldom looks up with those green eyes of his. When he walks around, especially coming to me, he appears to be looking down most of the time. Is this trait common to Abys, or is this something peculiar to him?

wolflady, if you have 2, 15lb cats, I can imagine that you have your hands full, (no pun intended). I have one outside male all-black cat named "Shadow", he weighs close to 15 lbs also, and I know how much of an arm-full he can be.

...........wayne

**NoahsMommy** · 02-17-2002, 09:57 PM

Hmmm....interesting question....lets see what Cat Fancy says....

The Abyssinian is a colorful cat with a distinctly ticked coat, medium in size and regal in appearance. The Abyssinian is lithe, hard and muscular, showing eager activity and a lively interest in all surroundings. The Abyssinian comes in several colors. Ruddy, red, blue and fawn are the most widely accepted colors; the American Cat Association also recognizes lilac and cream. The Aby's eyes are gold or green.

Nope, nothing there about the adverted eyes...hmmm...I wonder where else we could look?

**yumyum6970** · 02-18-2002, 07:04 AM

My little Yum Yum, will be 10 months old the end of february and she is already 7lbs it just seems like yesturday she was 2 months old and could barely fit in the palm of your hand.

http://pepeirce.tripod.com/thekittycorner

**luvdemabys** · 02-18-2002, 03:08 PM

Wow, Wayne! I don't think Jumper's size comes from his Aby genes. Pip, who is about 5, weighs maybe that much...but nothing like the length, He Just FAT! The other two are very diminutive. Wynki is the 2d Aby we have had the privilege of serving who is slightly cross-eyed, the vet says Abys often are...it causes her to cock her head slightly in the most flirtatious way...maybe that's what's going on in your house.

**wayne0214** · 02-18-2002, 03:32 PM

wolflady, yes, on the size of Abys'. In practically every picture I have seen of them, they appear to be larger than they are. It is like Noah'smommy posted from the CFA, that Abys are medium size. I suppose that Jumper will not top the scales over 10 lbs. when fully matured

Luvdemabys, I just now caught your post. Never having seen a thoroughbred Abyssinian, I actually do not know how large a cat they are expected to be. I know that Jumper is built differently that any of my other cats, with a longer spine and tail, larger ears , with a much thinner body than Snow Cat's, except for his torbie- mommy , Aby Queen. (she is primarily an outdoor cat), he otherwise has all of the aby-type personality traits, except for his coat color -black.

Noah'smommy, I suppose that because Jumper's eyes are paritally covered by a fold of fur on the TOP of his eyelids (eyebrows), this gives the appearance of him looking down whenever he walks around, although I'm sure he is looking straight ahead. It is just that I don't recall him looking UP at me, not like the others. I'll be more watchful in that respect, however. It is about time for for my cat's afternoon feeding, so I'll watch his eye contact today.

............wayne

**wayne0214** · 02-18-2002, 04:29 PM

OK, I just got through feeding my furkids. What is different about Jumper's upward look is that he seldom looks directly at me. I picked him up and looked at his eyes, and they are normal for a cat, that is, not crossed. The body length of Jumper is measured from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, and luvdemabys, you say that is too large for a true-bred abyssinian? But, I do not doubt what you say. The one kitten with the most expression of any of my furkid's eyes is in Snow Tiger's gaze. But until I get some way of placing pictures of my family on the internet, all I can do is explain as best I can about Jumper's pecularities -knowing that he is not a pure-bred.

........wayne

**NoahsMommy** · 02-18-2002, 06:21 PM

Wayne,

Do you know any other breed in Jumper? Maybe that would help with the eye thing? You said he looks into your eyes when you pick him up? So its not a emotional thing, like him being afraid of people.

If you would like to, you can send pics to me and I can scan and put them on the internet. Just let me know.

**wayne0214** · 02-18-2002, 07:33 PM

noah'smommy, As far as another breed in Jumper, all I know of that could have mated with Aby-Queen (his mom) is perhaps one of a black DSH. Actually Jumper and Snow Cat are littermates! I can think of no two different cats to come from one litter in color and breed. It is possible, I suppose that she clould have mated with more than one male. But it is like luvdemabys said, that his size is even now too large to be a near pure bred aby. When Jumper does look at me, he reminds me of the little "cool bear" logo on one of the kid's cereal boxes (sugar puffies?) .

Thanks for the offer of scanning pictures of my furkids, I might just take you up on that . But first I'd like to purchase a digital camera, and take pictures of most of my furkids, if that would be OK with you. I would also like to use some of them as a signiture on this site.

As a matter of interest, I believe jumper knows what I am thinking before I do anything. Two points just this afternoon; (1) I was looking for him earlier as he had gone outside for a few minutes. Guess where I found him? In the same place under the fence separating our neighbor's properties. He was the only cat out there. He knew that I'd be looking for him there as I have found him in that same place before. But what makes it nice about him, all I have to do is call, and here he comes. (2), I was just reading about Abyssinians on the CFA web site, thinking about Jumper, and guesswho walks in? For a 3rd item, yesterday (and I posted this somewhere yesterday) he jumped off the shelf above the computer and knew which side of the mouse to click to turn my computer back on after it had gone to sleep! He does things like this continually, in a way it is like having a personal-knowledgeable shadow!

**NoahsMommy** · 02-20-2002, 02:50 PM

How cute!!! I agree with you Wayne, they tend to know what we are thinking, huh?

Noah also comes to his name, well not his name, but to Kittenn, in a high pitched voice. Too funny!

**tuxluvr** · 02-23-2002, 09:21 AM

They do grow quickly! I remember bringing Ritz home and being able to hold her in one hand, and she could curl up on my shoulder....at 15 pounds...well, tis a good workout to pick her up and carry her around these days!

Former User · 02-23-2002, 01:11 PM

Just the other day I realised that Casper and Kitty both have grown a bit in the past few weeks, Casper is longer now and Kitty just has put on a bit of weight, and looks more adult now, although she's smaller than Casper and much more fragile. Casper must be around 4 kg's now and Kitty 2,8 kg's, or close.