salience
February 23, 2012
Saturday cannot come soon enough! Not only is it a race day (race #4 of the year so far, a four miler in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, more info here), but it is also the day that Ryan and I get to pick up our 12 week old Abyssinian kitten!
The Saturday after Sphinx passed, Ryan arranged for us to go meet a cage free Abyssinian breeder upstate, called High Gait Cattery. They just so happened to have two litters of Aby kittens who would be ready to leave their mamas at the end of this month, and all colors too! Ruddy, blue and cinnamon! I of course wanted another ruddy, but we decided to head up there and see what they had available. I was incredibly nervous, I had no idea what to expect. And I also wasn't really ready to see little baby versions of my deceased gato Sphinx.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Mindy and Dave, the owners, run a farm and a cattery, they're both retired. Not only do they raise Abys, but they also breed show horses, as well as help out with a neighboring apple orchard. We stayed with them in their home for two hours. Come to find out, they source all of the other Aby breeders in the tri-state area, even as far as Russia and Norway! Apparently the Aby community is a small one! Ryan listed off the other breeders he had contacted and Mindy confirmed they sourced all of them. Go figure! At the end of the an hour of kitten time, we had one selected. A tiny, ruddy male who seemed timid at first, but eventually began to hold his own. We also met both mamas, beautiful cats in their own right. But then we spent the next hour, my favorite of the two, getting to know our kitten's daddy.
[Aside: Both parents were CFA show cats, which means our kitten can be registered with the CFA as well, if we'd like. (I'm 99% sure Ry will want to do this.)]
Mindy and Dave insisted that we spend time with our kitten's father, because he would give us the best indicator of the cat we would ultimately end up with. He is just shy of two years old and as affectionate as could be. High Gait has a series of what they call "catios", which are open air and enclosed sunrooms and decks around their house from various windows.
[Second aside: only the two daddys are kept in massive cages to keep them away from the mama Abys. The kittens and mamas have free range of the house to do as they please. Each room seemed to be a series of cat towers and toy set ups - a paradise for any feline. Mindy and Dave pride themselves on never leaving the room without picking up a cat or returning to a room with the same cat. It was really cool to watch. All of their Abys are very social and love companionship.]
[Second aside: only the two daddys are kept in massive cages to keep them away from the mama Abys. The kittens and mamas have free range of the house to do as they please. Each room seemed to be a series of cat towers and toy set ups - a paradise for any feline. Mindy and Dave pride themselves on never leaving the room without picking up a cat or returning to a room with the same cat. It was really cool to watch. All of their Abys are very social and love companionship.]
Our kitten's dad had his own massive cage, the height of the very room we were in, complete with his own catio. Mindy let him out and he immediately lept a clear five feet in the air, up to the very top of his cat tree so he could smell us. No sooner had our eyes met than the head butting and purring started (the head butt especially was a favorite of mine that Sphinx used to do). Five minutes later he was so happy he was drooling, his nose all wet. I picked him up and he instantly hugged me, just like Sphinx used to do. Ry looked at me and could tell I was very near tears, seeing the habits I loved so much in my Sphinx existing elsewhere in the breed. He distracted Dave and Mindy long enough for me to play with this young, joyful Aby, familiar affection from a cat I dearly needed after sobbing all week. I didn't want to leave him, he was just so happy. And it was so lonely at home without my cat there. Or any cat for that matter.
Nevertheless, we did leave with a promise to return to pick up our kitten this Saturday, at which point Mindy and Dave insisted we'd be "a part of the family". They are truly great people, and I am so thankful to Ry for finding them.
Ryan has named our kitten Decimus Aurelius Sphinx, or Deci for short. Here is a picture Mindy sent us a couple of days ago, just shy of 12 weeks:
lasaliente, 23:24
