Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi!
    
    Congratulations on your latest addition.  I spoke to you on the phone	
    once, I have an Aby also.  I work here in the Springs and would be 
    happy to cat-sit any time.  I heard you are thinking about showing her.
    Sounds fun, please let me know of any nearby shows, I would like to see
    her!
    
    Paula, Angel and Kitty
    

    re: "am I crazy or what" - Heck no!!  Its not crazy to want to
    surround yourself with that which makes you happy!  Besides,
    wait until you hear about some of the rest of us....  Our current
    cat count is 4.5 (.5=stray named Jesse James) and we're one of
    the smaller households.  ;-)
    
    Welcome to Feline.
      Nancy DC and the Furry Foursome

    Hi Kerry
    
    I just added an Ruddy Abyssinian to my home too (male).  Check out
    note 2465.  Lots of people responding about their abys.  He is
    beautiful.  We named him Zula.  Extremely affectionate.
    
    Enjoy!
    
    Pam

    Hi Kerry, maybe Khelsey would like to meet my male (altered) Ragdoll
    cat, KELSEY!
    
    Nice name :^)
    
    Welcome to Feline!!  I look forward to hearing more stories about
    Khelsey.  Aby's are beautiful cats!!
    
    
    --Roberta
    

re .3

Wow!  I just read note 2465 - Thanks! 

(I guess I did my search wrong when I looked for this topic before - 
oh well, I'm a new noter...).  

Anyway, it's great to hear about other happy Aby owners.  I'm still just 
getting to know  Khelsey so I don't have too much to share right now, 
but I'll keep in touch.  So far, so good tho.  She's becoming a lot more
relaxed around us now.  You can tell that her first three months were in
a catery.  She never had full run of a house before and wasn't 
used to people walking around either.  But she's getting accoustomed to
things.  I'm sure in no time at all she'll be darting around the place at 
full speed!

We haven't decided whether to show/breed her yet.  Diane (the breeder/judge
we got her from) said she'd sell us her papers if we do decide to (for an 
extra $200!) and she thinks Khelsey would do well.  I don't know yet but 
with two kids, maybe we should just keep Khelsey as a pet and get another 
one to show later when the kids are older.  We'll see...

Kerry  

re .4

Hi Roberta!

Very nice name - male or female!  (But what's a *ragdoll*?)  

My Khelsey was going to be named Chelsey (like Chelsea but spelled
funny).  But since we were up in the air about whether we would show
her, the breeder asked us if we wouldn't mind changing her name
to Khelsey (pronounced Kelsey) since the other cat's names in her line
all started with a *Kh* too.  (Her dad's name is Khadi.)  Anyway, I
thought it was a great idea since Kelsey was my second choice after
Chelsey.  This is really important stuff, don't you think, like naming
your kids.  (Actually my son, Brandon, was going to be named Chelsey
or Kelsey first if he had been a she...).  And since we're through having
kids (only new kittys for us), I just had to use the name somewhere!

Kerry

    Hello again.
    
    A Ragdoll is a stupid name for a breed of cat that is large,
    longhaired, and has the colorings of a Siamese (dark face, ears,
    legs, feet, tail).  I wanted a cutsey type name when I bought him
    and a few months prior to that, was flipping through a book called,
    "What to name the baby" and came across Kelsey in the boy's names
    section.  At that time, I already had two cats named Chauncey and
    Nikki and decided that Kelsey, with the long "e" sound, would fit
    in quite nicely.  I love the name Kelsey and it really does fit
    him.  Now we have Kelsey's five month old brother Kirby, and another
    cat named Tabby Kitty (T.K. or Tiki) for short.  The next cat (I
    don't know when to stop adding more cats -- my husband makes that
    rule) will also have to be named with a long "e" sound to keep with
    the tradition.  I like the name Chelsea too.
    
    Yup, very important stuff, like naming a baby of the human variety!!
    I also like your spelling of Khelsey.  Very elegant!  She sounds
    like a wonderful new addition to your family.
    
    
    --Roberta
    

    Good quickie description, but you forgot to mention that
    they also come pointed with white feet, bi-color, or solid.
    
    Actually, there is quite a bit of info about Ragdolls in this file.
    Do a dir/keyword=ragdoll, and you should find lots of information.
                                                  
    Congrats on the new addition to the family.
    
    Jo (whose babies are all of the four legged variety)
    

Kerry, 

Welcome to the wonderful world of cats!!  We presently have 2 Ruddy Abys (both 
female) and 1 Blue Aby (male) and I can assure you that you have a beautiful,
loving cat on your hands.  The other day, I found a description that said 
Abys were more aloof and less affectionate than other breeds of cats. I 
nearly laughed outloud.  Gandalf (our Blue male) evidently didn't get the 
message in time to be stand-offish; he's generally too busy jumping on us
and rubbing our faces to be aloof.  And although Sage is not as affectionate
as Gandalf, she's constantly busy and provides hours of fun.

Enjoy your baby!

Jill

    I think that the books think of Abys as standoffish, or less than
    affectionate because of their activity level.  I have lived with
    Abys, and I found that they are affectionate when they are in the
    mood, but they are easily distracted by any slight movement across
    the room, or other cat, or a toy, etc., and will run off after that 
    rather than hang out and love on you for hours.  I have found them
    to be very affectionate, but not exactly lap cats.
    
    Harla used to love to groom my hair, any other Abys enjoy hair
    grooming?
    
    Jo

Jo,

Gandalf must be "in the mood" frequently! :-)  I would agree with you, though,
that Sage and Basrah tend to give affection more on their terms.  And while 
Gandalf definitely is not a lap cat, he can keep up the rubbing and drooling
for lllloooonnnnggg periods of time, if you know what I mean.

Jill

    re: .5 and showing - Unlike dog shows, Cat shows have classes for
    both Household pets and altered Purebreds.  Roberta shows her
    ragdolls, i show my scottish fold and other folks show their
    altered purebreds.  Its great fun and you don't have to get involved
    with breeding or dealing with heats or spraying.
      So you don't have to make a choice between showing and neutering.
    You can have it all!!!  
    
      BTW there's a show in Salem NH this weekend. See note 1093 for
    the directions.  I don't remember the exact reply, but its one of
    the last ones.
      Hope to see you there.
        Nancy DC
    
    p.s. Be on the lookout for "feliner" badges at the show.  They are
    a cat outline with the letters CAT with cats in them on a light
    blue background.  That way you can identify your fellow feliners!
    

re. 12

Do I need to have Khelsey registered to show her?  I thought I did.
The real questions is whether we want to spend the additional $200
to buy her papers.  That's $500 total!!  We figured if we went to all
the additional expense of buying papers in order to register her, in
order to show her, we may as well breed her also and get some of our
money back (and have some fun with the little kitties)..  
Maybe I misunderstood.  I knew there were different classes, but 
what about this extra money the breeder is asking for?
Can someone set me straight?

As far as the show in NH, I'd love to but it's a loooonnnnngggg drive.
I live in Colorado Springs.  There's a show here on the weekend of
October 28-29th that Paula (reply .1) and I are going to.  It'll be
my first cat show so I'm pretty excited about checking it out.  But
have fun and good luck...

    Yes, Kerry, you do have to register Khelsey in order to show her.
    I don't agree with the fact that the breeder wants an additional
    $200 so you can obtain her papers!  Even pet quality kittens have
    papers which the buyer receives upon written confirmation to the
    breeder that the cat has been altered.  I am not a breeder and
    therefore do not know what practices are customary; however, this
    just doesn't sound right to me at all.  If Khelsey is show quality
    then you should have been charged a show price for her.  The fact
    that you paid a pet price and now that you plan to show her warrants
    an extra $200 payment is pretty devious.  A woman I met at a recent
    show bought a cat and the breeder requested an additional sum of
    money in the contract should the cat attain a grand championship
    title... not the same situation but still along the same lines.
    Not fair or right in my book.
    
    The above reflects my opinion only as I have little knowledge on
    contracts and common breeding practices.  Perhaps someone else can
    shed some more light.
    
    As far as breeding Khelsey is concerned, there are a lot of notes
    on this subject and I'm afraid not many of them are written in your
    favor.  If you would like Khelsey to have a litter, my advice is
    to work closey with her breeder who can help you choose the right
    mate, etc.  Keep in mind that even one litter of kittens can be
    expensive as unforseen things could happen that a novice is totally
    unprepared for.  The money you spend should something go wrong could
    end up being more than what you get back once the kittens are sold.
    
    Just some thoughts.
    
    -Roberta
    

    In CFA, you can show Khelsey in the kitten class without her being
    registered.  Once she turns 8 months, she must have a registration
    number or she can not even enter a show.  The draw back to showing
    a kitten without her reg. number is if she does well.  If she does
    really well, her points will not be counted toward regional and
    national awards.  
    
    Every breeder has different ways of doing things.  The way I see
    it, the breeder had an exceptional kitten available, but you were
    only looking for a pet.  So, since you only wanted a pet, but liked
    that kitten, she did the only fair thing, charged you what a pet
    would cost.  Now, the thing to remember is that the kitten is
    exceptional, she is show quality.  If you decide to show her now,
    you would be taking advantage of the breeder by not buying her papers
    for the extra $200.  The kitten's worth to the breeder is $500,
    but she only charged you what the kitten's worth was to you, a pet
    price of $300.  It is not easy to produce show kittens, they don't
    come along very often.  If the kitten is show quality, and you decide
    to show her, I think it fair that you pay the extra money.  If you
    decided not to breed her, and spay her, maybe she would split the
    difference with you on the fee for papers so that you could show
    her in premiership.
    
    Breeding your cat to recoup your loss is not a good idea.  What
    will end up happening to the kittens that you produce?  Also, more
    than likely, the cost of health care for your pregnant cat, and
    her kittens will run you much more than the $200.  I would think
    long and hard before breeding her for the reason that you talked
    about.
    
    I very often will sell a show quality kitten with a grand clause.
    The grand clause is that if the kitten grows up and grands, the
    buyer owes me and additional fee.  I think this is a good idea.
    It protects the buyer from laying out a huge sum of money when a
    kitten is only 4 months old, then having that kitten not live up
    to it's potential.  Lots of kittens sold as show prospects can not
    turn out as well as we wish.  By using a grand clause, I can sell
    the kitten for a lower price originally, then if the kitten grands,
    the buyer can pay me the difference between the cost of their kitten,
    and the cost of a top show kitten.  That way, if the kitten doesn't
    grand, there isn't a huge investment that is lost.  My grand clause
    is not exhorbitant, only $200.00.  I have used this system with
    several buyers, and have had no complaints.  They are more than
    willing to pay less up front, them pay an additional fee if the
    cat grands.
    
    I sold a kitten to a fellow Deccie with a contract like the one
    that Kerry describes with her breeder.  Steffi has had no problems
    with the set up, and it has worked well for me too.  Steffi's cat
    was a breeding cat that I was going to keep, but Steffi fell in
    love with her and wanted her as a pet.  Our agreement is that Lizette
    lives with Steffi, but is registered in my name.  That way, when
    we bred her, the litter was under my cattery name (she doesn't have
    a cattery name, and didn't want one).  I got a kitten back from
    the litter, and Steffi kept one.  I sold the rest of them for her,
    Linda Sobek has one of them.  It worked very well for both of us.
    Steffi got to have Lizette, and Misha, and was reimbursed for the
    expense of raising a litter, and I got a kitten back out of the
    female that I was originally intending to keep.  Our agreement states
    that now Steffi has several options.  She can spay Lizette and get
    her papers for no fee.  Or, she can buy the papers for a small
    additional fee and register a cattery, or she can leave Lizette
    whole and we can breed her again in a year, and handle it the same
    way.  It is totally up to her.
    
    So, the point is, that different breeders have different ways of
    doing things.  Nothing is forced on anyone.  We all have choices.
    If you don't like the system that a breeder is using, then either
    don't buy a kitten from them, or see if you can negotiate the contract
    with them.
    
    Jo

    There is a definite advantage to the breeder if the new owner shows
    the cat, even in the alter classes.  I am amazed at how many people
    ask me if I have kittens available when they see Dundee.  I have
    given out Tony's number to many people.  Of course, I have no idea
    of how many actually follow up with a phone number, but It seems
    to me that the publicity must be good for Tony.  Free Advertising!
    
    BTW- I saw little Magic this weekend up in Salem.  WHAT A BEAUTIFUL
    BABY!!!!!!!  Boy Jo, you make good kittens  :-)
      Nancy DC
    

    Thank you Nancy,  I am anxiously awaiting hearing from Linda about
    how the show went. 
    
    Jo

Hi Everyone!

Well, we've had Khelsey three weeks now (has it only been three weeks!) 
and she is doing great!  My 3 year old daughter, Ashley, and her get along
so well!  They are best friends already.  It's works out great for me to
since now Ashley isn't always tugging at me for attention at night.  She's
down in her basement playroom "playing with my kitty"!  They chase each
other all over the place.  Ashley's favorite game is to bounce those small
rubber super-balls and watch Khelsey go nuts trying to get them.  It's 
so much fun to watch the two of them together!  Khelsey hasn't noticed the
baby too much but he has sure checked her out.  His eyes will follow her
around the room and he'll watch Ashley and Khelsey playing together and I
know he's thinking that he wishes he could get up and play too.

The only problem we had so far was that Khelsey went up my brand new drapes
in our living room!!  I almost died!!  I had Brandon in my arms so I couldn't
do anything but yell at her.  Brandon started crying and Khelsey went flying!
She hasn't done it since but it really worries me that she'll try it again.
I'm keeping her claws trimmed down as much as possible now so hopefully that
will prevent too much damage if it happens again.

We've also decided to keep Khelsey as a pet cat.  With two kids and my 
husband's work schedule, anything else would just be too much.  Maybe some
other time with a future cat.  Who knows...

We really love Khelsey.  She's a real pleasure to have around.

Kerry

    Little Bit (the new cat at my house) has climbed the
    living room drapes a few times with no noticeable damage to
    the drapes, amazingly enough.  If the threads in your drapes get
    pulled "out of the horizontal or vertical" if you can picture
    what I mean, gently pulling the fabric will probably straighten  them
    out.  If little thread loops get pulled out of the surface, trimming
    them off with a scizzors flush with the fabric will probably
    make them unnoticeable.
    
    I forget how big Khelsey is, but I heard a horrible story somewhere
    (perhaps in this notes file) about a tiny kitten being strangled in 
    open weave drapes.  Beware.
    

    Kerry, I'm so glad to hear that Khelsey is doing so well!  She sounds
    like such a wonderfully, neat cat and it's great that you have decided
    to keep her as a pet.  Many times I have tossed around the idea
    of purchasing a breeding quality kitty; however, like, you, I just
    don't know where I would find the time to devote to a cattery. 
    It is really difficult to work full time, keep house, cook meals,
    do laundry... whew!  I'm getting tired just thinking about it!!
    
    Looking forward to hearing more stories about Khelsey!
    
    
    -Roberta (and the other Kelsey)!!
    

    Kimi (abyssinian) and Sura (burmese) were both drape-climbers in
    their youth - hideously expensive red velvet drapes, at that! They
    grew out of it, and didn't damage the drapes at all, amazingly enough.
    I noticed Sura preferred to climb up the linings - probably gave
    better "purchase" for his claws. They used to delight in running
    along the wodden rod at the top, having wrestling matches up there...
    aren't kittens fun?? (:-
    
    Shayne (New Zealand)