Magrathea

When you look at an Abyssinian cat, you probably picture pyramids, ancient Egyptian pharaohs and cults devoted to cats. You may even feel the urge to kneel before this majestic animal. If you do, be prepared for it to jump on your back and lovingly lick your ears. Or your hair. And whatever.

 

These cats are very playful and have a unique sense of humour. Living with them is never boring – they cheer you up when you are feeling down and they are always there for you. They play hide-and-seek with you, bring you their catches, sleep with you and accompany you everywhere. Simply put, they are the best companions you could wish for. They are also very empathetic and can quickly understand what you really do not want them to do. They will either obey or at least not get caught in the act.

 

It is well known that they can be stubborn at times. As "sometimes" is a very broad term, I would like to try to explain the Abyssinian interpretation of "sometimes" using one example: My Wolverine is the kindest cat I have ever had. He does not jump on the kitchen unit, he only scratches on his scratching post, and he plays with cat toys 95% of the time. However, he has a particular affinity for potato chips – every time I open a bag, he teleports himself near it (it is too quick to call it normal movement) and sticks his head in the bag before I can close it. He does this even when he knows he is not allowed to. He simply cannot help it – it is stronger than him. This happens maybe once a week or so, depending on how often I eat potato chips. The other cats in my home are similar – they mostly obey, but sometimes something is just too tempting. Such situations do not happen every day though, so you definitely do not need to worry that 'sometimes stubborn' means you will have to fight with your cat 100 times a day.

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Due to their active and social nature, these cats need a wide variety of toys – such as scratching posts, shelves and tunnels – at their disposal. If they have enough of these items, they will quickly learn that their scratching post is better than your new armchairs and that running in a cat wheel is more entertaining than stomping around like a herd of elephants at 3am. (If you think that cats only run smoothly and quietly, yours is probably made of plush.)

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Taking all of the above into account, it would be very cruel to leave these cats alone. They need friends, preferably another Abyssinian or a more active breed – they might get bored with a 'lazier' cat. Otherwise, they can become sad and frustrated.