Magrathea

When you look at an Abyssinian cat, you probably imagine pyramids, ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, and cat cults. You can even have the urge to kneel before the majesty of this animal. If you do it, you can be sure that it jumps on your back and lovingly licks your ears. And your hair (or your head). And whatever.

 

These cats are very playful and have their special, kind sense of humor. Living with them is never boring – they cheer you up if you are sad and never leave you. They play hide-and-seek with you, they bring you what they catch, they sleep with you, they accompany you everywhere – simply, they are the best companions you can have. They are also very empathetic – they can quickly understand what you REALLY do not want them to do and they obey, more or less (or they don't get caught in the act at least).

 

It is widely known that they are sometimes stubborn. Because “sometimes” is very, very wide term, I would like to try to explain the Abyssinian way of “sometimes” in one example: My Wolverine is the kindnest cat I ever had – he does not jump on kitchen unit, he scratches only on his scrapper and in 95% he plays only with cat toys. But he loves potato chips – every time I open a bag, he teleports himself near it (it is too quick to call it a normal moving) and sticks his head in the bag before I can close it. He does it even if he knows very well that he cannot do it. He simply cannot help – it is stronger than him. But this happens maybe one time in a week or so (depending how often I eat potato chips). The other cats in my home are similar – they mostly obey but there are situations when something “is stronger than them”. But such situations do not happen everyday so you definitely do not need to be afraid that “sometimes stubborn” means that you will have to fight with your cat 100 times a day.

 

For their active and social nature, they need to have a broad variety of toys at their disposal – scrappers, shelves, tunnels etc. It they have enough items to keep them occupied, they quickly understand that their scrapper is better than your new armchairs and that running in a cat wheel is more entertaining than stomping like a herd of elephants at 3:00 a.m. (If you think that a cat runs only smoothly and quietly, your cat is probably made of plush.)

 

In view of all the above, It is very cruel to leave these cats alone. They need friends (preferably another Abyssinian or another more active breed – they could get on their nerves with a „lazier“ cat). Otherwise, they can get sad and frustrated.