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Leeside Abys still have gently contoured heads and profiles. Our ruddies look like ruddies. Even black ticking and black or dark chocolate paw pads with black hair between the pads insures they are never mistaken for reds.
 

The Abyssinian is a medium sized cat with a distinctly ticked coat. The color and ticking develop gradually over time, and kitten tabby marks on the legs and neck may blend in as color deepens. The intermediate build should be svelte and muscular. The wedge shaped head has slightly rounded contours, large ears, and large almond shaped eyes. Ideally, the coat should be thick and resilient. Adult females average 6 - 8 lbs., and males 7-9 lbs. The current commonly recognized colors in North America are ruddy, red (also known as sorrel), blue and fawn. TICA has also recognized the various silver colors, and most recently, chocolate and lilac Abys. The Abyssinian requires little grooming because of its short coat, but many will enjoy being groomed daily with a flea comb. Their nails should be trimmed twice a month. Their large ears require regular cleaning with a dry q-tip to remove waxy build-up. The Aby personality is not for everybody, but devotees find them intelligent, affectionate, and loyal. Mischievous and curious, they often follow their owners around from room to room. Because of these traits they are difficult to keep off of counters, coffee tables etc.; they want to be in the thick of everything. They are also a very active cat with a high energy level, and not suitable for small spaces. Most Abys have dog-like traits including a fondness for water, and a capacity for being leash trained. Of the shorthaired breeds, Abys have one of the softest voices.

Leeside Cattery has been involved with breeding Abys since 1989, and has been part of the cat fancy since the sixties. The cats are all kept in conditions as close to a normal home environment as possible so that they are well-socialized and out-going. Cats are limited to 6 or less adults at a time, and adults cats are placed as pets after we have produced what we need out of them. Breeding cats are selected for health and temperament, as well as their ability to meet the show standard. All incoming cats are tested for feline leukemia and feline immunodefiency virus, and quarantined for at least a month before being introduced to the resident cats. We do not use cats with luxating patellas for breeding and avoid cats with renal amyloidsis within 3 generations in their pedigrees. Kittens are sold at a minimum age of ten weeks, and after they have had at least two sets of vaccinations and a check up by our veterinarian. Female kittens are often older at the time of the sale because extra time is needed to assess their potential for the breeding program.

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As of December 2003, I am no longer breeding Abys. For more info on this, please scroll down to "New Beginnings" in the Announcement section of this Home Page. The website will continue to be updated.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

____________________________________________________________ In Memoriam Ch Leeside Tamino ( The Tommorow-Tamer  x  Tempest-Tost ) March 13, 1994 to  mid-September, 2010 Tamino managed to dislocate his hip in September.  As he was already somewhat compromised with renal problems, the difficult decision to euthanize him was made.  Tamino, and another Aby from me, were taken on by Alex Kinnon in April 2009, after the unexpected death of their owner, M. Jackson, the month before.  I am grateful to Alex and her husband for making the last year and a half of Tamino's life secure, comfortable, and for loving him so much.  Tamino was 16 1/2 years old. ____________________________________________________________ Leeside Good Morning Miss  Dove April 18, 2001  to  September 23, 2010 This ruddy female, out of Scout and Love, was born at noon, and  surprised me by being an "only" kitten. Tiny Miss Dove went to live with Sharon and Walter Nussbaumer in Calgary. I remember visiting them, and watching Dove fly from the top of the open staircase, to the top of the entrance way closet, a horizontal jump of at least 6 feet.  She also spent a lot of time hanging over the top of the kitchen cabinets. Dove was bred once to my Australian import, McCoy, whom she used to control with just a look.  There were two surviving kittens out of three, and the Nussbaumers still have her son, Ziggy, from this litter. Regretfully, Dove died at only 9 1/2 years of age, after a short but puzzling illness.  At the end, and only after neurological signs appeared, the acute care cat clinic discovered that she in fact had a brain tumour. My heart goes out to Wally and Sharon, who were with her at the end. ____________________________________________________________

*********************************************************** HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!! Cat having a birthday?     We'd like to hear from you!!! Ch Leeside Forever Amber  AKA Astera (Rhett  x  Harmony) Astera turns 12 on February 13.  This spunky red female lives with Alex Kinnon, and Astera's half-sister, in Burnaby BC. Ch Leeside Love on the Run (Rhett   x  Harmony) My ruddy girl, Love, will also be 12, February 13.  She remains healthy and happy, but has gotten picky over which visitors she will come out and fawn over. Leeside Baby (Scout  x  Harmony) This ruddy turns 11 on February 10.  Baby is a loving, active girl, who lives with Alex Kinnon, her husband, and another Aby from me.  I hope that Baby has been of some comfort to Alex in her struggles and losses in recent years. Leeside Rupert (Scout   x  Harmony) Rupert, a ruddy boy, keeps Jessie Skinner company, in Vancouver, BC. He is 11 years old as of February 10.  I haven't heard that he has slowed down much yet. GC Leeside I Didn't Do It (Scout x Harmony) "Rudy" turned 10 on October 25, and has not slowed down one bit.  He lives with the Ammeters and an assortment of other animals, outside Winnipeg. Leeside Storm Warning (Jordan  x Tempest) Stormy is a blue male who lives with Diane and David Smith of VA, and a few other cats, including another Aby from me.  He turns 14 on October 26, 2010. Leeside Chiro (Bounder x Angel) This ruddy female turns 14 on October 6, 2010.  In both personality and type, she resembles her English sire more than my NA lines.  She lives with Shelley Pye and two other Abys from my breeding, in Surrey, BC. Leeside And the Angels Sing AKA Angel 2 (Bounder x Angel) Angel is a ruddy female who turns 14 on October 6, 2010.  She lives with Diane and David Smith in VA. Leeside Ishtar's Kiss (Bounder  x  Monkey) I missed Ishtar's birthday earlier this year.  This ruddy girl lives with Laurie Sheard in Burnaby, BC. She turned 12 on August 7, 2010. Nipper (Bounder x Tempest) At the beginning of July, I had a call from Darryl Sturm, of West Virginia. Darryl has a ruddy male from me, who just turned 13 on May 1. I had not heard from her in a couple of years, and since we last spoke, Darryl and Nipper are now spending half of the year in Florida, and half of the year in her home in West Virginia. This past winter was their first trip down, and I'm glad that Nipper didn't drive Darryl and her mom completely nuts on the 9 hour drive down there. Delilah (Scout x Harmony) Delilah is a ruddy female, born July 20 1999, who will be 11 years old.  She has moved around many times with her owners, Erica and Garth Snow, and now lives in New York.   In recent years she has had to learn to live with their three young sons, and share the attention. Carmel (Scout x Harmony) This red boy is owned by Shelley Pye of South Surrey.  He also turns 11 on July 20.  He lives with two other Abys from me, Chiro and Honour. Ch Leeside Stolen Harmony (Bounder x Angel) This ruddy female, who lives with me, turned 13 on May 31.  She has kept her figure, but is still a hefty cat like her dad.  Recently she has come up with some type of apparently airborne allergy, which I have not been able to figure out.  She sneezes, and occasionally has a dry cough.  Having asthma myself, I tend to avoid scented products in the house anyway.  To add to the problem, I have never found a vet I trust and feel comfortable with since my vets of 16 years, at Clearbrook Animal Hospital, sold their practice and disappeared on 2 weeks notice 2 years ago.  Leeside the Barefoot Contessa (Bounder x Angel) Tessa, another ruddy female, is Harmony's littermate, so she also turned 13 on May 31.  She is a much more petite cat, and was the only cat out of Bounder where he ever threw his ear tufts.  She lives with Lisa Kramer in Toronto. ____________________________________________________________

*********************************************************** FDA PET FOOD RECALLS The pet food recalls, and the lies told by Menu Foods, have affected many people and their pets. Even though Menu Foods only publicly admitted to problems, and started recalls of foods in late March 2007, we later found out that production lots going back to at least early December 2006 were known to be tainted with melamine. The CFO of Menu foods sold out half of his shares in the company a month before Menu Foods started recalls. In addition, having used MediCal Mature tinned food with Winnie, I did have contact with RCIF, who now owns the previously Canadian vet food company. According to RCIF, Menu Foods originally told them that none of the tainted wheat gluten went to Canada. They later admitted this was not true. (More on the RCIF website.) So if this was not true, what else was not true? How can you test foods when all of specific products lots are gone? Or when the pets have died months before? None of us will ever know the entire truth about this matter. I know vet clinics in the US were trying to track the increase in pet deaths from renal failure, especially cats, from the fall of 2006 on. Obviously, if an animal died suddenly and unexpectedly, before we knew what was happening, no tests would be run. For more info check out the USA FDA recall site, which stores info from the most recent backward. The FDA has news conference info, as well as the listed recall info. You can go to the Cornell University website and see their research about the melamine/cyanuric acid tainting of pet foods. Cornell also did the test feeding of some Menu products on cats. Cats were found to be more dramatically affected than dogs, because the PH level of their urine promoted rapid crystal formation. As of this writing, it is my understanding that animals may still have insoluble crystals on their kidneys because of foods that were fed. Individual animals may not have died because they were being fed a variety of dry and wet products, most of which were not affected. Some of my pet owners, both in the US and Canada, did use tainted/recalled foods. The Menu Food scandal is just one link in the chain. The degradation of pet foods in the last ten years has occurred as conglomerates have bought out smaller companies who have a strong consumer base. Because the formulae of products have changed as this has happened, I have removed all of my cat food recommendations from my website. One more thing. PLEASE do not feed the Iam's dry cat foods. P & G removed the taurine from it, with the exception of one hairball formula, about ten years ago. This is not a meat based food. You might as well feed the dry Fancy Feast. You are not getting the product you were getting ten years ago, and we will be back with the death of cats from cardiomyopathy, as we were in the late 80's again. Buy the product, not the hype. Shelley Hlady August 2007 NEW BEGINNINGS All of our breeding cats have now been altered so the animals we have now will be the last ones that we have for sale. We will not be recommending other Aby breeders for those who are still looking to buy them. We have enjoyed meeting many friends through our sale of pet Abys over the last 15 years, but it is time to move on to other ventures in our lives. Thank you for your support and feedback over the years and please continue to stay in touch. ANNOUNCEMENT: CAT OR DOG EXPECTING? I am now available to help new breeders or private pet-owners with the whelping of litters. The area I can service includes Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Langley, Surrey and White Rock in BC. Rates charged will depend on general circumstances, location, time of day etc. Call and discuss this with me. My veterinarian would be willing to give a reference to anyone considering using this service and references from long-time owners of cats from me are available too. Please check out my page on Cat Care Counselling for more info on other areas I may be able to help with. Producing healthy litters starts long before the actual birthing process and the more you know and can plan ahead the easier your pets whelping experience will be. If you have a cat from us, we'd love to hear from you and see recent photos of your cat. ____________________________________________________________

 

      

The International Cat Association: www.tica.org

Cat Fanciers' Association: www.cfainc.org