Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Petfinder Post: Abyssinian Cats and

This week's photo contest was suggested by the news that Petfinder actually has enough adoptable Abyssinian cats to make a photo contest possible. Abyssinians are still a bit of a fancy breed, the ones with pedigrees are absurdly expensive, but these big-eared, very pointy-headed, distinctively brindled cats are becoming more common in the US. 

This is not necessarily good. Purebred Abyssinian cats can carry nasty genes for blindness and anemia. If you adopt one from a shelter, however, you only need to consider whether this individual cat shows genetic medical problems since part of the contract is almost always that the cat won't be reproducing whatever genetic flaws it may carry. 

As a breed Abyssinians are described as friendly and sociable, wanting to be where their humans are, but likely to prefer a good fast game to a cuddle. The name indicates their origins in Ethiopia. They were thought to look "exotic" and "wild." 

Zilpha Keatley Snyder once wrote a novel called The Witches of Worm, for young readers, about a girl who rears an orphan kitten despite often feeling that her "Aby" looks defective, ugly, or evil, and even projecting her own unwelcome thoughts onto it. While it's just a baby with its ears folded up and its coat color a blur of dirty gray, she names it "Worm." She concludes that it's a natural animal and takes responsibility for her own thoughts at the end, though. Good luck finding a copy of this book; it never was a super seller...but it was a pretty good teaching story about what was known, in the 1970s, about rearing orphan kittens.

These shelter cats are not purebred, pedigreed "Abys." Shelters do occasionally get those but there are waiting lists for pedigreed cats; they very seldom turn up on Petfinder. The cats on the Petfinder page for Abyssinians are either known to be crossbreeds despite not having the classic Abyssinian look, or thought to have the look even though their ancestry is unknown.

Zipcode 10101: Duchess from Ringwood, NJ 


Duchess was the mother cat sent to a shelter with, and possibly because of, her kittens. The kittens have been adopted; the mother cat is still looking for a good home. She is young, friendly, healthy, already spayed, and known to behave well with other cats.

Zipcode 20202: Angelica from Herndon 


The organization has harbored control freaks in the past and may have some still. Angelica is about a year old, still a frisky kitten who needs another kitten to play with, and (going by photo evidence) a bit overfed, possibly having been trained to snuggle with a few too many food treats. She does cuddle, they say, though she likes to play with other cats, or humans including school-age children, and she's "still making up her mind about" quiet, friendly dogs. 

Zipcode 30303: Kurama from Cartersville 


Her web page lists a cringe-inducing alternate name with no explanation of why it was hung on her. All they say is that she's had some veterinary care and is fit to be adopted. 

Now on the dog side...a dog breed that might be considered fancy, because pedigreed individuals can be overpriced, yet is well represented in shelters would be the American Staffordshire Terrier. Obviously related to the original English breed, these dogs' ancestors now have their own separate breed registry. They may trigger "pit bull" phobias: they are small short-haired terriers. The typical temperament associated with this breed is, however, friendly, loyal, and good with children. There are a lot of them because at one time they were among the most popular breed for family pets. They are absolutely not pit bulls. They are strong, determined, and not to be messed with, just the same. Terriers who live with good dog owners are generally good dogs.

Zipcode 10101: Finn from NYC 


Just a year-old puppy, Finn likes to play and snuggle. He's good with other dogs; he has no experience of cats or children. He seems cleverer than the average pup, liking puzzle toys but solving them quickly. He could benefit from discipline, affection, and training. He weighed 32 pounds when his web page was last updated and will probably weigh more, in healthy bone and muscle in another year.

Zipcode20202: Sister from Texas by way of DC 


For a terrier she's oversized, over 50 pounds even with that trim little waistline, and it didn't boost her stock with her original humans when she had a batch of puppies none of which survived. There will be no more puppies. If you like a relatively big, strong dog who has had some basic training and is known to be friendly and gentle, reserved but friendly with other dogs, and good with children, Sister might be the dog for you. Her price is high but includes transportation as well as her veterinary bill. 

Zipcode 30303: January from Atlanta 


She was brought to a shelter with eleven puppies, so the dog and puppies were named after the months of the year. The dog is still unadopted. She's described as incompletely trained, apt to pull on the leash when walking with a human, but very friendly. She has no experience with children.

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