RPCA folks first met Abelard July 10, 2003 with my first post to the group.
At that time he was already a year old and I've never posted about how he
came to live with me in the first place. So here is that story.

It started with a lawnmower. I needed one, but I hate the kind that make
noise and stink of exhaust fumes and are very expensive. When I was a child
my father used the kind of mower that has blades that rotate when you push
it around. That's the kind of mower I wanted to get, and used ones that
still work are scarce.

I ran an ad in the local classifieds and got a response from someone who had
one they would sell me for $20. It was affordable enough that I was willing
to drive the 50 miles to get it.

The place was hidden behind many big shrubs and trees, but I found it and
was greeted by the owners. I commented on how difficult it had been to see
their house from the road and they said that was deliberate, they wanted it
to be very hard for the PETA people to find them, because apparently PETA
folks have been giving Missouri pet breeders a hard time.

Of course when I heard this I just *had* to see the cattery. They had two
buildings full cages with Abyssinians, Maine Coons, and Burmese. We went
around to every cage and the lady introduced each of the cats. Many had
litters with them.

It was like a visit to heaven and hell all rolled into one. I loved meeting
the cats and kittens but hated that they were cooped up. At least they were
clean, well-fed and reasonably healthy, they all had names and were familiar
with the operator who could handle them easily. They loved being held and
petted when she took them out. I had her take most of them out of the cages
for me.

This was my first exposure to Abyssinians. I thought they were cute but was
not particularly impressed. The breeder said they grow on you as you spend
time with them and are very intelligent cats.

I told her that I had lost two precious Maine Coons a while back and would
really love to have another someday, but no way could I afford to buy one.
She said she would put my name on a list for a free one, since of course
they all had to eventually retire from breeding, and occasionally they would
get a kitten with some defect that prevented it being sold.

I left her with my phone number and went home with my lawnmower. About two
weeks later I got a call from the breeder saying she had a kitten for me! I
was *so* excited... then she said it was a male Abyssinian with a bad eye,
and even though I had wanted a Maine Coon I agreed to take the Aby.

We met up the next day in the post office parking lot. The moment I saw
little Abelard I fell in love. She showed me how to take care of his eye and
gave me a copy of his medical records and his parents' lineage. When I took
him into my car and he saw the breeder driving off without him, he started
crying as she drove away.

I'm sure he felt abandoned, having spent his entire short life in a small
cage in a small room and had only known one other hoomin until that day. He
was barely seven weeks old, so tiny and so terrified that my heart just
melted!

When we got home I put Abelard into a pet taxi so he would feel more "at
home" and so the other cats could meet him without threatening him. He did
not seem to like being alone in that box, so I took him out and held him and
let the other cats sniff him.

Baby Eyes immediately wanted to take over being his mother, and Tommy and
Eli who were adolescent kittens themselves just wanted to bat him around.
This was all too much for the poor frightened baby Abelard, so he ran and
hid, and we barely saw him for the first week or so. When he did make an
appearance he clung to me for dear life.

I had never seen such a 'fraidy cat in my life! His behaviour was so
un-kitten-like that I started to worry that he would never adjust to life
outside of a cage. Of course he eventually lightened up and started enjoying
his new home, new friends and the big wide world.

I'm sorry I never took any pictures of Abelard when he was a tiny kitten,
the first ones I got when he was about 6-7 months old. When he was neutered
the vet also did some snipping of the tissues in his eye so at least it
would look more normal. Up to that point it had been almost completely
covered by the white "third eyelid", with just a tiny opening in the center.
After the surgery it was fully open but still looked odd. At that time I
believed he could see with the bad eye, but I am not sure he ever could.