I bred Abys in Japan for 7 years, ruddies and reds, but it was a long time ago. They are wonderful cats. We bought two males from well-known American catteries. One was 1 & 1/2, and the other was over 8 years old. Judging from our experience with them--though it may not be applicable to all Aby males--you may find your new cat very timid for even a month or so. Both of ours had been show cats and been used as studs. They had probably spent most of their lives in cages, and they did not seem used to being free in a house.

The younger one spent his first day under an armchair, and when I could get him out and confine him to a bedroom, he more or less lived under the bed for many days. The older one (bought a few years later) bit me 4 times out of nervousness in the first month. However, in the end, both settled down and made very loving pets. The one that bit me was especially affectionate, a real teddy bear, and I'm glad we were patient with him.

Just go slowly and follow his pace, and all should be fine.

A friend of mine has two. They are VERY active, even though they're about 7. These are not cats that sit on the couch staring out in space. They are very curious and very intelligent. However, I would advise you to get two cats. One Aby without a playmate is one very active Aby with no outlet. The playmate doesn't have to be an Aby, but should be an active cat or kitten.

thanks for the responses:

akchicago- i have an active Devon Rex currently and i'm hoping that those two will enjoy each other. Being an active breed was one of the reasons i was attracted to the breed - other than looks. My Persian is way too boring for me. But she's beautiful too in her own sweet way.

biwako - tell, me - are purebred cats pretty popular in an Asian culture like Japan? And how did you select that particular breed to work with?

vicky

My ex and I had a ruddy and a red, litter mates. They are very intelligent and I also urge a companion kitty for him. Also, my cats needed a lot of mental stimulation- they love new toys and become bored quickly with them, so we had to switch out their toys frequently. Our red male (still alive) is very food centric, so one good toy for him was a ball that we filled with kibbles- there were holes in the ball for the kibbles to occasionally fall out of, so he'd push it along and hoover up the treats. Both cats were extremely affectionate. The male is sweet with pretty much everybody, and the female was the owner of my ex partner, LOL! She had a very dominant personality and would sit next to her water bowl and "demand" fresh water for every drink. She would give a little nip to my ex's ankles if she didn't hustle quickly enough! One thing we were not prepared for was renal disease. We'd decided on Abys before we had internet access and our research was done by library books. Nothing in our research indicated that these kitties were susceptible to renal disease. Our little ruddy passed away last may at the age of fourteen. The vet said that she'd far surpassed the usual life span of an Aby. The male also has renal disease, but he's still chugging along fine. I don't have any pics of them on my computer, unfortunately.

I have a Somali which is a long hair Aby, they are fun and great to be with.