Friends on Friday: Honoring IKKYU

Ms. C: Last summer, I had the very great honor of meeting IKKYU, the beautiful Abyssinian of noble attitude and dignity; he owned my friend Ms. V who writes for Sen-Chan and Tom of The Poupounette. Today my thoughts are of him and with my friend, for a year ago today he passed over the rainbow bridge.

IKKYU had not been feeling well for some time, but being the lovely caring person that she is, his #1 Ms. V provided him with all he needed to be able to enjoy his last months. The day I first got to meet him, he was having a really good day. I'd been hearing all about IKKYU for years, and to finally have a chance to see him in person was really exciting! When I went home, I began a sketch which evolved into my first watercolor painting in several years, I think it really captures his spirit:

I warn you other kitties out there, some of the following pictures are probably going to make you drool!

One thing about IKKYU was that he was pretty much a one-person cat. There was no short-cut to winning his affection, he simply had to decide for himself how he felt about a person, and no amount of savory treats could really change his mind (although they would certainly be accepted). He let me scratch between his ears while he was enjoying the cheese I'd offered to him, and did not hiss. When I suggested to Ms. V that perhaps he did not hiss because his mouth was full of cheese, she laughed and said, "Oh, believe me, he'd hiss if he wanted to!" So it seems I was more acceptable than most! Here he is acquiring a piece of cheese:

He was WILD about ham! Ham, glorious ham! As you can see, he was very happy to accept a piece from me:

What a beautiful cat! He was an excellent model for me on the days that I saw him.

He allowed me to get very, very close to him, which was unusual for him.


You can learn more about IKKYU and what a super kitty he always was (and see more fun pictures!) over at The Poupounette today. I am so glad I was able to meet him before he took his final journey. I am sure somewhere he is waiting for the rest of us with a world of ham and cheese! We miss you, IKKYU.

Meet a friend: Sen-Chan

Today I’d like to introduce a friend of mine! His name is Sen-Chan, and he is a gorgeous pure-bred Sorrel Abyssinian. Born on July 9th of 2007, he is in charge of a human, Ms. V, and an English Springer Spaniel six weeks younger than himself named Tom. They live in harmony together in France. Ms. V describes her first encounter with Sen-Chan:
“When I first met him at the breeders, he was already coming down with cat flu, so he wasn't feeling great, but he immediately knew what he wanted. He climbed onto my lap, and up my arm and to my face so he could give me lots of cuddles. This propensity for dishing out love is still, months later, one of his most endearing characteristics. He uses his paws, his head, and of course his tongue, to show his affection. And it's not at all limited to me. Anyone who crosses his path is treated as a potential best friend, and that includes all dogs!”

And as you can see, Sen-Chan really loves and cares about his “brother” Tom, the Spaniel. They play and nap together:


Like all of us kitties, Sen-Chan loves to stalk, chase, and play with his toys. Here is one of my personal favorite pictures of him, playing with the late Mr. Bun:

Unfortunately, Tom has a bad habit of stealing Sen-Chan’s toys (including Mr. Bun!) and chewing them to death. I am sure he just wants to share in the fun, but doesn't he know you can’t play with something once you’ve eaten it!?

In spite of this toy-stealing, Sen-Chan and Tom are devoted to each other. Ms. V writes that Sen-Chan “tries his best to keep Tom tidy and grooms him vigorously although the task is almost impossible. The two love to chase one another and often sleep curled up together.” I sure wish I had a pal like that!

Sen-Chan does not have his own blog, but as you can see he is a very up-to-date cat, and we keep in contact with frequent correspondence about important subjects as you can see from his screen:


Sen-Chan is so energetic that Ms. V has to feed him about six meals a day! If he's like me, I bet he wouldn't mind more! You can see just from looking at his pictures what a sleek, muscular, beautiful boy he is!

Special thanks to Ms. V for sharing the pictures of Sen-Chan. I could look at them and hear the stories all day long about how he likes to "get out" and runs around with his tail like an antenna, causing Ms. V and Tom to chase him minute after minute! Oooh, I love the game of Chase too! He is truly a lucky cat.