Frankie: The First Three Years – Part One

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Our cat Frankie has now been with us three years already. Time sure does fly. (To see my first post about him, read here). I thought we adopted him late in February but it was actually February 8, and I missed it. So even though I’m a little late, I thought I would show a few highlights from Frankie’s first three years.

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After visiting at least two other shelters, we fond Frankie at a PetSmart in Clearwater, Florida. He only had a number, no name.

Our new cat Frankie

Chris was unexpectedly hostile toward Frankie, so after hiding under the bed for his first day, Frankie decided to come out of his self-imposed exile on day two. It helped that we had shut out Chris and Puck from the bedroom.

Our cat Frankie playing with Turbo Scratcher

Frankie was a playful cat but…

Chris interupts Our cat Frankie playing with Turbo Scratcher

When Chris was around, there was no playing.

Our cats Chris and Frankie Outside.

Frankie’s first foray outside was successful… until he discovered he could walk through the fence.

Our cat Frankie under a car

Then he discovered Chris’s old trick of hiding under cars.

Our cat Frankie on trike

Frankie quickly got comfortable in our home.

Our cat Frankie is relaxing on the chair.

… and more comfortable.

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Soon he was expecting the royal treatment.

 

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We soon discovered Frankie had a shoe fetish.

 

Our cat Frankie under the dressor

We also discovered early that he was very photogenic.

Our cats Puck, Chris and Frankie.

By August, everyone was getting along – part-time.

Cat Frankie on caair

Frankie wanted out so bad but it was too risky so in November I bought a harness for him. I had trouble with it so I used a breakaway collar that broke away. (This is not our junk)

Frankie and Christmas tree.

Frankie first Christmas fascinated him.

Our cats Frankie and Chris

He was even getting along with Chris by then (mostly).

cats Frankie and Puck

He also made a friend in Puck.

Since there is so much more to review, I decided to split this up into two or three parts. I hope you liked it and will come back to see Frankie’s further adventures.

Photo Friday: The New Fridge Perch

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My wife had a metal try on the refrigerator to help keep the cats out of the cabinet. It didn’t work. They would just push it to the side and open the cabinet door anyway. One day, one of our boys pushed that tray off the fridge and dented the wood floor. That’s when I decided to not put the tray back. I instead put up a makeshift lock using a spatula. Rose then put a rug up there and voilà, instant cat perch.

cats on fridge

Chris and Floki

Cat Food Too Good to Buy

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I have been buying our cats the same canned cat food for a few years now, Earthborne Hollistic’s Chicken Catcciatori, but I have been wishy washy about choosing a good dry food. Lately I settled on the Earthborne Hollistic’s brand but a few weeks ago the store was out of it so I bought another brand that happened to be on sale during the month of January. What I bought is called Whole Earth Farms Grain Free Recipe with Real Chicken.

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I soon discovered there is a major problem with this food. The cats like it way too much. In a similar situation many years ago, our cat Tigger almost died because I bought a new food that was too good. He ate so much food so fast that a clump of it had become stuck in his esophagus and he was having trouble breathing (see story here). We had to find an emergency vet open at night. The difference between then and now is that the food I bought back then was a much lower quality. It should be noted here that I was not paid nor did I get free or discounted food for talking about this product (although I am an Amazon affiliate).

cats Floki and Chris

I don’t worry so much about another vet visit but I do worry the cats will get fat(er) eating so much food. I did buy a second bag hoping that they would get used to it and like it less, but that hasn’t happened yet and the bag is almost gone. Since I already let their food bowls remain empty for parts of the day, I think I can get around the problem buy not giving them more food They will just have to deal with having empty bowls for longer parts of the day. Another possible solution is to try a different flavor that they might not like as much.  I could also go back to the last food I gave them. What do you think?

Who’s Afraid of the Vacuum?

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I don’t know why but Frankie and Chris are not bothered by the vacuum. Puck, on the other hand, hides under the bed at the mere sight of the vacuum cleaner. That is difficult to understand since Puck was exposed to vacuums as a very young kitten.

You might have to view the original post to see the video.

Charles Huss's avatarBad Cat Chris

I used to think that all cats were afraid of the vacuum, I even created a design related to that (see here). Sure, Chris was not afraid, but Chris has never been an ordinary cat. Last year I posted a video of Chris ignoring me while I vacuumed around him. At the time I thought it was impressive because cats run and hide when the see the vacuum cleaner. Don’t they? I’m not so sure anymore.

Recently I was vacuuming the patio and both Chris and Frankie seemed completely oblivious to the noisy vacuuming going on around them.

Where was Puck while this was going on? Under the bed. Maybe it’s a gold cat thing.

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Tag Team Cat Escapes

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I have reached a point where I hate entering and leaving my house because Chris and Frankie are always at the door waiting to run out.

Frankie escaped over the weekend and led me on a wild cat chase. Eventually he ended up under the car next door where he knows I can’t catch him. Whenever he goes under a car or a house I just have to wait him out, which I did.

cat under car

I sat on my front steps for about ten minutes and, surprisingly, he came out from under the car and started meowing at me. I called to him and he walked up to the edge of the steps.

Since there was a railing between us I decided it would be safer to not try to grab him. Instead, I stood up, put my hand on the door and opened it when it looked like he was ready to come in. He hesitated for two second and then, as he was preparing to jump, Chris ran up to the door and scared him off. I think he ran out the door but I don’t remember. In any case, Frankie was in the wind again and it took some time before I was able to retrieve him.

On Monday morning my wife had to leave early for a business trip. At 7 a.m. I helped bring her luggage out to the car. As I was going out, Chris appeared out of nowhere and ran out the door. I rarely swear but I must have sounded like a Boston Truck Driver that morning. It was a minor incident, since Chris is easy to catch, but the frustration of not being able to come and go out of my own house reached a boiling point.

I put the luggage down and picked up Chris. I opened the door to put him inside and Frankie ran out. More swearing. Now my wife has to leave for her trip and I have to hunt down Frankie.

I lost track of him so I finished helping Rose with her luggage. She then left and I spent the next ten or fifteen minutes looking for Frankie. I had never seen him disappear for so long and I started to worry about him. If Rose was home I would have asked for help. I walked around until my shoes were saturated from the cold, wet grass. It was then that I spotted him behind our house. Of course, he wasn’t ready to come in yet.

Now we played a game of cat and human until he tired and was ready to come home. He actually came up our driveway to the back door. I opened it and he walked right in. This time Chris was not there to spoil it.