Franklin - Singing the song of his people
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

FROM Marisa Miller Wolfson
April 2020

He also enjoyed "singing the song of his people" all hours of the night when he wanted to play. I swear years have been shaved off of my life due to his noctural shenanigans.

Cat Franklin

It's taken me over a week to share the news of Franklin's passing, and I don't know why. Maybe I wasn't ready for this chapter to be over. This first photo here is the last one of him that was taken, and it was taken by Gabriel, which was fitting because G had special relationship with Franklin, whom he called his "big brother."

Cat Franklin

G said a tearful goodbye here in the living room. We were so lucky that our friend/vet Andy was able to give him a gentle ending on his favorite beanbag after over 20 months of lymphoma and then advanced kidney failure.

This kitty came so far from the shy, semi-feral I had adopted sight unseen in the spring of 2003. Back then, my roommate Tara and I called him Osama bin Kitty because he was always hiding, and we could never find him. We found out much later in an x-ray that he had had a BB gun pellet lodged in his neck. No wonder he was so shy.

Then slowly, slowly, he came out of his shell, and I have to say, earning the love of a semi-feral cat is one of the deepest rewards. We decided if he were human, he'd be a Russian ballet dancer/spy. He was elegant, graceful, loyal, sneaky and somewhat merciless with any little critters (or dogs) who crossed his path. He put up with toddlers and with less than ideal feline roommates. He was a survivor. He also enjoyed "singing the song of his people" all hours of the night when he wanted to play. I swear years have been shaved off of my life due to his noctural shenanigans. But I loved him still, as one does.

In the last weeks, he simply couldn't get enough affection, and we were happy to spoil him. Medically treating and losing two beloved companion animals within 2.5 weeks of each other in the epicenter of a pandemic is its own kind of hell, but at least we were home to shower him with all the affection his sweet little heart deserved. Mommy loves you, handsome boy. Mommy's precious little love...

Please also read Kitten was a cartoon cat, really


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