Frankie Weiss and Her Magic

Sometime later, after Johnnie came out of her hiding place behind the sofa, she went into the kitchen and had some of the dry food. I learned only Johnnie would lap at the water bowl, Frankie will not drink water; she gets the fluid her system needs from the food she eats, this is not uncommon among mammals.

Frankie must have communicated to Johnnie that the litter box was downstairs, after using it; she ran up the stairs into the bedroom and hid under the bed. I could not get her to leave the secure hiding place. In fact, it may have been three or four days before Johnnie would allow me to even touch her. Cat personalities are so varied; here I quickly learned I adopted an extrovert and an introvert. I also learned cats are not immune to loving their keepers. Johnnie was no exception. It took her just a while longer than it took Frankie to learn that Mr. Mom was someone she could love and be happy for doing so.

As a new father, I bought my “children” Frankie and Johnnie cat toys to play with. Both cats adopted certain playful objects. However, poor Johnnie was not allowed to touch anything that Frankie deemed her property or plaything. As soon as Johnnie would approach a toy (belonging) to Frankie, a cat signal would go out, warning Johnnie not to touch. Johnnie, being the timid one, would walk away from the toy. The bear was another story; Johnnie was too smart to even approach it. Somehow, she knew she’d incur Frankie’s wrath. As sweet and lovable as Frankie is, she’s a tyrant with a one-track cat’s mind. While putting this story together over a number of days, sitting at the computer, it’s impossible to count the many times I felt Frankie’s paw tapping my arm, her big beautiful eyes pleadingly looking at me; “I want your lap, come play with me.” Her meows often accompanying these actions. I must say, however, having a male’s ego and mind thought, it flattered me no end to think this pretty female Calico loved me and wanted her love returned by my attention to her needs at that particular moment of time. With my yelling NO, she’d go away sulking, but she’d return very quickly to try again.