Me and my pal Franklin

My name is Ryan and and I live with my cat Franklin. It started when one of my friends got a Siamese cat from a rescue home and after they got her they found out she was pregnant. I was at their house one day and we heard what sounded like birds chirping inside the house. It turned out she had her kittens and we found them in the middle of the next room. One was black, one was white, and the other 2 were spotted black and white like a cow.

My family had a black cat growing up and I told my friend that I would take the black cat. A few months later he was named Franklin. This was right after I graduated college. To save some money and pay off some bills I was living with Mom, who also had 2 cats. I remember the process of getting them acclimated to each other and how Franklin would screw it up by pouncing on the other cats' tails when their tails moved. Eventually things sorted out and Franklin was the alpha cat. He was extremely affectionate and the loudest purrer I have ever heard. He would try to be the center of attention when people came over and I was worried about him getting outside because he had absolutely no fear.

After his first year he also became someone picky about attention. If you pet Franklin and he is not interested, he always gives 2 warning meows. He will be purring and enjoying it, but after 2 you are liable to be swatted at or snapped at. The exception is children; I don't know how he knows but he for some reason gives them a pass. I still remember watching my nieces and nephews brush him and do stuff that I would have gotten a scratch or bite for and he will sit their meowing but not do anything. A couple of years passed and I found a new job for more money in a new city. Also, I found that telling a woman on the first date that you lived with your mom didn't usually go over that well.

This was when I found out that Franklin wasn't a regular cat. By regular cat I mean the type we had grown up with: farm cats. We lived in the city but we had 2 cats, both of which we obtained from farms. Franklin was more like a dog than cat. He would follow me around room to room, want to play all the time, meow incessantly for playing, food, water than was too old, cat litter that needed to be changed etc. I looked up Siamese cat on the internet and my questions were answered. I sometimes wonder if his dad was Burmese because Franklin also hates being alone.

Franklin is now turning 8 in July. He has a weight problem we have been dealing with for quite a while now. It is somewhat genetic because his sister my friends still have is even bigger than he is and they also have been trying to get her weight down also. I first cut way down on his kibble but I have now switched him to moist food and a even more restricted diet. He has a lot of toys and a cat gym he really likes but as you know cats do what they want when they want. My Dad had an English bulldog and she never got heavy because we could walk her and play with her all the time; I wish you could walk cats. I know someone somewhere got their cat to walk, but I know there is no way Franklin would ever go for that.