This is the story of Frankie Lee, a stray who was desperate to find love and a home of his own. He found it with us, and we are so happy he did.
When the stray cat that had made our acquaintance lost his Russian Blue cat companion to adoption, he soon showed up with this little guy. When Chi-Chi proudly presented his new friend to me, the first words out of my mouth were "Oh, dear!"
His hair was like straw. Half his tail was hairless and bent in an odd shape. He had scars and sores all over his body. This poor little guy was in rough shape and needed help. The problem was, he wouldn't let any of us touch him.
He lived outside in our garage with Chi-Chi and seemed quite happy doing so. The boys would come in only on very cold nights. The girls, Angel-Ah and Roxanne liked being outside, too but liked the air conditioning better on hot summer days. He got along with all of them, and especially our dog, Lucky. He'd rub up against Lucky and purr, while good-natured Lucky just stood there and took it all in.
We fed Frankie and spoke to him sweetly from afar. He saw Chi-Chi come up to us while gardening or sitting on the patio, and eventually he would let us scratch the base of his tail, but that was all! That lasted almost 5 months. in that time, his coat became soft and shiny and the damaged half of his tail fell off. We sang to him and very gradually he'd let us pet more of his body and eventually let us brush him. By June 2006, he'd sit on the patio, staring into the windows, beckoning us to come and pet him.
"He wants people." Mom told us. "I don't think he's feral at all. He was somebody's baby once."
That month, we couldn't take seeing poor Frankie getting beat up any longer. He was "intact", so he got involved in fights. When we heard cat snarling out our windows, we would run downstairs to chase the offenders away. We had spent a year getting Frankie trust us enough to pick him up and now was the time. We took him to the veterinarian.
Frankie was estimated to be between 3 and 5 years old at the time. Whether he got lost or was abandoned, we'll never know. Later that day, I received a phone call at work saying Frankie was under anesthesia for neutering and his blood work came back FIV+. He said we had 45 seconds to decided if we wanted to euthanize him while he was unconscious.
It took us almost a year for Frankie to trust us, and now our vet wanted us to kill him. I decided no, let him live. If we had to euthanize him later, we'd do it then. He wasn't suffering and we decided to let him live as long as possible. I never regretted it for a second; Frankie was a dream cat! He got along with ALL my pets. He doted on our girl cats and acted as a "daddy" to Bella and Ziva, and later as a "grandpa" to Lola. A couple of months before he became ill, a golden retriever came walking up our driveway. Frankie came to meet him and started lunging at the startled pooch, paws outstretched, trying to grab the intruder's throat. The dogs owner came running over, concerned his dog would harm my cat. "Oh, I'm not worried about that" I told him "I don't want my cat to hurt your dog. He's VERY protective."
Just before Christmas 2015, Bella began acting very strangely. She'd follow Frankie around everywhere, like she did when she was a kitten. A few days later, it began to rain heavily and I went outside to look for Frankie. I found him on the front lawn, trying to make it across our lawn to the neighbor's with Bella howling behind him. As I scooped up Frankie, I noticed he seemed a bit thin. He'd just had tooth extraction surgery so I didn't think too much of it. However, we decided to keep him in over the Holidays to make sure he was eating.
As it turned out, he was not eating as much with his customary gusto. We brought him into the vet's to make sure it wasn't a dental issue. When the vet ran a blood test to check for a possible infection, he noticed Frank was in kidney distress. He showed us how to give our cat fluids subcutaneously but he showed no improvement after a few weeks. The younger cats would take turns sleeping by his side every night. On the morning of January 9, Frank woke me up gently with a brush of his whiskers on my cheek. I looked over and saw he was breathing through his mouth. I called the vet technician and she said that wasn't good and to bring him in.
I am so thankful we did not act impulsively that day in June and allowed Frank to decide for himself when to cross over. All my pets, family and neighbors loved him and he loved everyone back. He gave us 9 1/2 years of love and joy; we still see a lot of Frank's mannerisms and habits in our younger cats. He will always be with us in that special way. We love you "Frankie Coconut"! You will always be in our hearts.
When the stray cat that had made our acquaintance lost his Russian Blue cat companion to adoption, he soon showed up with this little guy. When Chi-Chi proudly presented his new friend to me, the first words out of my mouth were "Oh, dear!"
His hair was like straw. Half his tail was hairless and bent in an odd shape. He had scars and sores all over his body. This poor little guy was in rough shape and needed help. The problem was, he wouldn't let any of us touch him.
He lived outside in our garage with Chi-Chi and seemed quite happy doing so. The boys would come in only on very cold nights. The girls, Angel-Ah and Roxanne liked being outside, too but liked the air conditioning better on hot summer days. He got along with all of them, and especially our dog, Lucky. He'd rub up against Lucky and purr, while good-natured Lucky just stood there and took it all in.
We fed Frankie and spoke to him sweetly from afar. He saw Chi-Chi come up to us while gardening or sitting on the patio, and eventually he would let us scratch the base of his tail, but that was all! That lasted almost 5 months. in that time, his coat became soft and shiny and the damaged half of his tail fell off. We sang to him and very gradually he'd let us pet more of his body and eventually let us brush him. By June 2006, he'd sit on the patio, staring into the windows, beckoning us to come and pet him.
"He wants people." Mom told us. "I don't think he's feral at all. He was somebody's baby once."
That month, we couldn't take seeing poor Frankie getting beat up any longer. He was "intact", so he got involved in fights. When we heard cat snarling out our windows, we would run downstairs to chase the offenders away. We had spent a year getting Frankie trust us enough to pick him up and now was the time. We took him to the veterinarian.
Frankie was estimated to be between 3 and 5 years old at the time. Whether he got lost or was abandoned, we'll never know. Later that day, I received a phone call at work saying Frankie was under anesthesia for neutering and his blood work came back FIV+. He said we had 45 seconds to decided if we wanted to euthanize him while he was unconscious.
It took us almost a year for Frankie to trust us, and now our vet wanted us to kill him. I decided no, let him live. If we had to euthanize him later, we'd do it then. He wasn't suffering and we decided to let him live as long as possible. I never regretted it for a second; Frankie was a dream cat! He got along with ALL my pets. He doted on our girl cats and acted as a "daddy" to Bella and Ziva, and later as a "grandpa" to Lola. A couple of months before he became ill, a golden retriever came walking up our driveway. Frankie came to meet him and started lunging at the startled pooch, paws outstretched, trying to grab the intruder's throat. The dogs owner came running over, concerned his dog would harm my cat. "Oh, I'm not worried about that" I told him "I don't want my cat to hurt your dog. He's VERY protective."
Just before Christmas 2015, Bella began acting very strangely. She'd follow Frankie around everywhere, like she did when she was a kitten. A few days later, it began to rain heavily and I went outside to look for Frankie. I found him on the front lawn, trying to make it across our lawn to the neighbor's with Bella howling behind him. As I scooped up Frankie, I noticed he seemed a bit thin. He'd just had tooth extraction surgery so I didn't think too much of it. However, we decided to keep him in over the Holidays to make sure he was eating.
As it turned out, he was not eating as much with his customary gusto. We brought him into the vet's to make sure it wasn't a dental issue. When the vet ran a blood test to check for a possible infection, he noticed Frank was in kidney distress. He showed us how to give our cat fluids subcutaneously but he showed no improvement after a few weeks. The younger cats would take turns sleeping by his side every night. On the morning of January 9, Frank woke me up gently with a brush of his whiskers on my cheek. I looked over and saw he was breathing through his mouth. I called the vet technician and she said that wasn't good and to bring him in.
I am so thankful we did not act impulsively that day in June and allowed Frank to decide for himself when to cross over. All my pets, family and neighbors loved him and he loved everyone back. He gave us 9 1/2 years of love and joy; we still see a lot of Frank's mannerisms and habits in our younger cats. He will always be with us in that special way. We love you "Frankie Coconut"! You will always be in our hearts.
This is the story of Frankie Lee, a stray who was desperate to find love and a home of his own. He found it with us, and we are so happy he did.
When the stray cat that had made our acquaintance lost his Russian Blue cat companion to adoption, he soon showed up with this little guy. When Chi-Chi proudly presented his new friend to me, the first words out of my mouth were "Oh, dear!"
His hair was like straw. Half his tail was hairless and bent in an odd shape. He had scars and sores all over his body. This poor little guy was in rough shape and needed help. The problem was, he wouldn't let any of us touch him.
He lived outside in our garage with Chi-Chi and seemed quite happy doing so. The boys would come in only on very cold nights. The girls, Angel-Ah and Roxanne liked being outside, too but liked the air conditioning better on hot summer days. He got along with all of them, and especially our dog, Lucky. He'd rub up against Lucky and purr, while good-natured Lucky just stood there and took it all in.
We fed Frankie and spoke to him sweetly from afar. He saw Chi-Chi come up to us while gardening or sitting on the patio, and eventually he would let us scratch the base of his tail, but that was all! That lasted almost 5 months. in that time, his coat became soft and shiny and the damaged half of his tail fell off. We sang to him and very gradually he'd let us pet more of his body and eventually let us brush him. By June 2006, he'd sit on the patio, staring into the windows, beckoning us to come and pet him.
"He wants people." Mom told us. "I don't think he's feral at all. He was somebody's baby once."
That month, we couldn't take seeing poor Frankie getting beat up any longer. He was "intact", so he got involved in fights. When we heard cat snarling out our windows, we would run downstairs to chase the offenders away. We had spent a year getting Frankie trust us enough to pick him up and now was the time. We took him to the veterinarian.
Frankie was estimated to be between 3 and 5 years old at the time. Whether he got lost or was abandoned, we'll never know. Later that day, I received a phone call at work saying Frankie was under anesthesia for neutering and his blood work came back FIV+. He said we had 45 seconds to decided if we wanted to euthanize him while he was unconscious.
It took us almost a year for Frankie to trust us, and now our vet wanted us to kill him. I decided no, let him live. If we had to euthanize him later, we'd do it then. He wasn't suffering and we decided to let him live as long as possible. I never regretted it for a second; Frankie was a dream cat! He got along with ALL my pets. He doted on our girl cats and acted as a "daddy" to Bella and Ziva, and later as a "grandpa" to Lola. A couple of months before he became ill, a golden retriever came walking up our driveway. Frankie came to meet him and started lunging at the startled pooch, paws outstretched, trying to grab the intruder's throat. The dogs owner came running over, concerned his dog would harm my cat. "Oh, I'm not worried about that" I told him "I don't want my cat to hurt your dog. He's VERY protective."
Just before Christmas 2015, Bella began acting very strangely. She'd follow Frankie around everywhere, like she did when she was a kitten. A few days later, it began to rain heavily and I went outside to look for Frankie. I found him on the front lawn, trying to make it across our lawn to the neighbor's with Bella howling behind him. As I scooped up Frankie, I noticed he seemed a bit thin. He'd just had tooth extraction surgery so I didn't think too much of it. However, we decided to keep him in over the Holidays to make sure he was eating.
As it turned out, he was not eating as much with his customary gusto. We brought him into the vet's to make sure it wasn't a dental issue. When the vet ran a blood test to check for a possible infection, he noticed Frank was in kidney distress. He showed us how to give our cat fluids subcutaneously but he showed no improvement after a few weeks. The younger cats would take turns sleeping by his side every night. On the morning of January 9, Frank woke me up gently with a brush of his whiskers on my cheek. I looked over and saw he was breathing through his mouth. I called the vet technician and she said that wasn't good and to bring him in.
I am so thankful we did not act impulsively that day in June and allowed Frank to decide for himself when to cross over. All my pets, family and neighbors loved him and he loved everyone back. He gave us 9 1/2 years of love and joy; we still see a lot of Frank's mannerisms and habits in our younger cats. He will always be with us in that special way. We love you "Frankie Coconut"! You will always be in our hearts.
When the stray cat that had made our acquaintance lost his Russian Blue cat companion to adoption, he soon showed up with this little guy. When Chi-Chi proudly presented his new friend to me, the first words out of my mouth were "Oh, dear!"
His hair was like straw. Half his tail was hairless and bent in an odd shape. He had scars and sores all over his body. This poor little guy was in rough shape and needed help. The problem was, he wouldn't let any of us touch him.
He lived outside in our garage with Chi-Chi and seemed quite happy doing so. The boys would come in only on very cold nights. The girls, Angel-Ah and Roxanne liked being outside, too but liked the air conditioning better on hot summer days. He got along with all of them, and especially our dog, Lucky. He'd rub up against Lucky and purr, while good-natured Lucky just stood there and took it all in.
We fed Frankie and spoke to him sweetly from afar. He saw Chi-Chi come up to us while gardening or sitting on the patio, and eventually he would let us scratch the base of his tail, but that was all! That lasted almost 5 months. in that time, his coat became soft and shiny and the damaged half of his tail fell off. We sang to him and very gradually he'd let us pet more of his body and eventually let us brush him. By June 2006, he'd sit on the patio, staring into the windows, beckoning us to come and pet him.
"He wants people." Mom told us. "I don't think he's feral at all. He was somebody's baby once."
That month, we couldn't take seeing poor Frankie getting beat up any longer. He was "intact", so he got involved in fights. When we heard cat snarling out our windows, we would run downstairs to chase the offenders away. We had spent a year getting Frankie trust us enough to pick him up and now was the time. We took him to the veterinarian.
Frankie was estimated to be between 3 and 5 years old at the time. Whether he got lost or was abandoned, we'll never know. Later that day, I received a phone call at work saying Frankie was under anesthesia for neutering and his blood work came back FIV+. He said we had 45 seconds to decided if we wanted to euthanize him while he was unconscious.
It took us almost a year for Frankie to trust us, and now our vet wanted us to kill him. I decided no, let him live. If we had to euthanize him later, we'd do it then. He wasn't suffering and we decided to let him live as long as possible. I never regretted it for a second; Frankie was a dream cat! He got along with ALL my pets. He doted on our girl cats and acted as a "daddy" to Bella and Ziva, and later as a "grandpa" to Lola. A couple of months before he became ill, a golden retriever came walking up our driveway. Frankie came to meet him and started lunging at the startled pooch, paws outstretched, trying to grab the intruder's throat. The dogs owner came running over, concerned his dog would harm my cat. "Oh, I'm not worried about that" I told him "I don't want my cat to hurt your dog. He's VERY protective."
Just before Christmas 2015, Bella began acting very strangely. She'd follow Frankie around everywhere, like she did when she was a kitten. A few days later, it began to rain heavily and I went outside to look for Frankie. I found him on the front lawn, trying to make it across our lawn to the neighbor's with Bella howling behind him. As I scooped up Frankie, I noticed he seemed a bit thin. He'd just had tooth extraction surgery so I didn't think too much of it. However, we decided to keep him in over the Holidays to make sure he was eating.
As it turned out, he was not eating as much with his customary gusto. We brought him into the vet's to make sure it wasn't a dental issue. When the vet ran a blood test to check for a possible infection, he noticed Frank was in kidney distress. He showed us how to give our cat fluids subcutaneously but he showed no improvement after a few weeks. The younger cats would take turns sleeping by his side every night. On the morning of January 9, Frank woke me up gently with a brush of his whiskers on my cheek. I looked over and saw he was breathing through his mouth. I called the vet technician and she said that wasn't good and to bring him in.
I am so thankful we did not act impulsively that day in June and allowed Frank to decide for himself when to cross over. All my pets, family and neighbors loved him and he loved everyone back. He gave us 9 1/2 years of love and joy; we still see a lot of Frank's mannerisms and habits in our younger cats. He will always be with us in that special way. We love you "Frankie Coconut"! You will always be in our hearts.
