Franklin was my cat but he wasn’t intended to be “my” cat – I had Geoff already and Anna had never really had her own cat so he really was intended to be hers. Obviously I loved Franklin with my whole heart and he was very much my cat. But one of the ways that I came to feel like we had a special connection was through the joint game that we developed which I just called “our game”.

The way it worked was pretty simple. He would get on to a chair and then I would get around behind the chair. He would put his paws on the back of the chair and I would crouch down behind it so he couldn’t see me. I would peek my head up above until I could just see his eyes then dart back down. I’d peek up again and he’d been even farther up the back of the chair. Then I’d duck back down. Then I’d peek up again – and pounce!! He’d try to get me and I’d jump back! He’d end up teetering over the back of the chair with his paws and claws outstretched. And then he’d get a kiss!

Of course, he enjoyed hunting man – the most dangerous game. And sometimes we would go for many, many rounds of ducking and swatting. He absolutely loved our game. And Anna didn’t know how to do it, so it was something that he shared just with me. Here he is looking absolutely deranged while playing our game:

And sometimes when I walked in the room and he saw me, he would run to the chair and get on it and get ready to play! He was so so excited for it. And this was something we started doing right from the start. That picture is from the month we got him back in 2022. From the whole time he was with us, we played our game. Here’s what it looked like right before we started playing: watch out!

Franklin could get some serious air when he pounced. And sometimes it really was a dangerous game – look at what happened to me just a couple weeks after we got him! The consequences of playing the game:

Look at that scratch! He was such a tough guy. And because Geoff wasn’t always as happy to play with him, I was his playmate and he loved doing it. And after a time, he loved getting the kiss that he got after he went for me.

Love you Franklin,

Garrett & Anna