Big Brother Kap has always been a social cat- mostly because he's trying to get food out of anyone who walks through the door. And, if you give Kap food, he'll instantly become your best friend.
Franklin, on the other paw, is a big believer in Stranger Danger.
When we first adopted Franklin in September 2023, John's mother, Anne, was staying with us. Franklin was fine enough around her, but as he was so young he mostly slept the day away (usually on my lap). When Anne returned in December to stay with us a few days for the holidays, Franklin acted like he'd never seen her before, shying away and refusing to let her touch him.
Now, granted, when John and I went away last year for the When We Were Young Festival in October, we didn't even think about needing to introduce Franklin to our cat-sitter. Kap was fine with people. We hadn't made a big deal about introducing him to our cat-sitter, so obviously Franklin would be fine too.
Wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Franklin took one look at the cat-sitter when he walked through the door, meow-screamed, "Stranger Danger!" and ran away. The entire four days John and I were away, Franklin refused to come out for the cat-sitter, and his distrust went so far that he refused to eat anything the cat-sitter laid out for him. Thankfully, we have an automatic kibble dispenser I'd pre-set times for that Franklin did eat out of when the cat-sitter wasn't in the apartment.
Between vacations, John and I did a little research and found that Ragdolls "love their own space" and "are independent" breeds of cats (Ragdoll Report). Basically, they choose when and where they want affection, and from whom. Franklin is extremely clingy with me, but with John he's more laid back, preferring to be in the same room and rubbing against John's legs than cuddling on John's lap like he'll do with me.
Personally, I believe that when it comes to Franklin specifically, he simply hasn't met enough people, and so he doesn't trust anyone who isn't his Pop-pop or Meemaw when they enter the apartment. Every time I take Fran to the vet, he is perfectly fine. Yes, he hates being prodded, but before the prodding begins he is at ease, wanting to explore, and not trying to run away from the vet or vet techs. I even took Franklin to my parent's house and introduced him to my mom. He was totally chill, exploring the house and letting my mom pet him.
In 2024, John and I have a long vacation planned, and in order to prepare our boys for our absence we agreed that we had to try some new tactics to make sure both Kap and Franklin were getting the love and food they need.
Because when Kap isn't getting enough love, attention, and chin scratches, he makes the saddest little face :(
In Part 2, out next week, I deep-dive into how I introduced Franklin to our new cat-sitter, what worked and what didn't, and how the boys did with the new cat-sitter while John and I took our first mini-vacation of the year in January!
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"Meooooooow!" -Franklin Tiger
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