Francie Sabrina

by Karen Tinsley
(Toronto, Canada)

Francie

We have always known, since the day we brought her home from our vet’s, that Francie was a “special kind of cat”. She seems to have the disposition, demeanour, and physical charateristics of a Ragdoll, with the exception of her markings. She is mostly black with a white jabot, white mitten paws, and yellow-green eyes. So she’s definitely not a purebred Ragdoll but I’m sure when you see her, you’ll agree she’s a “Rag”.

Francie was already named by our vet staff, she was one of four kittens, a male and three females, who had been called Charlie, Kelly, Sabrina and Chris (after the ’70’s t.v. show). Although we liked the name Sabrina, we had our hearts set on Frances, or Francie for short. My husband designs religious stained glass windows for churches, and we chose Frances after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of all animals.

All the cats we’ve loved in our 30 years together have “found us” as opposed to us choosing them. Until Francie. After 16 year old Ruby (a tabby) and 10 year old Jinx (a domestic short hair) died within two months of each other, we realized we did not want to live in a cat-less home. So we brought Francie home less than 24 hours after Ruby passed away. It was the smartest thing we’ve ever done. We love her so much it’s ridiculous. She makes an adorable “urrr” sound all the time; we sometimes call her “Frances the Talking Cat”. She is affectionate, completely loveable, funny as hell, and our lives are filled with joy because of her. She’ll be turning 11 months old on October 19. We can’t imagine our lives without her.

Francie Sabrina — 15 months old
 
Our beloved “Franny Face” is now 15 months old, and we still can’t believe what fun and joy (and beauty and cuteness!) one 10 pound little animal can bring into a household. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t make us laugh our heads off. She’s still so incredibly playful; our hallways, stairways and landings are strewn with myriad toys at all times. And “Daddy” just keeps bringing home new ones for Francie. 

One of the best things about Francie is how cuddly she is. Every night I carry her upstairs to our bed, and she snuggles and cuddles and purrs alongside me until I’m almost ready to fall asleep, when she jumps up, walks down the length of my sleeping husband’s body, washes herself, and nestles against his feet for a long winter’s nap, on top of the sweater placed there especially for her. When the alarm goes off in the morning, she walks all over both of us and then jumps back and forth between us until someone finally gets up. 

Francie’s long fur needs to be groomed every day. She loves being combed, brushed, having her nails cut (she purrs her head off!) and having a tiny bit of baby powder sprinkled into her soft shiny fur. She also loves posing for her picture, as you will see in these latest photos.