Francisca Franken came upon an interesting cat one evening while visiting the website of her neighborhood animal shelter. Her browsing came to an abrupt halt as she noticed the cat’s sad eyes, rough demeanor, and flat face.
Franken told The Dodo, “I saw her photo and fell in love the second I saw her. Since I had never seen a cat like this before, the photographs made me giggle at first.
She immediately wrote to the shelter to see if the cat was still available, and was so nervous waiting for a reply that she couldn’t sleep that night. But when the shelter called her back, they couldn’t believe she actually wanted Bean.
“I got a call from a friendly lady from the rescue who asked me if Bean was really the cat I wanted to apply for because, apparently, nobody had been interested in her before,” Franken said. “The woman who called me was scared that I just pressed the wrong button or something.”
Bean was a stray who spent his time in a trailer park before entering the shelter. She had never felt the warmth of a home and was afflicted with an infection in her eye as well as other illnesses. Franken, though, was determined to alter that.
In one woman’s chamber, Franken remarked, “I witnessed something much more lovely than I could ever conceive.” Bean was so diminutive—and still is. She has the flattest face I’ve ever seen, along with very short, stubby legs and a tail. I was so overwhelmed that as I entered her room, I started weeping. She was very different from what I had anticipated, but it was so much better.
“A lot of people who saw her at the shelter said she was ugly, but I think she’s the most perfect girl ever,” she added.
Franken immediately brought Bean home, and the cat made sure her new mom understood how grateful she was.
“In the beginning, she was much more cuddly and clung to me everywhere I went,” Franken said. “I think she then noticed that she didn’t need to ‘pretend’ like that and that I would never let her go again, even if she stopped being cuddly and cute, so she started to show me her sassy side. But I loved that because she let her true colors shine through.”
Now, Bean must remain in the same room as Franken at all times and sleep in the same bed with her. Olives are Bean’s second favorite item in the world, just behind her mother. She gets a little wild if she smells olives or olive brine.
When I was eating a late-night snack, she rushed up to me and knocked the olive out of my palm. She then grabbed it up and fled, eating it beneath the sofa, according to Franken.
Green olives and pimentos contain chemicals called isoprenoids, which have a similar makeup to catnip. Bean is so obsessed with the salty treats that she’ll scream at her mom every time she sees her take the olives out of the fridge.
Thankfully, olives are safe for cats — in moderation — so Franken gives her a few as a reward.
The least Franken can do for the loving cat after everything Bean has done for her is to satisfy Bean’s passion with olives.
Franken remarked, “Bean is not a true emotional support animal but she has already helped me get through difficult moments, and I can’t express how much I adore her.” She means the world to me, and after going through so much hardship before finding me, she deserves all the affection.
