There is a saying that goes, “Do not let looks deceive you.” However, people looking to adopt from shelters seem to be taking home pets that instantly catch their eyes. A short-haired gray cat that had a “grumpy-looking” face was always ignored by potential parents and was deemed “ugly” by some visitors.
Bean, a female cat that has been living in a shelter for a long time, was adopted by a young woman named Francisca Franken, who saw the cat on a local shelter website. She instantly fell in love with the cat’s unusual features. There was something about her flat face, tough attitude, and sad eyes that made Francisca stop looking elsewhere.
“I saw her photo and fell in love the second I saw her,” Francisca said. “Well, at first, I laughed because the pictures were so funny, and I’d never seen a cat like this before.”
After seeing Bean’s photo, Francisca immediately wrote to the shelter and applied for her adoption. Since nobody had asked for information about Bean before, the shelter staff did a callback and confirmed that it was Bean she was inquiring about. Francisca was determined!
“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,” Francisca said. “The woman who called me was scared that I just pressed the wrong button or something. When I arrived at the shelter, one woman led me to her room, and what I saw was much more beautiful than I could ever imagine. Bean was so tiny and small. She has very stubby legs, and a short tail, and the flattest face I had ever seen. I started crying when I walked into her room because I was so overwhelmed. She was not at all what I had imagined — but it was so much better.”
As soon as Bean saw Francisca, she immediately ran to her and purred like a kitten, as though she already recognized Francisca as her new owner. She wanted to let her mom know how grateful she was for adopting her.
“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.
Bean lived as a stray cat in a trailer park before coming to the shelter. She was suffering from an eye infection and other ailments, and she never felt the love of a family. She needed a forever home, and Francisca was determined to give her that.
“In the beginning, she was much more cuddly and clung to me everywhere I went,” Francisca 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.”
Although Bean always looked unhappy and grumpy, Francisca revealed that she was very affectionate and lively at home, which was the exact contrast to what people assumed she was. Bean and Francisca are now inseparable and sleep in the same room. Francisca also discovered that Bean’s favorite food is olives. Fortunately, olives are safe for cats, although they contain chemicals called Isoprenoids, which are similar to catnip.
“Whenever she smells olives or olive brine, she goes a bit crazy. The first time she stole an olive was when I had a little late-night snack, and she ran up to me and smacked the olive right out of my hand, scooped it up, and ran away to eat it under the couch,” Francisca said.
You may follow Bean to view more of her photos and adventure videos on the Instagram account, @bebbybeansprout. Here are some of her posts:
It’s really touching to see Bean and Francisca be each other’s stress reliever!
“Bean is not a real emotional support animal, but she’s definitely gotten me through tough times already, and I can’t put into words how much I love her,” Francisca said. “She means the world to me, and she deserves all the love after having such a rough time before coming to me.” ❤️
Images and Instagram posts credits: © Bean – the olive burglar @bebbybeansprout
