Once apon a time...

You remember this girl, right???

Bubbalee.

I started feeding her last summer, I called her Bubba.  Then she appeared on the porch with TWO kittens, and I knew that I had made an error.   I caught the kittens, and she stared me down for several days.

Then despite my best efforts to catch her, she resisted.  She lived the winter in the loft of the barn, with a bale of straw, and a heating pad especially made for outdoor kitties.  She ate well, and appeared to thrive.

Always with her was a gray and white cat we called Bunnynose.

We caught Bunnynose, and he made a quick trip to the vet's to get neutered.  

He was mad.

Then Bubbalee was promiscuous .....again, and got pregnant.  We watched as she got bigger and bigger.

We fed her dry food, and added a can of moist food every day. She had a heated water bowl on the porch.

We marked the calendar, and knew when to expect the babies.  When she missed a day coming to eat, and showed up thinner, we knew they had arrived.  Again, we marked the calendar, and when we knew they were 8 weeks old, we set the traps, and caught all FIVE.

And all five have homes.

Bubbalee still would not comply, but the people who owned the shed where she had her kittens, got on board.  Soon, they were able to trap her.  And I took  her, joyfully, to the vet and got her neutered, too.

When she came back, we took her to the neighbors' house.  They kept her in for a bit.

Weeks have gone by, and we have not seen hide nor hair of either of them.  No Bunnynose.  No Bubbalee.

So finally, feeling quite disrespected, and shunned, Lois called the neighbors.

Seems that Bunnynose, known to them as Pete, and Bubbalee, now named PEARL, are doing quite nicely, thank you very much.

There are happy endings.

Really.  No matter how tough things can be sometimes, no matter how many bumps there are in the road.

Sometimes, it all works out.

Just ask Pete and Pearl.