Hello all – I am about to relate the story of a small stray cat. Some of the pictures may be a little upsetting (just to warn you) but there is a very happy outcome. Do not be afraid …. read on …
My daughter and her family live in a large village in Yorkshire. The front of their house is on to the main street and quite busy. But to the back they have a small pretty garden which they can look on to when they are washing up at the kitchen sink.
Along the outside of the kitchen window runs a wide ledge. A few weeks ago my daughter realised she had company. Sitting on the ledge was a small, scrawny bundle of black and white fur which was plaintively ‘meow-ing’ at her. And so Pearl came into their lives – although the name and the happy ending are a little ways off.
My daughter went out to investigate the little scrap of a being that had come to her back door but couldn’t get close enough to check how she was. The window ledge visits and meowing continued for several days without No1 Daughter being able to get close but she could see the kitten-cat that was this furry bundle was getting weaker. Thankfully No1’s partner R was the hero of the hour and managed to gently corral the cat and bring her into the house. Then they could really see how poorly and injured she was.
Their hairy visitor was oh-so friendly but just skin and bone with a badly injured eye. She was incredibly weak yet obviously glad to have been taken in and cared for. No1 D and R took their new little friend to the local vet. Admittedly they went in trepidation in case there was nothing that could be done to help the little mite who had come to them for help.
No1 phoned the vets’ surgery every day to check on the kitten’s progress and thankfully the vets worked their magic and although they could not save the cat’s eye they could save her. After almost two weeks with the vet and being fed by drip and carefully reintroduced to food she was ready to leave. She was not micro-chipped and no one in their small-ish community had posted her missing.
Where could she go? No1 D already has two dogs – one of whom is an anxious rescue. What to do? After much discussion and consultation with the vets about their circumstances …. Guess what? She came back to No1 D’s! None of them could bear the thought that she might never be re-homed and after all it was as if she had originally come to them because she knew they would help her.
No1 Granddaughter Peanut and her father vied for who should name the new kitty. Peanut came up with the best name ever (sorry R), Pearl. And so Pearl has joined the slightly chaotic household loosely presided over by my daughter and her partner.
She has taken up residence underneath Peanut’s bed – although she does have an all singing all dancing cat bed of her own. And loves nothing better than greeting anyone that comes upstairs with purrs and leg cat-rubs.
Peanut has risen to the challenge of caring for her room-mate. Perfect timing for P – there is a fairly new baby in the house (I did say it was slightly chaotic) – to have a fur-friend to look after.
Pearl has really taken to her new domain. She eats well and is continually gaining in strength. She is coping with the dogs by avoiding them but gradually I think an entente cordiale is being reached. To be honest the older dog a feisty chihuahua called George takes no notice of her (we always suspected that he was part cat!) while their anxious rescue Buddy is more bemused by the meowing than agitated.
It now seems as if Pearl has always been a member of the family.
I asked No1 D for a new photo but she hasn’t been able to oblige as Pearl is busy being a kitten and always on the move or asleep in her bolt hole under P’s bed.
In the (almost) words of the famous Ellie Brooks’ song: Pearls a Winner!
Mx
It'll Be Reet 