She was with me for only a year, and the last time I saw her, she was happy. In any case, suddenly there she was, a little skinny brown and white cat, and when the door opened, she came inside crying. When she was in the light, it could be seen that she was bleeding as well. Apparently, she had just given birth! I looked everywhere for her kittens-- I listened as carefully as I could, and tried to encourage the little mother to seek her little ones, but met only with discouragement. (Much later, I found out that her babies had been born too soon and hadn't survived.) At the time, there was no way to know this, and here was a little cat in my house! She was obviously someone's lost pet; she had no fear of me. She accepted food eagerly, and seemed to want to stay inside. I tried to find her home, and made periodic attempts during the time she stayed with me. Eventually, she needed a name, and I called her Rosebud in a burst of irony, since she was occasionally rather flatulent. The time passed, and she became a member of the household. Since I was still looking for her real home, I didn't get her spayed. Whoops! Well, you can guess what happened. She became pregnant shortly after she worked up the courage to slip back outside. I was apprehensive, because I didn't know what had happened to her first litter, but one night in my closet, she brought four beautiful, healthy kittens into the world-- all daughters! Rosebud was a good mother, and the babies were healthy. As they grew, they made sweet chaos throughout the house. Several times the little ones were stolen by Nell (who was still quite wild at the time.) She had no idea what to do with them once she had them, however, and Rosebud would patiently return her children to their nest. Sadly, two of the daughters were killed by a car in early adolescence-- just the age when kids seem to become foolish-- but the paper deliverer COULD have looked where she was going, I think! No point in blame or bitterness, though. The two remaining girls, the Fuzzy and the Cutie, were due to be spayed, and I brought Rosebud in first. It seemed she was going to be my cat, and she'd already demonstrated how fertile she could be! Rosebud recovered well, and sometime later, I was watching her play in the yard with her daughters. The sight was a charming one, so I wasn't surprised when a little girl came over to watch. She told me Rosebud looked exactly like her kitty who'd died the year before. I offered my sympathy, and the girl explained how her cat had given birth before her time, and had run away, bleeding, into the night.They'd been unable to find her, and had assumed she'd died. To me, it was obvious that she'd run right to my house. Why? I'll never know, but they have her back now. They're keeping her inside, so I don't see her much. I think they're taking better care of her now, though. There needs to be a happy ending sometimes.
So don't be afraid, this isn't a sad story really. But it begins rather sadly.
I just opened my door one evening, hearing a rattling noise, and she was there, between the door and the screen door. How she happened to come to me, I don't know really, but I think some of my cats were friends of hers, and showed her where they lived.
