A Cat A Day Makes One Say "Hurray!" (Georgette)

When I was actively volunteering at our local Shelter, I fostered many cats and kittens. One day I was asked to bring home an orange tabby named Georgette. She and her similarly colored kitten were found locked in an abandoned Albany apartment. Because she only had one kitten (and he was close to weaning age), they gave her a litter of orphans to mother. She was doing a fine job of it, but the staff felt they'd all be better off in a private home where they'd be less likely to contract any diseases. So Georgette and her whole blended family came home with me:

Because I had so many foster dogs and cats at the time, Georgette and her kittens didn't get a lot of individual attention from me. But they were all busy feeding/being fed and didn't seem to mind. Georgette's own kitten, Georgie, was adopted to a nice family with little girls. That left only the litter of smaller kittens. She continued to nurse them and mother them, most of the time locked in a crate:

But of course the kittens were eventually weaned and I began sending them to Saturday adoption clinics at various local PetSmart locations. Georgette also needed a home, so she went too. But I soon began getting reports that Georgette would hiss and spit at anyone who tried to look at her or pet her. She even reacted that way to the kittens she'd raised. It was not looking good for finding Georgette a home:

One volunteer finally told me bluntly that Georgette had made her decision, and that was to live with me. So I adopted her. She's been a happy girl, though she keeps her distance from all my other cats. She loves people and ignores dogs, but it has taken years for her to accept other cats. Now she'll let them come within a foot or two of her, but that's as accepting as she plans to get:

Georgette has done her duty and is now retired to the comfort of her own home. She lounges about with style and elegance, often reminding me of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, "Our House." With two cats in the yard, Life used to be so hard, Now Everything is easy, 'Cause of you: